Tampa Jumps to No. 9 in Softball Rankings
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Tampa softball team has moved up four spots to No. 9 in the NFCA Division II Poll that was released by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association on Wednesday.
Fellow NCAA South Region foe Alabama-Huntsville (17-3) remains at No. 2 in the poll. South Regional opponents North Alabama (20-6) and Palm Beach Atlantic (16-4) sit at No. 15 and No. 25 respectively. Valdosta State (18-8) and Sunshine State Conference rival Barry (15-6, 2-1 SSC) are also listed as receiving votes.
Tampa (15-3, 7-2 SSC) is led by a dynamic pitching duo of Julia Morrow and Kayla Cox. Morrow has been nearly unhittable as the junior is now 8-1 with 96 strikeouts while sporting a 0.13 ERA in 55.2 innings. The junior tossed a complete game shutout in head coach Leslie Kanter's 500th victory on Tuesday against Adelphi. Cox sports an equally impressive 7-2 record with 100 strikeouts in 69.1 innings and an ERA of 0.40. The senior is coming off her second career perfect game and fifth in UT history in a 6-0 victory over Adelphi.
Offensively, Meagan Burke and Kandi Kuder are leading the way, hitting .400 and .304 respectively. Burke sports team-highs in homeruns (2), RBI (10), hits (20), and doubles (4), while Kuder leads all Spartans in stolen bases (5-5) with 17 hits and five RBI on the season. Bre Setree and Kayleen Boatwright have also contributed with 14 hits each to the offense.
Tampa has now been ranked for a school-record 44 consecutive weeks and is nearing its best ranking ever as UT was No. 4 in 2002.
The NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches, two representing each of the eight NCAA regions.
Tampa returns to action at Barry on Saturday at 6 p.m. The weekend series will conclude with a doubleheader Sunday starting at 12 p.m.
Live stats will be available through www.tampa.statbroadcast.com.
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