TAMPA, Fla. – The Jacksonville University softball team dropped the fifth and final installment of the USF Tournament against the reigning National Champions Florida, 9-0 on Sunday afternoon. The Fins leave Tampa, Fla., with a 2-3 record and will meet the Gators on Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 6 p.m. for the home-opener in Jacksonville. 

In five games, the Dolphins bested the competition in batting average, .273 to .252 outhitting the opposition 35-33. Eluding to the .492 in slugging percentage for the weekend,  JU had 16 extra base hits to the opponents nine; including five homeruns, and two triples.

"We've made significant strides since the fall," said head coach Jennifer Steele. "Even moreso than how we are delivering on offense, our game IQ is high. The commitment in the weight room along with conditioning and the mental training we've done  prepared us for adversity this weekend."

Junior Victoria Brown came into the Florida matchup with a .600 average with four homeruns, 10 RBI in just 10 at bats, as she drew six walks. Brown was also stellar on the rubber, going 15.2 innings, recording a 1.79 ERA with six strikeouts. 

Freshman Danielle Baker impressed in her debut with the Dolphins, batting .389 with four extra-base hits including three doubles. She notched a three-hit afternoon in the second game against Hampton. Sophomore Charli Bradshaw leaves Tampa with a .333 batting average with one homerun that plated three runs.

"We still have a lot of moving parts with some players out," said Steele. "But I'm really happy with where our team chemistry is. This team gets a long really well, it's a family. They love hard, they fight hard and they all realize they are working toward the same goal so that allows them to absorb more adversity and rely on each other to overcome obstacles like we encountered today." 

JU outscored Hampton 17-1 in the two games they met. The first was an 9-1 win after the Fins scored nine runs on 10 hits including two doubles, two triples and Brown's first homerun. Rossman highlighted the 8-0 win on Saturday, pitching a complete game shutout with three strikeouts. 

In 10 innings and over 2.5 hours of play, the Dolphins dropped the second bout of the tournament 7-8 against Illinois State on Friday. JU out-hit the Redbirds 22-14 including a .319 batting average, .580 slugging and 10 extra base hits.

Fin Notables:

• Brown had four homeruns this tournament and has 19 for her career.
• Freshman Kristen Griffith started in three games, tallying a triple and four RBI for the tournament.
• Junior leadoff hitter Sable Lee has a five-game hitting streak.
• Junior Taylor Rossman started in three games, giving up nine hits and striking out six in 10 innings.
• Bradshaw and Griffith had their three-game hitting streaks snapped against USF, Saturday.
• Senior Ashley Simon had two doubles and three RBI starting at second-base in all five games.
• Junior Cecile Gomez started in four games at third base and had two relief appearances, striking out two Florida batters in three innings of work.  
• Senior Jackie DiPiazza started in RF for the first time in 2015. She drew two walks and scored two runs.
• Junior Emily Sanchez recorded her first RBI-hit of the new season against Hampton also scoring a run.

Jacksonville will open its home schedule with Florida, Wedneday at 6 p.m at the Debbie and Fred Pruitt Softball Campus.