PENSACOLA, Fla. – The No. 35 West Florida baseball team won its third consecutive game to start the season over Rollins 7-5 Friday night at Jim Spooner Field in the first game of the UWF Invitational brought to you by McDonald, Fleming, Moorhead.
 
The Argonauts (3-0) led the entire game after the second inning but had to hold off a ninth-inning Tars (2-2) comeback to secure the win.
 
"They made a surge late," UWF coach Mike Jeffcoat said. "Offensively, we had the hits when we needed them and a big second inning where we put four runs on the board. We never let them take the lead, but we need to cut down on the strikeouts and clean up the defense."
 
UWF scored four in the second highlighted by RBI-singles from Nic Strasser (Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips HS) and Kyle Hamner (Maitland, Fla./Edgewater HS).
 
Rollins responded with a three-run third, but UWF scored one in the fifth and two in the sixth on a Ledarious Clark (Meridian, Miss./East Mississippi CC) two-run single to extend its lead to 7-3.
 
Walker O'Connor (Bedford, Mass./Malden Catholic HS) earned his second win of the season in relief after entering the game in the fourth and pitching four scoreless innings while allowing three hits and striking out five.
 
UWF allowed two runs in the ninth, including one unearned, as Rollins cut the lead to 7-5 before the final out was recorded.
 
"We've been averaging two or three errors a game," Jeffcoat said. "As the season goes on, you're not going to keep winning with that kind of defense. I was a little bit disappointed in those aspects, but we won and we'll move forward and try to do better tomorrow."
 
UWF hosts Albany State at 3 p.m. and Flagler at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, at Jim Spooner Field.
 
For information on all UWF athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.