No. 15 Tampa Ends Season With Loss to No. 3 Valdosta State
VALDOSTA, Ga. - The No. 15 University of Tampa (33-10) softball team concluded its 2013 season at the NCAA South Regional, falling 12-6 to defending national champion and No. 3 Valdosta State University (44-10).
The Blazers scored a pair of runs in both the second and third innings, taking a 4-0 lead. Tampa answered in the bottom of the third when Meagan Burke connected on a two-run single that went over the head of the VSU center fielder. Kayleen Boatwright and Brie Walton both scored on the play. The following batter, Stacy Piagno, proceeded to drive in Katie Bannon on a sacrifice fly to cut the Blazer lead to 4-3.
Valdosta State would add another run in the fourth when a hit to right field got past a diving Katlyn Raatz, resulting in an inside the park home run. VSU would then add a pair of unearned runs in the sixth and five in the seventh innings to make the game 12-3.
The Spartans would cut the deficit to 12-6 in the seventh when Boatwright homered, driving in Walton. Taylor Storey would also drive in a run. Burke finished the game with three hits while also driving in a pair. Boatwright and Walton also added two hits apiece as Boatwright drove in two runs and also scored two.
Kayla Cox (25-6) started and threw the first 2.0 innings while giving up three earned runs. Julia Morrow threw 4.2 innings, striking out three Blazers and allowing two earned runs. Karlyn Buker entered to register the final out of the seventh.
Tampa concludes a season where it was nationally-ranked for the entire season, marking a first in program history. For complete information on UT softball, please visit TampaSpartans.com.
Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans), Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans), YouTube (youtube.com/utathletics) and Instragram (tampaspartans). UT also offers blAst, a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.