GAME 1 BOX
GAME 2 BOX
 
GULF SHORES, Ala. – The West Florida softball team defeated Young Harris and Flagler on the second day of the Gulf Coast Invitational to improve its record to 3-1 on the year. Becca Taylor and Sarah Maloney each earned wins in the circle.
 
Offense came from all parts of the lineup for UWF today. Rachel Wright, Caitlin Steel, Kayla Rosario, Chelsy Krantz and Jessica Wilkinson each tallied two-hit games for UWF on Saturday, and Wilkinson's second in Game 2 helped the Argos walk away with a win. Meghan Toney and Emily Pettigrew each scored twice, and seven different Argos drove in a run.
 
Game 1: UWF 2, Young Harris 1
Game 1 featured a pitchers' duel between UWF's Becca Taylor and Darby Stanford of Young Harris. Stanford held West Florida scoreless through three innings, and YHC's Grace Botti drew a bases-loaded walk to give the Mountain Lions a 1-0 in the third.
 
Kathleen Smiley followed up on a strong first day of the tournament by driving in Meghan Toney with an RBI single in the top of the fourth to even the score. The teams were held scoreless through regulation, with each tallying just six hits in the game's first seven innings. Taylor cruised through the top of the seventh, getting groundouts from YHC's top three in the order.
 
With international tiebreaker rules in effect, Kalyn Chapman led off the eighth with Emily Pettigrew on second. Chapman laid down a sacrifice bunt that advanced Pettigrew, and pinch hitter Jessica Wilkinson brought the runner in with a groundout on the next play.
 
YHC's first batter of its half of the eighth popped up an attempted sacrifice bunt that was caught by Smiley. With the runner stranded, Taylor struck out the next batter and later got a fly ball fielded by Pettigrew for the final out of the game.
 
Taylor pounded the strike zone throughout the day, inducing 12 groundouts in her eight innings of work, while striking out four and walking just two.
 
Game 2: UWF 6, Flagler 5
The Argos jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second, beginning with a walk from Pettigrew. Kayla Rosario and Chelsy Krantz recorded back-to-back singles to load the bases, and Pettigrew scored on a Rachel Wright sacrifice fly.
 
Meghan Toney followed with a fielder's choice that scored Rosario and moved Krantz to third, before Jacey Castro hit a sharp grounder to third and reached on a poor throw that led to UWF's final two runs of the inning.
 
Sarah Maloney cruised through the Flagler order with little trouble for the first five innings. In those five frames, she held the Saints scoreless while striking out four and allowing just three hits. Flagler chipped away at Maloney in the sixth, however, and scored three runs on four hits, including a two-run home run by Mackenzie Conley.
 
Flagler put up two more in the top half of the seventh to take a 5-4 lead, and UWF brought the heart of the order to the plate in the bottom half. Smiley doubled to start the rally with one out and Caitlin Steel made an appearance as a pinch runner. Steel scored when Rhiannon Sassman smoked a line drive single back up the middle to tie the game. Sara Spears moved Sassman over with a ground ball, and Sassman scored on Jessica Wilkinson's single to the right side that fell in for a walk-off win.
 
 
Defense stood out for UWF in Game 2, with several diving efforts turning into outs for the Argos. Sassman dove for a popup in foul territory for the first out in the third inning, and Pettigrew capped the inning off with a sliding catch in left-center field. Toney followed that with a diving catch near second base to start the top of the fourth, and Castro dove away from third base to grab a liner for the last out of the fifth, while Smiley did the same in the sixth.
 
UWF will wrap up the tournament on Sunday with games against Simon Fraser and Miles, beginning at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively.