No. 2 Tampa Splits a Pair of Games with Nova Southeastern

The No. 2 University of Tampa softball team (29-5, 17-4 SSC) split a pair of games with Nova Southeastern (25-17, 12-6 SSC) at A.D. Griffin Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon by final scores of 2-1 and 3-2 respectively.

Junior Julia Morrow took the circle for the Spartans in game one and tossed 6.0 innings with two strikeouts. She allowed two unearned runs on three hits and suffered her second loss of the year.

Lindsay Dring gave Tampa an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a clutch two out RBI single to score Kayleen Boatwright.

Nova took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third after scoring on a UT fielding error followed by a sacrifice fly by Erika Garcia.

The Sharks held off the Spartan offense through the final four innings to claim the victory.

Dring and Boatwright led UT with two hits each as Taylor Collins also contributed with a base hit.

Kayla Cox started game two for the Spartans and earned her 15th victory of the season. She tossed 7.0 innings with four strikeouts while allowing two unearned runs on five hits.

Meagan Burke belted a two-run homer over the left field fence to give Tampa a 2-0 advantage in the top of the fourth that plated Kandi Kuder.

Boatwright gave the Spartans an insurance run in top of the fifth as she homered to left center field to extend the lead to 3-0.

Nova cut the deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth scoring off a Tampa fielding error with the second run coming on a sacrifice fly by Samira Tanaka.

The Spartans held the Sharks scoreless for the final two innings and earned the victory.

Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score

Tampa returns to action Thursday at Naimoli Family Field for a 6 p.m. Sunshine State Conference matchup against Lynn for the first of a three game series. The series will be the final regular season games for the Spartans. Live stats as well as a video webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.tv.

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