February 11, 2016 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The University of West Florida swept Miles in a doubleheader in Birmingham on Thursday. West Florida took the Game 1 victory 10-1 in six innings, and made Game 2 a five-inning affair.
Following the doubleheader, opposing batters are hitting just .228 against UWF pitching on the year, and the staff has posted a 2.20 ERA.
Rachel Wright led the team with six hits on the day, and
Emily Pettigrew tallied five.
Game 1: UWF 10, Miles 1 (6 innings)UWF jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on a
Kathleen Smiley single that brought in
Rachel Wright after Wright led off the inning with a walk. The offense really kicked into gear in the second inning with a three-spot, as
Emily Pettigrew,
Kayla Rosario and
Chelsy Krantz recorded consecutive singles to lead off the frame. Krantz,
Caitlin Steel and Wright picked up RBIs in the second, to stretch the UWF lead to 4-0.
Steel made the lead 5-0 in the third when she laced a single into center field and scored Pettigrew, who led off with a single.
Rhiannon Sassman's first career home run, a two-run shot to straightaway center, put West Florida up 7-0 after four innings. Sassman would strike again in the sixth with an RBI double in the right-center field gap.
Sara Spears brought in her first RBI of the season when she reached on a grounder to second that scored
Jessica Wilkinson and brought Sassman in on an error.
Becca Taylor controlled the game in the circle from the start, allowing just one baserunner to reach in her three innings of work and striking out the side in the first inning.
Kalyn Chapman entered the game in relief in the fourth and struck out four of the first seven batters she faced. The win improved Taylor's record to 3-0.
Game 2: UWF 21, Miles 0 (5 innings)The backend of the doubleheader started with four straight singles by UWF batters, including one by
Kathleen Smiley that gave West Florida a 1-0 lead. Sassman drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-0, and
Kayla Rosario drove in two more with a single to right field just two batters later.
Jacey Castro began the sixth with a double down the left field line, and following a Smiley walk, Sassman drove in a run with a double in the left-center gap.
Emily Pettigrew came up next and singled up the middle to bring in Smiley, and Rosario brought Sassman in to score with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Kalyn Chapman followed that with a home run to the deepest part of the park for her second longball of the season.
UWF ultimately tallied 13 in the third on 8 hits, topped by Chapman's second home run of the inning and third of the season, which was a grand slam to right-center field. She finished her day 2-4 at the plate with two home runs, two runs scored and six RBI, which is a season-best for all UWF players.
Freshman
Tori Wilkins picked up the first hit and RBI of her career at UWF with a line drive single in the fourth, and Sassman brought in one more with a double down the right field line to put the score at 19-0. Wilkins was one of seven Argos to collect multiple hits in the game, with
Rachel Wright's four leading the way. Wright homered for the first time in her career in the fifth to give UWF the 21-0 lead it won with.
Chapman and
Sarah Maloney dominated in the circle in Game 2, with Chapman getting the start and striking out two in her two innings of work. Maloney went the final three, striking out six and allowing just one hit.
The Argos take the field again tomorrow with a doubleheader against Lee in Cleveland, Tennessee. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.
For information on all UWF athletics, visit
www.GoArgos.com.
