By R.L. Bynum
Alberto Osuna will play his fifth college season at perennial national power Tampa, which won its ninth NCAA Division II national title in June.
Osuna, a Mauldin, S.C., native who couldn’t return to UNC because he exhausted his Division I eligibility, hit .459 with 25 home runs as a freshman at Walters State Community College before playing three seasons at North Carolina.
Primarily a designated hitter, Osuna hit 45 home runs as a Tar Heel, the fifth-most in Carolina history. Last season, he hit .281 with a .376 on-base percentage and a .913 OPS, all UNC career-highs, while hitting 14 home runs and driving in 56 runs with a career-low 56 strikeouts.
Two of Tampa’s nine national titles have come in the last five seasons, with the Spartans also winning the 2019 title. All of the titles have been under head coach Joe Urso, who has a 1,007–287–1 record in 24 seasons.
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The 2019 and 2024 national championships were won at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary. If Tampa returns to the Division II championship next season, it will also be played in Cary.
Tampa, which has won 23 Sunshine State Conference titles, including the last four, and 20 NCAA South Regional championships, and went 52–8 last season, beating Angelo State 8–3 in the national championship game.
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
