Spartans Shutout Sharks in Series Opener

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa (25-9, 13-6 SSC) softball team claimed a 1-0 victory over Nova Southeastern (16-22, 4-15 SSC) at Naimoli Family Field on Friday evening.

Senior Julia Morrow started for the Spartans and earned her 22st victory of the season. She tossed 7.0 shutout innings with eight strikeouts while allowing four hits.

Both teams were held scoreless through the first three innings as Morrow and Sharks starter Rebecca Thornton dominated hitters holding the opposition to one hit each.

Tampa took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth as Lindsay Dring delivered a clutch two out RBI single to plate Sahrina Cortes.

Morrow and the Spartan defense held the Sharks scoreless for the final three innings to claim the victory.

Kandi Kuder, Meagan Burke, Bre Setree, and Cortes each contributed a base hit apiece to the Tampa offense.

UT returns to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. at home to conclude the Sunshine State Conference series with a doubleheader against NSU. Six Tampa seniors will be honored between games including Meagan Burke, Taylor Collins, Lindsay Dring, Jenna Halper, Kandi Kuder, and Julia Morrow. Live stats as well as a video webcast will be available at www.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.