Spartans Spoil Mocs Stadium Opening on Friday Night

LAKELAND, Fla. –  The University of Tampa softball team opened up their Sunshine State Conference slate with a visit to Florida Southern to take on the Mocs in a three-game series. The first game of the series went the way of the visiting side as Tampa spoiled the celebrations for the Mocs as they had a ribbon-cutting ceremony for their new stadium pregame. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final: Tampa 4 (W: Makaleigh Dooley 4-4), Florida Southern 2 (L: Ehlers 0-2) 
Records: Spartans (4-5, 1-0 SSC), Moccasins (3-2, 0-1 SSC)
Location: Chris Bellotto Field | Lakeland, Fla.
All-time Series: The Spartans trail 43-74 in the series.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:

Bottom 1st: The home side opened the scoring early as they scored twice in the inning to take a 2-0 lead.

Top 3rd: Sahrina Cortes started the inning with a single to right field and moved to second on a single by Cristina Clauberg that bounced over the rushing third baseman and made its way into left field. Dooley loaded the bases on a fielding error by the pitcher as she couldn't get a hand on a ball hit back to her. Maddie Farrell put the ball in play and despite the ball never leaving the infield, two runs scored for Tampa to tie the game up.

Top 4th: Shelby Press reached first on an error by the second baseman. Emalee Jansen recorded her first hit of the night on a single to the shortstop that put two runners on with nobody out. After Cortes loaded the bases with a single to center field, Clauberg drove in the tiebreaking run on a single up the middle.

Top 7th: Dooley hit a one-out single as UT searched for some breathing room in the final inning of the game. Mackenzie Allen replaced Dooley as a pinch runner and advanced to third on a double to left field by M.Farrell. After Emily Proffitt replaced her as a pinch runner, Bailey Phillips drew a walk to load the bases. With two outs on the board, Press singled to right field to bring in Proffitt and make it 4-2. 

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Clauberg finished the night 3 for 4 at the plate with one RBI and one run scored.
• Dooley went the full seven innings, striking out four and walking one, as she allowed just three hits and no runs after the first inning. 
• The two teams combined for 15 runners left on base.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• The 12 hits by the Spartans ties the single-game high this year.
• Tampa drew three walks in the game, extending their run with at least one to four games. 
• UT has hit at least one extra-base hit in five straight games.

UP NEXT:

The team will return to the field tomorrow afternoon as they close out the first conference series of the season with a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

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