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April 24, 2016
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The right side of the infield in second basemen
Nic Strasser and first basemen
Justin Ambrosino provided seven RBI on the day as the University of West Florida baseball team dismantled the Shorter University Hawks 12-2 on Sunday afternoon.
With the victory and Delta State's extra-inning loss to Valdosta State, UWF will need to win just one game next weekend at Lee to secure the Gulf South Conference regular-season title.
West Florida sits at 31-13 with a 23-7 GSC record in 2016, while Shorter falls to 12-32 on the year with a 6-24 league mark.
For the third consecutive game, Shorter scored in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. Like usual, West Florida wasted no time in responding, posting a four spot on Shorter starting pitcher Michael Weiksner. Weiksner was not able to record an out before getting tagged for four earned runs and four hits and getting pulled.
Ambrosino started the scoring with his first triple of the season to the right-centerfield gap, which allowed Strasser and
Alex Greene to score.
Ladeavon Matthews provided UWF its fourth consecutive hit to open the game and scored Ambrosino on his single through the left side.
Nick Kerkmann capped the scoring in the first with an RBI double to left to score Matthews and create a 4-1 lead.
JT Granat earned his eighth win of the season, throwing five innings and allowing just one earned run on three hits. Granat posted a span of 3.1 innings without allowing a hit in his outing.
Ambrosino added his second extra-base hit in the bottom of the fifth, hitting an RBI double to score
Alex Greene.
Robert Lopez continued his imposing weekend at the plate with a 2-RBI single to left and open up the score to 7-1.
Strasser added his team-high eighth home run of the season for an additional three runs in the sixth. Strasser's eight home runs on the year is the ninth most in the conference, while his 42 RBI is seventh in the GSC.
Senior
Josh McLaney made his ninth appearance of the season and allowed just one hit in two innings of work.
UWF would send the fans home early as
John Price hit an RBI single before coming around to score on Strasser's game-ending double to have the 10-run rule come into effect and end the ballgame with a final score of 12-2 after seven innings.
Strasser led the offense with a 3-for-4 performance with 4 RBI, a home run and a double. Ambrosino and Price each went 2-for-4 while Ambrosino recorded a triple and a double in the contest. All nine members of the UWF starting lineup reached base at least once.
After completing the sweep of Shorter, UWF now has 31 wins on the season. The Argos now have eight consecutive 30-win seasons, which is the longest active streak in the GSC.
UWF will pay a quick stop to Mobile, Alabama on Tuesday, playing against Spring Hill at 6:00 p.m. West Florida will look to clinch its first GSC regular season title since 2011 and secure hosting the 2016 Gulf South Conference tournament next weekend at Lee.
To stay updated on the UWF baseball team, follow the team on Twitter @UWF_Baseball. For information on all UWF Athletics, visit GoArgos.com.
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