FLORENCE, Ala. – The University of West Florida softball team started off the Gulf South Conference Tournament with a three-hour, 13-inning win over 6-seed Shorter on Thursday morning before going toe-to-toe with 2-seed Valdosta State later in the afternoon. After the first day of the tournament, UWF stands 38-14 and will face 4-seed Alabama Huntsville on Friday at 12:30 p.m.
 
West Florida totaled 23 hits in its two games today, with 10 runs scored and eight extra-base hits, including four home runs. Rachel Wright led the team with five total hits on the day, and Kalyn Chapman hit two home runs to extend her team lead to eight.
 
GAME 1: West Florida 7, Shorter 6 (13 innings)
UWF opened the GSC Tournament with the longest game in tournament history on Thursday morning, and Emily Pettigrew's walkoff single in the 13th gave West Florida the win. Becca Taylor picked up her 14th win of the year in relief of Kalyn Chapman, with the pair totaling 4 strikeouts, just four walks and only 10 hits allowed over 13 frames.
 
Rachel Wright led all batters with four hits in the game, including a leadoff home run in the fourth inning to give UWF its first lead of the day at 3-2. It was the freshman's third four-hit game of the year, which leads the team.
 
Shorter got out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first, but a Kathleen Smiley solo home run in the second and singles from Caitlin Steel, Meghan Toney and Rhiannon Sassman in the third evened the score. Smiley's tied her with Chapman for the most home runs on the team, with six.
 
The two did not stay tied for long, as West Florida was back at it in the fourth when Chapman went yard in the fifth against Shorter's relief ace Kalei Kimbrell, just the fourth long ball Kimbrell has allowed in nearly 60 innings in the circle this year. Wright's and Chapman's home runs in back-to-back innings gave UWF a 4-2 lead heading into the sixth.
 
Shorter struck back with a run in the sixth on a home run from Peyton Barthel and scored in the seventh on a very close play at the plate that scored Niki Cook. Those two runs tied the score at the end of regulation, and the teams headed to extras tied at 4-4. After trading zeroes in the eighth, Shorter scored two in the top of the ninth to put the pressure on UWF.
 
Emily Pettigrew and Toney went back-to-back with one-out singles in the bottom half, putting two on for the heart of the West Florida order. Sassman moved the pair over with a grounder to first base, bringing Smiley up to the plate with the game on the line.
 
Smiley came through in the clutch, ripping a two-run double that one-hopped the right field fence, scoring Pettigrew and Toney to tie the game at six apiece after nine innings.
 
Over the next four innings, Taylor and the UWF defense allowed just two base runners, only one of whom got on with a hit. Chelsy Krantz led off the 13th with a bunt, and a wild throw on the play from Shorter third baseman Kameron Carter put Krantz at second. Steel laid down a sacrifice bunt that advanced Krantz to third, bringing Pettigrew to the plate, already with two hits in the game.
 
Pettigrew laced a 2-0 pitch from Kimbrell through the left side, scoring Krantz and giving West Florida the win.
 
UWF is now 6-1 in extra-inning games this season and improved to 34-2 when outhitting opponents.
 
The Argonauts also matched their longest game in postseason history with the victory, a 13-inning affair against Florida Southern in the 2005 South Regional that resulted in a 1-0 UWF win.
 
GAME 2: Valdosta State 5, West Florida 3
UWF battled early against GSC Pitcher of the Year Caitlyn Calhoun, getting runners on in each of the first two innings despite being held scoreless.
 
West Florida ultimately struck first blood, as Smiley singled to left to bring in Toney after a one-out double from the sophomore in the third inning. It was Smiley's fourth RBI of the day
 
Timely hitting from VSU hurt the Argos, as Kiley Rusen hit a home run with two on and one away in the bottom half. Heather Robinson followed two batters later with a home run to stretch the VSU lead to 4-1.
 
UWF kept chipping away, picking up another run in the fourth on an RBI single from Steel to drive in Krantz and put the score at 4-2. VSU's Brandy Morgan hit a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth to give the Blazers a little more insurance, at 5-2.
 
West Florida came back with another run in the sixth, on a leadoff home run from Chapman – her second of the day. Sarah Maloney relieved Becca Taylor in the bottom of the fifth, finishing the game with two shutout innings and allowing just two Blazers to reach base. With the score at 5-3 in the seventh, UWF was unable to mount the comeback and fell to Valdosta State for the first time this season.
 
The Argonauts have hit .278 in three games against Calhoun, averaging more than three runs per game and slugging .400 against the junior. Those numbers are a far cry from Calhoun's averages this season, as she has held opponents to a .201 average, a .364 slugging percentage and an average of just 1.6 runs. UWF and VSU are an even 4-4 in their last eight matchups.