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Power Surge Allows Spartans to Fend Off Elimination; Keep Dancing
May 15, 2026

Power Surge Allows Spartans to Fend Off Elimination; Keep Dancing

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SAINT LEO, Fla. - The University of Tampa's Softball team closes out the regular season by spliting the final double header of the season to win the final series of the season.

Records: #5 Tampa 36-13, #8 Spring Hill 34-25, #4 AUM 43-13

Location: Mary Cannon Cabot Stadium l Saint Leo, FL.

History: Today's games marked the Spartans second ever meeting with Spring Hill and the eighth meeting with AUM. Tampa has won both meetings with Spring Hill and taken five of the eight meetings with AUM.

Final Game One: #5 Tampa 14, #8 Spring Hill 2

Final Game Two: #5 Tampa 8, #4 AUM 0

 

HOW IT HAPPENED - GAME ONE vs. Spring Hill:

The Spartans took the field with the season on the line following their day one defeat, and quickly put two runs on the board through a bases loaded walk in the first and an RBI single from Jenna Neupaver in the second to leave Tampa with an early 2-1 lead following a Spring Hill run in the bottom of the second. The rest of this game would be dominated by the Spartan offense, as Karlee Salisbury would launch a two run home run to provide an immediate response for the Spartans before an out was recorded in the third. A further three runs would cross for the Spartans before the inning would end courtesy of RBIs from Lennox Ullrich, Jenna Neupaver, and Aubrey Zechmann. The onslaught would continue in the fourth for the Spartans, as they would record another seven runs in the inning with six of them coming via the long ball. Makiah Brumbelow-Neal, Cam Feast, and Kinnah Kreidler would all go deep in the inning with Feast and Kreidler hitting solo shots while Brumbelow-Neal launched a grand slam to serve as the punctuation mark on this Spartan performance. Starter Gwen McGinnis would only need to pitch three innings in the victory, as Tampa's barrage of runs meant McGinnis could get some additional rest before the start of the second elimination game of the day for the Spartans.

INSIDE THE STATS: 

  • McGinnis - W (25-5): 3.0 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 4 SO, 0 BB

  • Brumbelow-Neal - 1-1, HR (1), 4 RBI (21), R

  • Salisbury - 2-3, HR (1), 3 RBI (19), 3B (2), 2 R, BB

  • Kreidler - 2-2, HR (5), RBI (29), 2 R, 2 BB

  • Neupaver - 2-2, 2 RBI (21), 3B (1), 3 R, 2 BB

  • 4 Spartan Home Runs in game one marks only the third time in program history that Tampa has had at least four home runs in one game (most since 2023)

  • Win also marks Coach Leslie Kanter's 900th win at the helm of the Spartan program!

 

HOW IT HAPPENED - GAME TWO vs. AUM:

After the success of the first game, Tampa would get another shot at AUM. This time though, the season was once again on the line. In the early innings, this game would follow a similar script to yesterday's game with the first two innings failing to yield any runs. Again like yesterday's game, the breakthrough came in the third inning, but this time it came from the Spartans. Once again, it was Karlee Salisbury providing the goods for Tampa as she would smack a two run single and steal a base that allowed another run to score on the throw. Tampa would get a fourth run in the inning through Joey Trawick's RBI single. Gwen McGinnis was in the circle again to face the same lineup that had gotten to her yesterday, but today was a different story. McGinnis would keep the Warhawks off the scoreboard by expertly navigating a few traffic jams on the base paths. Kreidler and Salisbury would each add another RBI in the fourth inning, bringing the lead to 6-0, which brought into play the possibility of a second run rule win in as many games for Tampa. They would duly take this chance as Olivia Feldman and Kelsey Winters would each add an RBI of their own to the proceedings to finish off the game to advance the Spartans to the regional final.

INSIDE THE STATS:  

  • McGinnis - W (26-5): 6.0 IP, 0 R, 7 H, 4 SO, 0 BB

  • Salisbury - 1-3, 3 RBI (22), 2 R, BB, SB (5)

  • Kreidler - 2-3, RBI (30), R, BB

  • Trawick - 2-3, RBI (17)

  • Neupaver - 3-4, 2 R

() - Season Totals

UP NEXT: The Spartans matchup with the top seed in the South Region, Saint Leo, in the regional final with a trip to super regionals on the line starting tomorrow, May 16 at noon.