Spartans Upset No. 10 Florida Tech, Sweep DH

TAMPA, Fla. –  The University of Tampa softball team grinded through Saturday and swept the double-header, ultimately winning the series over the 10th-ranked Panthers. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP (GAME ONE):

Final: Tampa 9 (W: Makaleigh Dooley, 9-5), No. 10 Florida Tech 1 (L: Tina Velazquez, 7-1) - (FINAL/5 Innings)
Records: University of Tampa Spartans (11-9, 5-6 SSC), No. 10 Florida Tech Panthers (19-5, 5-3 SSC)
Location: Naimoli Family Field || Tampa, Fla.
All-Time Series: Tampa leads 65-51; The Spartans have won six of the last eight games.
Follow Us: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube. Follow @Tampa_Softball on Twitter and Instagram for live updates and social media content.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

TOP 3rd: Florida Tech's Cheyenne Nelson led off the second inning with a base-knock to right field and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a walk and an error, the bases were loaded for Jaden Kline. Kline battled through the at-bat and ultimately walked in the first run of the ball-game. 

BOT 3rd: Stephanie Balmer belted a double off the left field wall to begin the inning and scored on an infield single by Corynn Miner. Miner lasered one off the pitchers' leg which tied the game for UT. After a walk to Sam Worrell, Bailey Phillips laced a double to deep center field to give Tampa the 3-1 lead. 

BOT 4th: With the bases loaded, Cristina Clauberg stepped to the plate and dribbled a ground-ball to shortstop. FIT's shortstop Shany Emerenciana went for the runner but Breanna Taphouse avoided the tag, then Emerenciana wildly threw to first base. Her error was combined with a throwing error by the first basemen and the Spartans cleared the bases without the ball leaving the infield. After a brief delay, Tampa stole the momentum as they tacked on three more runs on three walks and a hit-by-pitch drawn by Phillips.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Dooley tossed her 11th complete game in 13 starts; the senior did not allow an earned run against Florida Tech.
• Phillips logged her first extra-base hit of the season with her two-RBI double. The sophomore from Jupiter HS led the team with 11 doubles last season.
• The Spartans walked seven times in the contest, the second-highest total of the season. 

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Tampa snapped a seven-game losing streak with the victory over No. 10 Florida Tech.
• It was the third victory of the season over a Top-25 opponent (No. 8 West Chester, No. 22 Valdosta State).

INSIDE THE MATCHUP (GAME TWO):

Final: Tampa 4 (W: Makaleigh Dooley, 10-5), No. 10 Florida Tech 3 (L: Melanie Murphy, 8-5) - (FINAL/13 Innings)
Records: University of Tampa Spartans (12-9, 6-6 SSC), No. 10 Florida Tech Panthers (19-6, 5-4 SSC)
Location: Naimoli Family Field || Tampa, Fla.
All-Time Series: Tampa leads 66-51; The Spartans have won seven of the last nine games.
Follow Us: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube. Follow @Tampa_Softball on Twitter and Instagram for live updates and social media content.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

TOP 2nd: Florida Tech's Vanessa Rubio walked to begin the inning and scored from first base on an RBI double from Jaden Kline. FIT grabbed the initial lead in all three games of the weekend series. 

BOT 3rd: Cristina Clauberg led off the inning with a walk and advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from Corynn Miner. Sam Worrell approached the plate and laced a double off the left field fence to even the game at one apiece.

BOT 4th: Back-to-back base hits from Maddie Farrell and Lauren Pascoe, and a hit-by-pitch drawn by Cristina Clauberg, presented a bases-loaded situation for Miner. The redshirt-sophomore dribbled a grounder to shortstop and drove in the go-ahead RBI after an error by Shany Emerenciana.

TOP 5th: Florida Tech's S. Emerenciana responded immediately with a lead-off triple to left center field. After a pitching change, FIT's Mikayla Wessel laid down a bunt which Worrell fielded and chose to go home. Emerenciana did not take off for home until Wessel turned for second, which drew a throw, to allow Emerenciana to break from third and tie the game at 2-2. 

TOP 13th: Tina Velazquez singled up the middle and after a strikeout to Vanessa Rubio, the Panthers pieced together three consecutive singles to take a one-run lead in extras.

BOT 13th: The Spartans chipped away as Lauren Pascoe started the rally train with an infield single. Stephanie Balmer and Miner were both plunked by Melanie Murphy which loaded the bases for Worrell. The starting pitcher for game three, Worrell, ultimately finished the game with a two-run bloop single to left field.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Dooley pitched nine innings in relief, and struck out nine, while she allowed one run on five hits. It was the second-most innings in relief for Dooley, as she pitched 14 innings in relief on March 12, 2016.
• The Spartans logged 13 hits, the most in a game this season.
• Tampa registered the most hit-by-pitches in a game, dating back to 2006, as UT's offense reached base five times via HBP.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Miner logged a career-high three base hits, while Farrell and Pascoe tied their career-highs with three hits as well.

UP NEXT: The University of Tampa is set to host Southwest Minnesota State on Tuesday, March 12. The mid-week doubleheader is set to begin at 3:00 p.m. at Naimoli Family Field.

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