Softball Stays Perfect In Regional Play, Downs Nova 7-5

Tampa, Fla. – The University of Tampa Softball team was back on the diamond today for the second round of the NCAA South Region. The Spartans advanced to this stage - otherwise known as the "winners bracket championship" - by beating Spring Hill in the opening round. Today's matchup saw a familiar foe in Nova Southeastern who earned the #4 seed and defeated Barry University in their opener. The Spartans and Sharks faced off earlier in the year down south where NSU was able to take two out three. However, the Spartans scored more runs this afternoon than they did in all three games and were rewarded with a different outcome when it mattered most.  

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Records: Tampa Spartans 41-8, Nova Southeastern Sharks 39-15

Location: Namoli Family Stadium l Tampa, Fla

History: Today's matchup was the 71st time these two pragrams have met on the diamond. With the win, Tampa improves to 42-29 in the all-time series. 

Final: Tampa 7, Nova Southeastern 5

HOW IT HAPPENED:

To begin the battle of unbeatens in the South Region, the Sharks jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead after the first four batters all reached base. The Spartans were forced to pull their starting pitcher and turned to Mariah Galhouse to get them out of a bases loaded one out jam. She was able to limit the damage and allow the Spartans to chase a reachable number at the plate. Lauren Fantone and Lilly Kiester both reached base to lead off the bottem of the and both used a pair of wild pitches to advance into scoring position. Situational hitting from the Spartans brought both baserunners home but it was the big bat of Kinnah Kreidler that completed the first inning comeback. She sat back on a changeup and drilled it over the left field wall to tie the game at three. In the top of the second, Mariah Galhouse settled into this contest, working through traffic to toss a scoreless frame. While the Spartans were unable to take advantage in the bottom of the second, after Galhouse put up a scoreless third the offense erupted. Both Kinnah Kreidler and Lauren Fantone drew walks to begin the bottom of the third before Abby Sulte hit a ball too hard for the Shark second baseman to handle to score Fantone. After taking the lead, Sulte and Kreidler scored a batter later when Kate DeSimone singled to right field to make the scoreline 6-3 Tampa. Mariah Galhouse continued to dominate, throwing scoreless fourth, fifth, and sixth innings while punching out four batters. She shut down any chance of a comeback in the middle innings by sitting down 7 batters in a row over three innings. Offensively, the Spartans were also held scoreless until Lilly Kiester singled to score Hannah Yetter in the bottom of the sixth. With a chance to have the one game advantage in the final round of the regional and down 7-3, the Sharks put up a fight in the top of the seventh. They worked counts and used two big hits to score  a pair of runs but Mariah Galhouse shut the door to pick up her 15th win of the year. The 7-5 win over Nova advances the Spartans to the final round of the NCAA South Regional with a perfect 2-0 record.

INSIDE THE STATS:  

• Mariah Galhouse Final Line - 6.2 IP, 3 H, 4 SO, 0 ER 

• Kinnah Kreidler - 1-1 HR, 2 Walks

• Kate DeSimone - 1-2, 2 RBI

UP NEXT: The Spartans will face Barry University on Saturday at 2:00pm with a trip to the NCAA Super Regionals on the line. With Tampa posting a 2-0 record, they are just one win away from reaching this feat. Should the Spartans lose this contest, Barry would have to beat them again in a winnner take all game two shortly after the conclusion of game one.