UT to Open Regional Play at No. 5 in National Poll

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Tampa softball team moved up two spots to No. 5 in the NFCA Division II Poll that was released by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association on Wednesday.

Tampa (31-6, 19-5 SSC) is led by a dynamic pitching duo of Julia Morrow and Kayla Cox. Morrow has been nearly unhittable as the junior is now 15-3 with 177 strikeouts while sporting a 0.49 ERA in 114.1 innings. Cox sports an equally impressive 16-3 record with 193 strikeouts in 144.1 innings and an ERA of 0.78.

Offensively, Lindsay Dring and Meagan Burke are leading the way, hitting .379 and .361 respectively. Dring has 36 hits on the season with 14 RBI, while Burke posts team-highs with five homeruns and 17 RBI. Kayleen Boatwright has also contributed while batting .325 with 38 hits and nine RBI.

Fellow NCAA South Region foes Alabama-Huntsville (39-14) and Valdosta State (40-13) now sit at No. 8 and No. 16 respectively. North Alabama is listed as receiving votes along with fellow Sunshine State Conference rival Rollins.

Tampa has now been ranked for a school-record 52 consecutive weeks under head coach Leslie Kanter after reaching its highest ranking ever at No. 2 earlier this season.

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.

UT was chosen as one of two hosts for the 2014 NCAA Division II South Regional, which will be played at the Naimoli Family Softball Field beginning Friday.

With the No. 2 seed, Tampa will welcome No. 3 Valdosta State, No. 6 Palm Beach Atlantic and No. 7 Delta State. The University of Alabama in Huntsville earned the No. 1 seed and will also serve as a host, with the winners of the Tampa and Huntsville sites to meet for a super-regional on May 15-18.

For complete information on the 2014 NCAA Softball South Regional, please visit www.tampaspartans.com. The Spartans will meet Delta State on Friday at 6 p.m., to open NCAA play. All NCAA South Regional games at Tampa will include live stats and a video webcast through www.tampaspartans.tv.

Click here for the complete NFCA poll

Click here for the official host page for the Tampa Regional