BOX SCORE: G1 | G2
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida baseball squad suffered a tough-luck, 6-4 setback in the opener of today's doubleheader before rebounding with a 4-3 win in the nightcap against North Alabama.
Game 1: North Alabama 6, West Florida 4
The Argos held a 4-1 lead upon entering the ninth inning, but a five-run, six hit top of the ninth for the Lions pushed UNA to a 6-4 victory in the series opener.
"We played well enough, we pitched well enough, and we just could close it at the end," said head coach
Mike Jeffcoat. "Give them a lot of credit for getting those base hits but I thought we didn't do a good job of pitching. We needed to close that deal there in the ninth."
After
Chase Kiefer stole his team-high 11th base of the season,
Justin Ambrosino converted on the two-out RBI opportunity with a single through the middle of the infield for a 1-0 Argonaut lead in the third inning.
Robert Lopez made his presence known an inning later with his second home run of the year landing an approximate 430 feet away from home plate for a 2-0 UWF lead.
UNA scored its first run of the game in the fifth, but the Argonauts matched that and then some with
Matt Sullivan scoring on a double steal and Ambrosino driving in Harmon with his second RBI single of the day.
Starter
JT Granat turned in a quality performance, pitching six innings and allowing on run on five hits with four strikeouts and no walks.
Brian Browning and
Trace Penton each turned in a scoreless inning of relief to get UWF to the ninth inning.
With a 4-1 lead, the Lions tagged Argonaut pitching for six hits in the inning to score five runs and take a 6-4 lead. Drake Tucker's fourth hit of the game proved to be his most important, as he drove home Logan Carter on an infield single to give the Lions a 5-4 advantage.
Ambrosino led the team with a 3-for-4 showing and ended the contest with a team-best batting average of .429.
Matt Sullivan put together his second multi-hit game of the season in a 2-for-4 showing, while leadoff man
Brandon Harmon went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Game 2: West Florida 4, North Alabama 3
It has been 680 days since
Jarrod Petree last started a game for the Argonauts, but Petree - who moved back into the weekend rotation after spending all of 2016 and the start of 2017 in the bullpen - showed little-to-no signs of needing adjustments as he threw the first complete game by UWF pitching this year after 134 pitches provided the senior right-hander with seven innings pitched, three runs allowed, seven hits allowed, five strikeouts and one walk surrendered.
"Petree did a great job. We really rode him for seven," said Jeffcoat. "That's how big that game was for us. Right now we have to ride the best we've got, and he's the best we've got. Luckily he was able to close it out."
Ambrosino later drove in his 26th run of the year with a sacrifice fly scoring
Casey Crawford in the second.
North Alabama (11-6, 6-2 GSC) scored three unanswered runs - with a run in the third and a pair in the fourth - but Petree finished his outing strong, allowing just one hit in his final three innings of work.
Petree moves to a team-best 3-0 on the year with a 2.31 ERA that is eighth best in the GSC.
Brandon Harmon led the offense in game two going 2-for-3 with a dobule at the plate.
Nic Strasser had UWF's only other extra-base hit in the game, ripping a line drive off the bottom of the left center field fence for a double in the bottom of the fifth.
Tomorrow's rubber game is slated for 1 p.m.
