Spartans Haul In Saturday Sweep Over Buccaneers

TAMPA, Fla. – The University of Tampa softball team wrapped up their three-game series against the Barry University Buccaneers on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader. The team continued the trend they have had for the last two weeks, bouncing back from the Friday night loss to take both games on Saturday to win the series.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final: Tampa 4 (W: Corynn Miner 9-3 SV: Makaleigh Dooley 1), Barry 3 (L: Santos 3-2) 
Records: Spartans (22-6, 10-4 SSC), Buccaneers (15-16, 8-6 SSC)
Location: Naimoli Family Stadium | Tampa, Fla.
All-time Series: Tampa trails 35-63 against Barry in the all-time series.
Follow Us: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Vimeo

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Top 5th Inning: Barry used back to back triples to take a 2-0 lead and open the scoring in the game.

Bottom 5th Inning: The Spartans answered right back as they scored four runs that would end up being enough for the win. Elly Pillers opened the bottom half of the inning with a double to center field and gave way to Lauren Pascoe as the pinch runner. Pascoe moved to third on a fly out to center field by Dooley. The play drew a pitching change for BU as Santos replaced Palmeiro in the circle. Miner drew a walk to put runners at first and second and swiftly stole second to put a pair of runners in scoring position and take away the double play chance for the visitors. Breanna Taphouse replaced Miner as a second pinch runner. Maddie Farrell scored two runs to tie the game with a single to left field and advanced to second on the throw. After Alex Walton replaced Farrell as the third pinch runner of the inning, Jennie Sittloh reached on an error by the shortstop that placed runners on the corners. Erica Matich was hit by a pitch to load the bases. After a force out at home, Shelby Press drew a walk with bases loaded to bring in one run and give UT a lead at 3-2. Bre Setree was able to reach on a fielder's choice on an error by the third baseman that gave Tampa their fourth and final run of the game as Matich scored.

Top 7th Inning: The Buc's were able to make it interesting as they scored one run to make it a one-run game but the Spartans closed out the game and evened the series at 1-1.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Miner tossed 5.1 innings of work to be tagged with the win while Dooley went the final 1.2 innings to earn her first save of the season. 
• Farrell went 1 for 3 at the plate but had a crucial hit as it drove in the two runs that tied the game. 
• Barry had three mistakes in the game that opened the door for the home side to take advantage and win a close game. 

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Setree has now reached base safely in 10 consecutive games. 
• The 22 at-bats the team had is tied for the second-lowest in a game this season. 
• The Spartans were able to continue their streak of not having lost back to back games this year. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final: Tampa 5 (W: Dooley 14-3), Barry 4 (L: Falcon 5-9) 
Records: Spartans (23-6, 11-4 SSC), Buccaneers (15-17, 8-7 SSC)
Location: Naimoli Family Stadium | Tampa, Fla.
All-time Series: Tampa has 36 wins to Barry's 63 in the all-time series.
Follow Us: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Vimeo

HOW IT HAPPENED:

1st Inning: The home side took no time in getting the offense going as Sahrina Cortes tripled to open the bottom half of the game and Press brought her home on the next at-bat with a single up the middle.

2nd Inning: The lead was short lived as Barry was able to tie the game on a close play at the plate off a bunt as the runner came in from third. 

3rd Inning: Press drew a walk to start the inning but was out on a force play at second as Setree reached on a fielder's choice. After the Buc's got a second out, Dooley was able to reach first and move Setree over on a fielding error by the pitcher. Miner drew another walk to load the bases and Farrell drove in two runs with a single up the middle to give UT a 3-1 lead.

4th Inning: Barry took advantage of a misplayed flyball to left field to score two runs and tie the game up at 3-3 as they would not go down without a fight.

5th Inning: Tampa took the lead for a third time as Dooley doubled to right-center field with one out. Pascoe replaced her as a pinch runner and Miner drove her in with a single up the middle for the 4-3 lead.

Top 7th Inning: The Buccaneers would still not give up and tied the game up yet again as they got one run in and had a pair of runners in scoring position with two outs and threatened to take the lead but Dooley got out of the jam getting a fly ball to left field for the third out.

Bottom 7th Inning: Miner drew yet another walk to open the inning and was replaced by Alex Walton coming in as a pinch runner. Farrell was able to reach first on a fielder's choice as Walton was out at second on the play. After Kelsey Humphrey came in as one more pinch runner, Jennie Sittloh came to the plate with one out. Sittloh ended the game with a walk-off double to left field as Humphrey came all the way around to score and complete the Saturday sweep.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Falcon had only given up one walk in the last four games combined but UT was able to draw four in this game alone.
• Dooley tossed her 12th complete game of the season as she earned her 14th win, striking out two and giving up the four runs.
• After being held to five hits in the first two games, the offense exploded for 10 in the finale.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Pillers is on a five-game hitting streak.
• Setree has reached base safely in 11 games in a row. 
• The Spartans have not lost a three-game series this year and have now won six straight Saturday games. 

UP NEXT:

The team will have a bye week next weekend as they are off during the weekend before welcoming in the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish for a three-game regional series on April 7-8. Live stats and stream are available on TampaSpartans.com

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