CARROLLTON, Ga. – Becca Taylor was in total control in the circle on Sunday, leading West Florida to a 3-0 win over Gulf South Conference opponent West Georgia. The victory was UWF's 10th in a row dating back to March 7, and Taylor picked up her GSC-leading 11th win of the year.
 
Taylor allowed just three hits across her seven innings of work and struck out two in her second solo shutout of the year. She has been as good as ever in UWF's 10-game winning streak, with a 0.80 ERA in 35 innings and a .187 opponent batting average. She was close to perfect in Carrollton this weekend, shutting out UWG over 12 innings and allowing just five hits.
 
West Florida has tuned up its performance in every aspect during this 10-game stretch. UWF is scoring nearly seven runs per game and hitting .353 with 31 extra-base hits and 21 stolen bases, while holding opponents to a .203 average and less than two runs per game since March 7. The pitching staff has shown the biggest improvement, with a 1.06 ERA between Taylor, Sarah Maloney and Taylor Rolison.
 
This is the third winning streak of 10 games or more in the last two years for UWF, and the eighth such streak since 2006.
 
A textbook example of a pitcher's duel, West Florida and UWG were held scoreless through the first five innings. UWF threatened in the second with back-to-back two-out singles from Jacey Castro and Meghan Toney but could not make anything of it, and it was a similar story in the fifth.
 
Taylor cruised through the first four innings, allowing just two hits and retiring 10 consecutive Wolves batters from the end of the first inning through the fourth. It looked like West Georgia would threaten in the fifth, with a leadoff single from Summer Wallace and a sacrifice bunt to move her to second. Taylor had no trouble getting through it, forcing a groundout to Rhiannon Sassman at short and getting a groundout back to the circle to extinguish the threat.
 
UWF finally broke through in the sixth, with a one-out single from Kathleen Smiley to start things off. After Jibrasha Moore singled up the middle and advanced to second on a fielder's choice, Tate High School product Rachel Wright ripped a hard ground ball up the middle to score Moore and gave UWF the 1-0 lead.
 
The Argonauts got some insurance in the seventh, starting with a leadoff walk from Sara Spears. She stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch, but a home run from Jacey Castro ultimately put the UWF lead at 3-0. It was Castro's third home run of the year and she hit .538 with two home runs in the series.
 
Taylor cruised through the sixth and seventh to finish her ninth complete game of the year, sitting down nine of the 10 final batters who came to the plate. Taylor and the UWF pitching staff notably held UWG's Raven Smith and Marley Stowers to a combined 2-15 this weekend. Smith and Stowers entered the series each hitting better than .400 on the year, and Stowers was second in the GSC with eight home runs.
 
Shortstop Rhiannon Sassman entered the game having reached base in each of her last 12 plate appearances, and she extended that streak to 13 with a walk in the first. It would be the only time Sassman reached on the day, and she has reached base in 27 of 28 games this year.
 
West Florida will host Spring Hill for a doubleheader on Wednesday beginning at 2 pm at the UWF Softball Complex, before hosting Christian Brothers for a weekend series on Saturday and Sunday.