FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Nova Southeastern University softball lost an extremely close battle, 2-1, to the University of Tampa Spartans on Friday night.
 
Trailing by two headed into the bottom of the seventh, the Sharks (3-13, 0-7 SSC) would attempt to make a comeback but fell one run short to Sunshine State Conference opponent Tampa (4-4, 3-4 SSC).
 
"I felt like today was a much better day overall in terms of the kind of softball that we want to play," said head coach Julie LeMaire. "I felt like we minimized some errors in comparison to what we have been doing, and the errors that we did have did not affect the game like they have been affecting us."
 
The bottom of the seventh began with a walk to Sophia Devesa (Fr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) followed by Megan Granitto (Fr., Wellington, Fla.) getting hit by a pitch to put two runners on with no outs. Back-to-back strikeouts by Jessie Brown (So., Hollywood, Fla.) and Ashley Roe (Jr., Flower Mound, Texas) would bring up Rachel Minier (Jr., Orlando, Fla.) with two outs. Minier hit a clutch single to center field to load the bases. The Spartans would then switch pitchers, a move that would pay off despite giving up a run to Devesa off a wild pitch. Dakota Villella (Jr., Hollywood, Fla.) would end the game with a strikeout swinging.
 
Dajia Jones (Jr., Jacksonville, Fla.) pitched her best game of the season to date despite picking up the loss and moving to 2-6 on the season. Jones threw four shutout innings and only gave up two hits and two earned runs. Erica Winter (Fr., Blaine, Minn.) would take over in the top of the seventh to get the Sharks their last out. Alyssa Bache (4-4) would get the win and Makaleigh Dooley would pick up the save for the Spartans.
 
Pitching-wise Dajia started off really well. She looked really good through the first five innings," added LeMaire. "She had an inning where she lapsed there, but early in the season I think this is a good growing experience for her and she can use today as a stepping stone in terms of learning to win pressure games and getting better at the little things in order to put us in a situation to be successful as a team."
 
"Tomorrow I think we just need to build off of today," continued LeMaire. "I want us to be able to take two errors into zero errors, be able to offensively produce a little bit more and be able to drive some runs around."
 
NSU will host the Spartans in a doubleheader on Saturday, March 5 beginning at 1 p.m. at A.D. Griffin Sports Complex in Fort Lauderdale. Links to the live stats and live video stream for both games will be available HERE.