PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida softball team won its seventh consecutive game and completed a sweep over No. 14 Alabama Huntsville with a 10-2, six-inning win over the Chargers on Sunday afternoon. With the victory, UWF improved to 17-8 on the year and jumped to 5-7 in Gulf South Conference play.
 
Becca Taylor went the distance for the second time in the series, striking out seven and issuing no walks in six innings of work. It was impressive week for Taylor, dating back to the midweek doubleheaders against Barry and Nova Southeastern. Since Tuesday, she has thrown 25 innings, struck out 16, walked just five and held opponents to a .200 batting average.  
 
The senior retired six of the first seven batters she faced and struck out three over her first two innings. It looked like trouble could be looming in the third when left fielder Sarah Jordan led off the inning with a single, but Taylor forced three consecutive groundouts to stop the UAH threat before it could really begin. She ended the day having thrown 85 pitches, 62 of which were strikes.
 
UWF seemed to ride that wave of momentum in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs and Sara Spears on second base, Meghan Toney slapped a single past a diving Erin Jewell at short and put two on for Rhiannon Sassman. After Toney stole second, her fifth stolen base of the week, Sassman hit a sharp single back up the middle to bring in Spears and Toney, after some heads-up baserunning from UWF's junior second baseman.

That play put the score at 2-0 in favor of UWF, and Pensacola native Kathleen Smiley added to it with a monstrous two-run home run. Smiley's fifth round-tripper of the year gave Taylor and the Argonauts more than enough support to take the win.
 
UAH threatened again in the fourth with back-to-back singles to start the inning, but Taylor struck out Shannon Long, Smiley made a play on Taylor Wascavage's sacrifice bunt and second baseman Brooke Miller popped up to Tiona Hill in foul territory to end the inning and escape the jam.
 
The Argonauts added three more runs in the bottom half of the fourth, stretching the lead to 7-0 after a leadoff single from Hill, a double from Rachel Wright, a triple from Spears, and a sacrifice fly from Jacey Castro.
 
UAH's Kaitlyn Bannister got the Chargers on the board with a home run in the fifth, but Hill added an RBI to her tally in the home half of the inning, bringing in pinch-runner Kara Wilson and giving UWF an 8-2 lead.
 
The sixth inning came easy for Taylor, as she retired the Chargers in order. West Florida added the two runs it needed in the sixth to end the game early, with walks from Spears and Sassman and a pinch-hit single from Baleigh Boltz. The runs came in on fielder's choice plays when Smiley hit a grounder to third base and Spears beat the throw home, and when a throw from UAH pitcher Rachel Burden was dropped by Wascavage at the plate and Boltz came across.
 
Rachel Wright added two hits and Caitlin Steel had one to wrap up the best weeks of their seasons. Entering the doubleheaders against Barry and Nova Southeastern, the pair was a combined 4-for-37 since conference play began in February. Wright brought her cold snap to an end in this series, going 4-for-7 with a double in three games, and Steel hit .533 over five games starting on Tuesday against Barry.
 
Collectively, UWF started running a bit more often this week, with 17 stolen bases in 20 tries over the last seven games. The Argonauts are now 33-for-40 in steal attempts this year.

The pitching was also at its best over the week, posting a 1.02 ERA in seven games. Freshman Taylor Rolison did not allow an earned run and struck out six over 5.2 innings, Becca Taylor threw three complete games and had a 1.12 ERA, and Sarah Maloney struck out 24 in 17.1 innings and had a 1.21 ERA.
 
West Florida visits Carrollton, Georgia, for a weekend series against West Georgia next Saturday and Sunday before returning home for a doubleheader against Spring Hill on March 22.