Box Score TAMPA, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University softball team (16-22, 4-15 SSC) lost a razor-thin game Friday night to start a three-game weekend against the Tampa Spartans (25-9, 13-6 SSC), 1-0, on the road.
The game featured a premier pitching matchup between NSU's
Rebecca Thornton (So., Lodi, Calif.) and Tampa's Julia Morrow. Thornton (13-10) took the loss but had one of her best conference outings of the year. She held the SSC title contenders to five hits over six innings without a walk. She allowed one run in the fourth, but held the Spartans hitless in three of six frames. Morrow was just as lethal, shutting out the Sharks and holding them to four hits while striking out eight.
The lone score of the game came in the fourth inning on a series of close plays. Sahrina Cortes reached first on an infield hit in which the throw was called late by a hair. Bre Setree followed with a shallow hit to left field, just barely out of
Jessie Brown's (Fr., Davie, Fla.) reach. Brown made a great effort to still make the out at first, but her throw went wide and allowed two Spartans to reach scoring position. With two outs on the board, Lindsay Dring hit a RBI single to right field for the game's only run.
Although the Sharks did not score, they had their chances.
Brenisha Bannister (Fr., Plantation, Fla.) and
Katrina Ammons (Sr., Jacksonville, Fla) each reached base twice Friday. Bannister went 2-for-3 while Ammons went 1-for-2 with a walk and a fourth-inning double off the high wall in right centerfield, possibly a home run in other parks.
The Sharks left five runners on base Friday, but had their greatest chance to score in the fifth inning. Bannister hit a leadoff single to left field, but the Sharks could not bunt her over, popping out foul twice. Senior
Courtney Bridge (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) hit a timely single to put runners on the corners. The Sharks hit the top of the order with
Maegan Lee (Sr., Miami, Fla.), but Tampa catcher Kandi Kuder made a diving play to preserve the shutout. Bridge's single would be the final hit of the game for NSU.
The Sharks will complete the series Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader in downtown Tampa.
