BOX SCORE
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The UWF baseball team scored 11 unanswered runs after allowing a Mississippi College three-run home run in the first to complete a series sweep of the Choctaws on Sunday afternoon. With the 11-3 win for UWF, the Argos extend its winning streak to six games and are now 7-4 on the year, while Mississippi drops to 1-11 with a 0-3 Gulf South Conference record.
Walker O'Connor, who is now tied for fourth in UWF's record books with his 21
st career win after his performance on Sunday, had an uncharacteristic first few outings of the season but dominated in his first conference outing of the year. The redshirt senior right-hander posted 3.2 innings of work and allowed just two hitters to reach base while striking out five to earn his first victory of the season.
"He struggled a little bit to start the year, but obviously he (O'Connor) pitched very well today," said head coach
Mike Jeffcoat."I think the bottom line for today was that we were able to get into their bullpen and we were helped by some walks and we had some quality at-bats down the stretch."
Jared Middleton made his third start of the season and allowed seven hits, three unearned runs, two strikeouts and a walk over 3.2 innings on the hill. After allowing a three-run homer to MC left fielder Casey Echols in the first, Middleton concluded his outing by allowing just three hits in his final 2.2 innings of work.
The Argonauts trailed in the contest until the midway point of the ballgame but a two-run, two-hit bottom of the fifth allowed the Argonauts to take a 4-3 lead.
Nic Strasser recorded a sacrifice fly to center to score
Trevor Payne to tie the game, and
Matt Sullivan drove in a run on a wacky sacrifice foul out to Mississippi College second baseman Hunter Sykes three batters later to provide UWF with the 4-3 advantage.
In the seventh,
Casey Crawford recorded his first collegiate hit and RBI by lining a single to left to score Ladeavon Matthews. Two batters later, Crawford was able to score on an error by MC first baseman Chance Witten to make it a 6-3 UWF lead.
The Argos added five insurance runs in the eighth, including RBI singles from Strasser and Lopez, and a sacrifice fly from
Chase Kiefer.
Brian Browning came on for relief of O'Connor initially for a favorable lefty-lefty matchup and retired all three batters he faced. The Argonaut pitching staff did not allow a hit to any of the last 10 batters it faced and
Steve McClellan closed the door on UWF's 11-3 win by recording a strikeout and a 4-3 groundout to end the ballgame.
Each spot in the Argonaut lineup recorded at least one hit.
Brandon Harmon went 2-for-6 to give him a team-high six hits for the series, while Ladeavon Matthews went 2-for-4 with two RBI to give him a team-best six RBI against the Choctaws.
Nic Strasser went 1-for-2 with a team-best 3 RBI, while
Matt Sullivan,
Casey Crawford and
Chase Kiefer all recorded one RBI each.
With a 3-0 record to start GSC play, it is the first 3-0 start for UWF in league action since the Argos started its 2014 GSC schedule with 11 consecutive wins.
Mike Jeffcoat earned his 399
th career win as UWF's head coach with the victory. Jeffcoat will aim for that 400
th win next weekend at Valdosta State, when the Argos open a three-game road set with the Blazers on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. ET.
For information on UWF athletics, visit GoArgos.com. To stay updated on the UWF baseball team, follow the team on Twitter @UWF_Baseball.