CLEARWATER, Fla. – The University of West Florida softball team lost both games in the second day of the Eckerd College Invitational in Clearwater, Florida. The Argonauts (1-3, 0-0 GSC) fell to Florida Tech 8-3 in the first game of the day, then fell to Saint Leo University 5-3 in eight innings.
"We struggled in game one defensively," said head coach
Melissa Paul. "In the end, we just couldn't get timely hits when we needed them."
In two games, junior
Kayla Rosario (Pensacola, Fla./Pensacola State College) went 4-for-7 on the day and batted in three RBI to lead UWF.
Game 1: West Florida 3, Florida Tech 8 West Florida started slow against the Panthers after FIT scored two runs in the first inning to jump to a 2-0 lead and added a run in the second to quickly go up 3-0. UWF's bats would come alive in the fourth inning when
Jessica Wilkinson (Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz HS) drove in two runs from a double to left center. Rosario tied the game at three with an RBI single.
The Panthers would respond however, and scored four runs in the bottom half of the inning. Florida Tech would add one more run in the sixth to close out the 8-3 victory.
Sarah Maloney (Tamarac, Fla./Cypress Bay HS) was credited with the loss after pitching three innings in relief and had five earned runs and five strikeouts.
Game 2: West Florida 3, Saint Leo 5 (8 innings) Both pitchers started the game pitching well and it wasn't until the third inning that the scoring began. Saint Leo opened the scoring with two runs followed by one run by UWF in the bottom half of the inning. The Argos then scored two runs in the fourth to take the 3-2 lead. The Lions would tie the game in the sixth inning and eventually finished ahead 5-3 after eight innings.
Sophomore
Rebecca Hein (Vestavia Hills, Ala./Vestavia Hills HS) was in the circle for UWF and went all eight innings and gave up eight hits, zero earned runs, and struck out two batters.
"Hein came out strong for us in game two," continued Paul. "Her,
Meghan Toney and Rosario all did good things for us today."
West Florida will play its final game of the Eckerd College Invitational tomorrow when they face Tampa University at 11:30 a.m. ET.
For information on all UWF athletics, visit
www.GoArgos.com.
