Spartans Ground Griffins as Setree Makes History

TAMPA, Fla. –  The University of Tampa softball team hosted the Chestnut Hill Griffins for a midweek doubleheader. Tampa came out on top in both games as they won a close game one 5-3 before their offense fired on all cylinders and they took game two 13-2 in five innings to close out a run of four wins in three days to move to 17-3 overall before hosting Nova Southeastern University on Friday and Saturday to resume SSC play. In the second game, Bre Setree was able to move up to second in career doubles as she hit her 34th double.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final: Tampa 5 (W: Makaleigh Dooley 10-1), Chestnut Hill 3 (L: Holloway 0-3) 
Records: Spartans (16-3), Griffins (0-5)
Location: Naimoli Family Softball Field | Tampa, Fla.
All-time Series: This was the first matchup between the two schools.
Follow Us: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Vimeo

HOW IT HAPPENED:

1st Inning: Sahrina Cortes started the game with a single to right field and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Shelby Press. On the next batter, Cortes came around to score on a double by Setree to give UT the 1-0 lead.

3rd Inning: Press drew a one-out walk and moved to third on a single up the middle by Setree. After Dooley popped up to the shortstop for the second out of the inning, Elly Pillers hit a double to right field and advanced to third on the throw as Press and Setree came in to score. Maddie Farrell added one more run as she scored Pillers on a single to right field. 

5th Inning: Setree opened the inning with a double to left field and was replaced by Breanna Taphouse as a pinch runner. With one out, Pillers singled to left-center and advanced to second on the throw as Taphouse moved over to third. M.Farrell hit a sacrifice fly to center field as Taphouse tagged and third and scored without a play at the plate. 

Top 6th Inning: Chestnut Hill put two unearned runs on the board as they tried to come back and make it a game. 

Top 7th Inning: The Griffins added one final run to make it 5-3 but Dooley closed the door on the team and earned her 10th win of the season.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Dooley pitched 5.2 innings to clinch the win as she gave up no runs on four hits with no walks and eight more strikeouts.
• Sam Kaye made her Spartan debut in the circle. The freshman lefty tossed 1.1 innings and gave up just one earned run while striking out one and conceding just one hit. 

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Tampa has now outscored their opponents 16-8 in the first inning.
• With her double in the third inning, Pillers extended her hitting streak to a team-leading 15 games.
• With the three runs in the third, UT now has 21 runs in that inning this season, the second inning in which the team has scored at least 20 runs with the 6th inning being the other one. 
• The Spartans have now recorded five games with 10 hits and have drawn at least one walk in five straight games.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final: Tampa 13 (W: Dooley 11-1), Chestnut Hill 2 (L: Irvin 0-3) 
Records: Spartans (17-3), Griffins (0-6)
Location: Naimoli Family Softball Field | Tampa, Fla.
All-time Series: Tampa is now 2all-timeime against Chestnut Hill 
Follow Us: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Vimeo

HOW IT HAPPENED:

 1st Inning: UT took no time in getting on the board as they scored a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning. Cortes singled up the middle and came around to score on the next batter as Taylor Farrell tripled to right field. T.Farrell would then come in to score as Setree hit a sacrifice fly to left field that was deep enough to let the runner cross home plate after tagging.

2nd Inning: The offensive rhythm kept building as Taphouse drew a walk to open the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Press. A wild pitch allowed the runner to move up to third and Cortes brought her home as she hit a triple of her own to center field over the outstretched glove of the outfielder. Setree then hit a double to right-center that scored Cortes and made it 4-0 for the home side.

3rd Inning: Pillers extended her hit streak to 16 games with a single up the middle and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt that turned into an error by the third baseman as Jennie Sittloh reached first safely. After Sittloh stole second, Pillers was able to come in on a fielding error by the left fielder as Taphouse reached to put runners at first and second with just one out. Two batters later, Cortes drew a walk to load the bases with two out and ended the night for CHC starting pitcher Hunter Irvin. T.Farrell doubled down the left field line to score two more runs and make it 6-0 after three innings.

Top 4th Inning: The Griffins were able to snap the shutout as they scored a pair of runs that tentatively made it 6-2 heading into the bottom half of the inning.

Bottom 4th Inning: The offensive explosion was not done yet for Tampa. Dooley singled to left-center to open the inning and was replaced by Brooke Stiles as a pinch runner. Kaye made her debut at the plate this season as a pinch-hitter and drew a walk. Laurie Kostecka was up next as another pinch hitter and she recorded an infield single, with her hit coming to a dead stop halfway between pitcher and catcher to load the bases with nobody out. Erica Matich drove in the first two runs of the inning on a single to left field. The visitors were then able to get two force outs at third but the bats for UT would not be kept down as Lauren Reyes recorded another infield single to load the bases once again. Kelsey Humphrey stepped in as the third pinch hitter of the inning and singled to right-center field that scored two more runs. Setree put up the final run of the game as she drove in Reyes on a fielder's choice infield single that made it 13-2

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Cortes went 2 for 2 at the plate with three runs scored and one RBI while T.Farrell went 2 for 3 as she recorded four RBI and scored one run.
• Dooley struck out six batters and gave up no walks in the five innings of work while giving up just the two runs (one unearned) to move to 11-1 on the year.
• Six different players for Tampa were able to record at least one RBI in the game.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• The 13 hits tie the season high for hits in a game. The previous time was at Rollins in a 10-4 victory. In the meantime, the 13 runs is a season high for UT. The team had scored 10 runs in two games this season.
• The Spartans extended their streak with at least one extra-base hit to 15 games.
• Pillers single in the 3rd inning extended her hit streak to 16 games.
• Tampa has scored 100 runs in 20 games, just five short of the total they had in 39 games last season. The Spartans have already surpassed the number of triples and home runs and are just four stolen bases from their total of last season.

UP NEXT:

The team will be back in Sunshine State Conference action this weekend as they host the Nova Southeastern University Sharks for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 6 p.m. and wrapping up on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader slated to begin at 1 p.m.

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