BOX SCORE
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The University of West Florida baseball team used three late-inning runs and a quality start from
Jackson Smith to take down Auburn Montgomery 4-1 on Wednesday night.
"We had timely hitting tonight," said head coach
Mike Jeffcoat. " We didn't have a lot of hits, but Kiefer had a good night in the nine-hole. We pitched well and defended well and that all helped in getting the 'W' tonight."
After the game was scoreless for the first couple innings, catcher
Matt Sullivan broke the scoreless tie with a sacrifice fly scoring
Tanner May in the third.
AUM (7-11) scored its only run of the game in the bottom of the third and fell victim to three unanswered runs in the late stages of the ballgame.
Chase Kiefer drove in May in the top of the seventh on a RBI single before Ladeavon Matthews recorded a RBI single of his own an inning later.
With the help of a pair of AUM defensive miscues, Kiefer provided an insurance run in the ninth as the senior legged out an infield single and was able to run all the way around the bases after throwing errors by AUM's shortstop Brandon Davis and catcher Houston Davenport.
On the mound for UWF (10-8), Smith turned in one of his strongest outings of the year, going 6.1 innings and allowing just one run on three hits to go along with five strikeouts and two walks. Smith improved to 3-1 on the season in the victory.
"He (Smith) threw strikes, and that was often his problem that he would be good for a while then he would lose his command. Tonight he had his command for the most part all night and that really set the tone for the game," said Jeffcoat.
The Argonaut bullpen did not allow a hit in 2.2 innings of work split between
Brian Browning and
J.A. Harville. After Browning tossed the seventh and eighth, Harville was able to set down AUM's 4-5-6 hitters in order to record his first save of the year.
Kiefer, who went 3-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored, led the Argonauts offensively.
Nic Strasser posted a 2-for-4 day in the cleanup spot.
The AUM lineup was held to just three hits in the contest, and UWF arms dominated the No. 4-9 spots in the AUM order, forcing those select Warhawks to go a combined 0-for-18 in the game.
The Argos will jump back into Gulf South Conference action this weekend by hosting Alabama Huntsville for a three-game series beginning Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
For information on UWF athletics, visit GoArgos.com.
