No. 8 Tampa Prevails in Opening Game of Florida Southern Series

LAKELAND, Fla. - The No. 8 University of Tampa (29-5, 14-2 SSC) softball team outlasted its Sunshine State Conference rival Florida Southern College (28-10, 7-6 SSC) in a nine inning game from Barnett Field as the Spartans scored a 2-0 victory.

The nine-inning game was a pitching battle as UT's Deanna Henriott and FSC's Christine Clark combined for 35 strikeouts while allowing just 10 hits.

Tampa broke through in the top of the ninth as freshman Kayla Lamphier started the action with a leadoff double. Following a pair of strikeouts, classmate Meagan Burke tripled to right center to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. Katlyn Raatz followed with an RBI triple of her own to put the score at 2-0.

Raatz and Vyzas each had two hits for Leslie Kanter's UT squad.

Henriott (17-4) finished with 18 strikeouts, two shy of her school record of 20. The Spartan ace allowed just three hits in 9.0 innings of work.

The Spartans and Moccasins will conclude the series on Friday with a doubleheader, beginning at 5 p.m. Live stats will be available through TampaSpartans.com.

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.