No. 19 Tampa Defeats Saint Leo in Series Opener

TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 19 University of Tampa (22-3, 7-0 SSC) softball team defeated Saint Leo University (16-15, 2-5 SSC) Friday evening by a score of 3 to 0 at Vince Naimoli Softball Field.

Tampa has currently won 14 consecutive games, stretching its school-record breaking win streak. The Spartans broke the previous record of 12 straight wins last week against Florida Tech.

Head Coach Leslie Kanter's squad is off to its best start in UT history for wins against Sunshine State Conference opponents with seven straight victories.

St. Petersburg, Fla., native Deanna Henriott started the game and shutout the Lions to improve her record to 13-2. Henriott tossed 7.0 innings with 16 strikeouts and one hit allowed.

In the shutout, she increased her personal-record and school-record of scoreless innings pitched with 44.2 innings. Henriott also increased the team's scoreless to 51.1 innings. The scoreless innings streak dates back to Feb. 25 versus Palm Beach Atlantic. The record was previously 43.0 innings from the 2007 season.

Meagan Burke launched her second home run of the season to deep left field in the second inning to give Tampa a 1 to 0 lead. Burke delivered again in the sixth inning with a triple to right center, which scored Stacy Piagno from first base, bringing the score to 2 to 0. Burke finished with three base hits, two RBI, and two runs scored.

Katlyn Raatz added another run in the sixth inning, as she drove Burke in from third. The score would stand at 3 to 0, ending the Spartans' offensive effort. Raatz finished the game with one base hit and one RBI.

The Spartan will be back in action tomorrow afternoon when they will play the Saint Leo Lions again in a double-header starting at 1 p.m. in Vince Naimoli Softball Field. Entrance to all UT softball games is free of charge with live stats available through tampaspartans.com.

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