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May 7, 2016
 
PENSACOLA, Fla.  –  Justin Ambrosino launched a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the University of West Florida baseball team an 11-7 victory against the Lee University Flames in the first round of the 2016 Gulf South Conference Tournament.
 
With the win, West Florida will advance to Game 5 of the Gulf South Conference Tournament where the squad will square off with the loser of the West Alabama-West Georgia contest at 3:00 p.m. UWF will be looking to advance to the tournament's semifinals, while tomorrow's opponent will be fighting off elimination from the double-elimination bracket. 
 
The box score certainly does not depict a pitcher's duel, however UWF's JT Granat and Lee's Trenton Hill both pitched phenomenally for the game's first six innings as the score stood at 1-1 after the first six frames.
 
UWF grabbed its first run of the game after Jean Figueroa hit his third triple of the year over the head of Lee right fielder Zack Zyburt. Figueroa would later score on a wild pitch in the ensuing at bat.
 
Lee would respond in the top of the sixth with a perfectly placed bunt from Lee's Nathan Wierzgac that allowed Hill to score.
 
In his 146^th career game, senior shortstop Alex Greene hit a grand slam that cleared the left field wall to provide UWF with a 7-1 lead in the seventh inning for his first career home run. Earlier in the inning, Robert Lopez contributed an RBI with a bloop single to right and Nick Kerkmann scored on an error by Lee shortstop Luke Toms.
 
JT Granat continued his 2016 dominance with a seven-inning performance, allowing only one earned run on six hits while striking out seven and walking just one batter. Lee threatened with runners in scoring position in each of the first three innings, however a resilient Granat allowed the Flames to be held at bay as the junior right-hander allowed just one Flames runner to reach second base for the remainder of his outing.
 
It appeared the Flames were down for the count heading into the top of the eighth, as Lee faced a 7-1 deficit. The Lee lineup was able to heat up in the later stages, posting a two-spot in the eighth before a massive four-run ninth inning completed the comeback and tied the score at 7-7.
 
With two outs in the ninth and the chance of a ninth-inning walk off looking dismal, Jimmy Redovian kept the ballgame going with liner through the middle for a single. Greene would be hit by a pitch in the next at bat, and Nic Strasser recorded a single through the left side to load the bags. Ambrosino then hit a 1-1 offering from Lee's Tyler Burcham over the left field wall and narrowly hooked it around the left field foul pole to complete UWF's sixth walk off win of the season.
 
Steve McClellan earned his second win of the season, throwing 0.2 of an inning with one strikeout and one unearned run.
 
West Florida, who was out-hit by Lee 14-8, had Jimmy Redovian's multi-hit performance as the only one in the contest. Greene, Figueroa and Redovian led the team with two runs apiece.
 
UWF maintains a perfect 24-0 record when scoring six or more runs, while keeping another perfect record with a 20-0 record when leading after seven innings. The win for UWF snapped a three-game skid in GSC Tournament action, which dated back to the 2014 season.
 
To stay updated on the UWF baseball team, follow the team on Twitter @UWF_Baseball. For information on all UWF Athletics, visit GoArgos.com.