Dooley Guides Tampa to Sweep of Mustangs

TAMPA, Fla. –  The University of Tampa softball team hosted the Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs for its first of three series this week. The Spartans swept the two games as they won game one 2-0 as Makaleigh Dooley tossed her first career no-hitter and edged out SMSU 5-4 in the closer.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final: Tampa 2 (W: Dooley 8-1), Southwest Minnesota State 0 (L: O'Connor 2-2) 
Records: Spartans (15-3), Mustangs (5-2)
Location: Naimoli Family Softball Field | Tampa, Fla.
All-time Series: This was the first matchup between the two schools.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:

Bottom 1st Inning: The Spartans scored a pair of runs that ended up being enough to clinch the win. Taylor Farrell singled to center with one out and moved to second on a single through the left side by Bre Setree. Lauren Pascoe replaced Farrell at second as a pinch-runner and moved to third as Dooley was hit by a pitch and loaded the bases. Elly Pillers kept up her solid start to the season at the plate going as a single to right field scored Pascoe and Setree for the 2-0 lead that UT was never in danger of losing.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Dooley's no-hitter came on a night when she gave up just one walk and one hit-by-pitch and struck out seven visiting batters.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Setree extended her streak of reaching base to 17 games with her single in the first inning.
• A double by Dooley in the 5th inning extended UT's streak with at least one extra-base hit to 13.
• Pillers has now extended her streak of games with at least one hit to 13 with her single in the first inning.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final: Tampa 5 (W: Dooley 9-1), Southwest Minnesota State (L: Golling 1-1 ) 
Records: Spartans (15-3), Mustangs (5-3)
Location: Naimoli Family Softball Field | Tampa, Fla.
All-time Series: Tampa is now 2-0 all-time against SMSU
Follow Us: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Vimeo

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Top 1st Inning: The Mustangs took no time in changing their luck as they scored a run on three hits to take a short-lived lead against UT. 

Bottom 1st Inning: The Spartans came right back at SMSU and quickly tied the game as Sahrina Cortes tripled to left-center and came home to score on a single to the shortstop by T.Farrell

2nd Inning: UT chased the starting pitcher for Southwest Minnesota State as they saw four runs safely cross home plate. Pillers started the inning with a single to left field and moved to second on a single to right field by Maddie Farrell. Erica Matich drew a walk to load the bases. After Alex Walton came in as a pinch runner for Farrell, Pillers would score on the next batter as Shelby Press flew out to right field. Cortes loaded the bases for the home side once again on a single to the shortstop and T.Farrell cleared the bases right after with a triple to right-center that gave Tampa the lead for good and drew a pitching change by the visitors.

3rd Inning: SMSU tried to come back and scored a pair of runs in the top half of the inning to make it 5-3 but Dooley induced a grounder and two swinging strikeouts to end the inning and tamed the Mustang offense. 

4th Inning: The final run of the night came as Sam Flack tripled to start the inning and scored on a close play at the plate on a fielder's choice sacrifice bunt by Karmann Carroll who reached first base. Dooley once again shut down the attempt by SMSU as she got the next three batters to seal the game.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Cortes went 2 for 3 at the plate with a pair of runs scored while T.Farrell also went 2 for 3 as she recorded all four RBI for UT.
• Dooley struck out a season-high nine batters and had no walks for the second time in three games.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Setree's streak of reaching base safely was snapped at a team-high 17 games.
• The triples by Cortes and T.Farrell ensured that UT has now gone 14 games in a row with at least one extra-base hit in the 5th inning extended UT's streak with at least one extra-base hit to 13.
• Pillers went 2 for 3 at the plate and her single in the 2nd inning extended her hit streak to 14 games. 
• With the two games in the book, UT has now scored 82 runs in 18 games.

UP NEXT:

The team will be back in action this Wednesday as they host the Chestnut Hill Griffins for a doubleheader slated to begin at 5 p.m.

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