Tampa Strikes First in Series Between Nationally Ranked Teams

TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 17 University of Tampa (25-3, 10-0 SSC) softball team continued to add to its school record win streak as its 17th straight win was a 1-0 victory over No. 11 Rollins College (23-5, 6-1 SSC) at the Vince Naimoli Softball Field.

The win was Tampa's 17th shutout of the 2012 season as the Spartans are also off to their best start in Sunshine State Conference play. UT has now allowed just one run in its past 13 games.

Deanna Henriott turned in another stellar performance as she moved closer to her 1,000th career strikeout. The senior from St. Petersburg, Fla., struck out 15 Tars while allowing just three hits en route to her ninth shutout of the year.

Henriott currently stands at 990 career strikeouts as she already owns the Tampa all-time strikeout mark. She looks to be the 26th pitcher in NCAA Division II history to reach the milestone.

Tampa, which finished with six total hits, scored the game winner in the fourth inning when Stacy Piagno singled through the left side to score pinch-runner Katie Bannon.

Freshman Kayleen Boatwright led UT with two hits as Susan Jallo, Becky Vyzas and Taylor Storey each had a hit as well.

The same teams will finish out the series on Saturday, in a 1 p.m., doubleheader. UT will offer live stats and a webcast through TampaSpartans.tv.

Fans may also follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/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.