CLEVELAND, Miss. – With a doubleheader sweep over No. 21 Delta State on Saturday, the University of West Florida softball team moved into sole possession of second place in the Gulf South Conference standings and stretched its winning streak to 14 games. UWF improves to 35-11 on the year, giving the Argos the most wins in a season for the program since 2010.
West Florida's 21-8 in-conference mark gives the team its most victories in league play since it went 22-9 in 2006.
Meghan Toney led the team with three hits on the day, while freshman
Rachel Wright drove in five runs with two home runs in Game 1. She is the third Argonaut this year – following
Kalyn Chapman and
Jacey Castro – to hit two home runs in a game and record at least five RBIs.
Rhiannon Sassman extended her hitting streak to 13 games with a hit in each game, marking the longest such streak for a UWF player this season. She is hitting .487 over her last 13, with five doubles, four triples and a team-high 21 RBIs.
GAME 1: West Florida 9, Delta State 0 (5 innings)
UWF freshman
Rachel Wright's first home run of the afternoon was a solo shot in the top of the second inning to give West Florida a 1-0 lead.
After working out of a bit of a jam in the first,
Kalyn Chapman cruised through her final four innings in the circle to collect her 17th win and fourth shutout victory of the season. The senior struck out four, walked none and allowed just five hits to DSU's offense.
West Florida opened it up in the third, scoring six runs on seven hits. It started with a one-out single from
Emily Pettigrew, who extended her on-base streak to 29 games, and the next five Argos recorded hits. Toney and Sassman reached with singles,
Kathleen Smiley and
Jacey Castro each added an RBI with their singles, and Wright cleared the bases with a monstrous grand slam to put UWF up 7-0.
West Florida added another run in the fourth and a final in the fifth, to put the score at 9-0.
Caitlin Steel started the fourth with a single and was advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Pettigrew. Toney advanced Steel to third with a single and Sassman's sacrifice fly to left field brought Steel in to score.
Wright walked with one away in the fifth and Chapman singled to move her up a base.
Jessica Wilkinson scored Wright with a single to left field just a batter later. Every Argonaut in the starting lineup recorded a hit on the day and seven of them scored a run.
GAME 2: West Florida 2, Delta State 0
Becca Taylor continued where Chapman left off in the circle, going a full seven innings for her second shutout of the season. Taylor allowed just five hits on the afternoon, striking out two and walking only one. She has not walked more than two batters in a single game all year, and Taylor has issued one or zero walks in 21 of her 24 appearances.
Bats stayed quiet in Game 2 on both sides, as the teams totaled just 11 hits and one walk, but UWF broke the scoreless tie with a two-run single from Toney in the third.
Chelsy Krantz started the rally with a one-out single and Steel advanced her to third with a double to left field, putting runners in scoring position for the top of the UWF order. Toney struck at the perfect time with a two-out, two-run liner to right-center field, giving UWF a 2-0 lead. That single turned out to be the game-winner, as both teams were held scoreless the rest of the way.
West Florida caught NCAA Division II stolen base leader Kassidy Tally stealing home in the first, marking just the fourth time this season that the left fielder has been caught. With one away, Tally on third and GSC doubles leader Kaitlin Moore on first, Moore took second and a throw from Steel to Toney and back to Steel caught Tally in her sprint to the plate.
Tally has been successful on steal attempts in 63 of 67 tries this season and ranks third all-time in DII stolen bases.
UWF wraps up the series tomorrow afternoon with a game at 1 p.m.
