Tampa Set to Welcome Nova Southeastern for Senior Weekend

TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 15 University of Tampa softball team is set to take on Sunshine State Conference opponent Nova Southeastern University in a three game series beginning Friday at the Naimoli Family Field.

The series will open with a single game on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by a Saturday doubleheader that begins at 1 p.m. Four Tampa seniors will be honored between games, with Katie Bannon, Brittany Garcia, Stacy Piagno and Brie Walton being part of the ceremony. UT will also recognize the seniors from Nova Southeastern.

The Spartans own a 25-8 overall record and a 13-5 SSC mark puts UT just one game behind Saint Leo with six conference games remaining for both squads. Tampa is riding a seven game winning streak with a pair of league sweeps.

In the last two series, UT has outscored Florida Southern and Eckerd by a combined score of 43-4 with a total of five shutouts.

While outhitting its opponents, UT's pitching has been stellar with Kayla Cox leading the way. Cox is now 19-4 on the year with a 0.54 ERA. In 155.2 innings, she has amassed 246 strikeouts while hurling a school record six no-hitters. Cox is approaching Deanna Henriott's school record of 308 strikeouts as her 13 shutouts put her in a first-place tie in the program's single-season record book.

Sophomore Meagan Burke and Kayleen Boatwright lead the UT offense with .340 and .333 batting averages. UT also has four other starters hitting over .300, including Stacy Piagno (.313), Taylor Storey (.310), Kandi Kuder (.307) and Katie Bannon (.300).

Nova Southeastern brings an even 23-23 record, along with a 6-15 conference showing. The Sharks are coming off a doubleheader sweep over Palm Beach Atlantic on Wednesday after dropping two of three games at Florida Southern.

Melanie Spicola and Samira Tanaka are each hitting .355 as senior Laura Saladrigas leads all Sharks with four home runs and 34 RBI. NSU has a team ERA of 3.44, led by Jennie Von Doellen and her 15-15 record.

Tampa leads the all-time series by a 16-12 mark, and took two of three from the Sharks last season in Fort Lauderdale. UT has also taken two of three games from Nova in each of the last three series in Tampa.

Admission to all UT softball games is free of charge. Live stats and a broadcast will be available through tampaspartans.tv.

Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans), Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans), YouTube (youtube.com/utathletics) and Instragram (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.