PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida softball team split a Saturday doubleheader with Mississippi College to start the Gulf South Conference season. The Argonauts stand at 9-2 on the year heading into Sunday's series finale.
 
Kathleen Smiley, Callan Taylor and Tiona Hill each picked up three RBI in the doubleheader, Sara Spears had two, and Rhiannon Sassman led all players with three hits on the day.
 
GAME 1: UWF 13, Mississippi College 4
Six Argonauts tallied multiple hits and four had multiple RBI in Game 1 of the doubleheader. Kathleen Smiley went 1-for-2 with a walk and a home run, scoring three times and driving in three.
 
West Florida opened conference play with the biggest offensive output of this young season, scoring 13 runs in the five-inning win over MC. It was a contest during which six Argonauts recorded multiple hits and four had two or more RBI.
 
The scoring started in the first inning, when Kathleen Smiley hit her team-leading third home run of the year over the left center field fence to score herself and Jacey Castro. Smiley would strike again in the third with a bases-loaded fielder's choice to bring in Rhiannon Sassman and kickstart a seven-run inning.
 
Just two batters later, Crestview, Florida, native Callan Taylor homered for the first time in her UWF career, driving in Smiley and Meghan Toney to stretch the score to 6-0. The Argonauts then used three consecutive RBI hits from Caitlin Steel, Sara Spears and Sassman to give West Florida a comfortable 9-0 lead after three innings.
 
Mississippi College put two on the board in the fourth, but Tiona Hill got those runs back and added another with a 3-run double in the bottom half of the inning. With the score 12-2, Spears singled again to pick up her third RBI of the afternoon. The Choctaws would score twice in the fifth before West Florida took the run-rule victory.
 
Becca Taylor picked up the win, giving her a 5-1 record on the year while striking out two across four innings. Taylor Rolison took the circle in the fifth and closed things out.
 
GAME 2: UWF 1, Mississippi College 4
The second half of the double feature was much quieter, as UWF picked up just three hits. The Choctaws scored all four of their runs in the fourth, but the Argonaut pitching staff avoided all threats in the other six innings.
 
Castro gave UWF its lone run of the game with a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Sassman, who reached with a leadoff triple in the sixth. All three of UWF's hits turned into extra bases, as Caitlin Steel doubled in the left center gap in the fifth and Meghan Toney advanced to second on a single after a throwing error from the MC shortstop.
 
Sarah Maloney suffered the loss in the circle after giving up four runs in 3.1 innings, while striking out three. Rolison came in relief once again, this time in the fourth. In her 3.2 innings, the rookie struck out five and did not issue a walk.
 
Maloney worked her way out of a jam in the third, following a leadoff single from Haley Thompson. The junior struck out the next two batters she faced before hitting Kristen Qualls and walking Makenzie Nieto, but she followed those with by forcing Lauren Mulligan to pop out.
 
The series wraps up tomorrow with a 1 pm start at the UWF Softball Complex.