Spartans Continue Making History in National Poll at No. 2
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Tampa softball team moved up one spot to No. 2 in the NFCA Division II Poll that was released by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association on Wednesday. Coach Leslie Kanter's team has now reached its highest ranking in school history.
Fellow NCAA South Region foe Alabama-Huntsville (30-6) moved up to No. 7 in the poll. South Regional opponents North Alabama (32-10) and Valdosta State (31-12) sit at No. 20 and No. 24 respectively. Sunshine State Conference rival Rollins is also listed as receiving votes.
Tampa (27-4, 15-3 SSC) is led by a dynamic pitching duo of Julia Morrow and Kayla Cox. Morrow has been nearly unhittable as the junior is now 14-1 with 162 strikeouts while sporting a 0.22 ERA in 95.2 innings. Cox sports an equally impressive 13-3 record with 170 strikeouts in 122.0 innings and an ERA of 0.69.
Offensively, Meagan Burke and Lindsay Dring are leading the way, hitting .367 and .364 respectively. Burke sports team-highs in homeruns (4), RBI (15), and hits (33), while Dring has 28 hits and nine RBI. Kayleen Boatwright and Jenna Halper sport batting averages over .300 with 32 and 24 hits respectively.
Tampa has now been ranked for a school-record 48 consecutive weeks and is currently riding a ten game winning streak upon reaching its highest ranking in school history.
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 Friday at Nova Southeastern for a 6 p.m. Sunshine State Conference matchup for the first of a three game series. Live stats will be available at www.tampa.statbroadcast.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.