Hurricane Softball Drops Saturday Game with at South Florida

Saturday, April 12

Tampa, Fla.

3:30 p.m.

Tulsa

18-23, 6-11

South Florida

32-12-1, 11-5-1

Tulsa

South Florida

Hurricane Softball Drops Saturday Game with at South Florida

4/12/2025 7:48:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

TAMPA, Fla. – The University of Tulsa held to a single run for the second time in as many games as South Florida secured the series with a 5-1 win over the Golden Hurricane on Saturday in the USF Softball Stadium.

Tulsa (18-23, 6-11 The American) did not lead in game two and has now dropped seven straight contests. TU held South Florida (32-12-1, 11-5-1 The American) scoreless through the first three innings for the second game in a row but could not score the runs necessary to put pressure on the hosts. Tulsa was outhit 9-7, and USF committed the game's only error. Both teams left plenty stranded as Tulsa left seven on the bags and South Florida stranded eight.

Maura Moore ( 12-11) got the start and took the loss on Saturday. She spun 3.2 innings and was tagged for three runs on five hits with a pair of walks. Alexa Hopkins threw the final 2.1 innings, striking out four and giving up a pair of runs on four hits.

South Florida's Belle Sardja (12-4) got the win after a strong six innings of work where she allowed just one run on five TU hits. She walked a Hurricane and struck out four. Payton Dixon pitched the final inning and allowed a hit and a batter reached via an error.

Maci Cole pushed her hitting streak to 13 games with a single in the sixth. She came around to score Tulsa's only run. Celeste Wood added her team-best 28^th RBI when she drove Cole in later with a single. Wood and Whitney Holcomb each had two hits

HOW IT HAPPENED
Like Hopkins in Friday's matchup, Moore kept South Florida at bay until the fourth inning. With one out, Moore hit back-to-back Bulls to put two on, and then South Florida recorded consecutive doubles to have a 2-0 lead. The third came in with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. After a walk, Hopkins entered to close the inning.

South Florida added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. A single with one out and a steal had another runner in scoring position. The third double in two innings scored a run to give USF a 4-0 lead. After an infield single put runners on the corner, South Florida pulled off a double steal of second and home to go up 5-0.

Tulsa broke through in the sixth. Cole, Faith Russell and Wood singled in a row to score Cole and cut the deficit to 5-1. However, a flyout, a ball hitting Wood between first and second, and a flyout to center field ended Tulsa's chances of cutting deeper into the lead.

In TU's final at-bats, Elle Rouse reached on a throwing error from third to start the inning. An infield single put two on, but the next three batters all went down as South Florida clinched the 5-1 win.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Tulsa	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	7	0
USF	0	0	0	3	2	0	X	5	9	1

UP NEXT
Tulsa and South Florida will play the final game of the three-game set on Sunday at noon in the USF Softball Stadium. The game will air on ESPN+ as Tulsa looks to avoid the sweep.