Tampa Ties School Record Before Splitting Day One of Florida Southern Tournament
LAKELAND, Fla. - The University of Tampa softball team matched a school record with its 10th consecutive victory after defeating Hillsdale (Mich.) University 10-2 in the first of two games at the Florida Southern Invitational. The Spartans later saw the streak come to an end after dropping a 2-0 decision to Bryant University. UT now stands at 15-11 on the season.
Tampa started out strong in the first, highlighted by back-to-back homeruns by Samantha Becker and Devlin Doughtery. Becker's two run blast to left center was followed by Doughtery's solo shot to deep center. Jessica Tejas and Jessica Keefe hit back to back singles that led to a Kelly Glover run. Tampa headed into the second with a 4-0 lead.
Tampa capitalized in the second inning with a single by Kallan Casey and a double by Glover which drove in Michelle Horan and Casey. Dougherty later scored on a sacrifice fly to left center off the bat of Krystal Crooks, putting Tampa up 7-0 after two.
After Keefe led off the third with a walk she was driven in by Katie Davis line drive double down the left field line. Horan followed by roping a single up the middle for an RBI and Tampa's ninth run of the day.
In the fourth, Hillsdale got on the board with a two run double by Monica Mix, driving in Katie Botsis and Ashley Wolff.
In the fifth, Tampa ended the game with a Kallan Casey solo homerun to left center for a final score of 10-2.
In the second game, the Lady Spartans squared off against the Bulldogs from Bryant University. The Bulldogs took an early 2-0 lead with a solo homerun to left by Amanda Gagne that drove in Alison Chouinard off an early walk.
After giving up the early lead Tampa could not retaliate from the 2-0 deficit. Tampa drops to 15-11, with the loss and will return in action tomorrow March 16, as they take on Florida Tech, West Chester and host Florida Southern.