Jenna Halper Leads No. 4 Tampa to Victory Over Eckerd

The No. 4 University of Tampa (25-4, 13-3 SSC) softball team claimed a 3-0 victory over Eckerd College (18-16, 5-8 SSC) at Naimoli Family Field on Friday evening.

Senior Kayla Cox started for the Spartans and earned her 12th victory of the season. She tossed 7.0 innings with nine strikeouts while allowing no runs on one hit.

Jenna Halper put Tampa on the board in the bottom of the second with a clutch two out RBI single. Katlyn Raatz came around to score and give the Spartans a 1-0 advantage.

Halper struck again in the fourth as she belted an RBI triple to right center to score Raatz after leading off the inning with a base hit to extend the lead to 2-0.

Tampa extended the lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the sixth on a Megin Eskew pinch hit RBI triple to plate pinch runner Sam Anderson.

Cox and the UT defense limited Eckerd to just three base runners in the victory.

Lindsay Dring also contributed for the Spartans with two hits to total nine in the game.

UT will return to action Saturday afternoon for a doubleheader against Eckerd to conclude the SSC series. The first game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Live stats as well as a video webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.tv.

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