BOX SCORE: G1 |
G2
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida softball squad won both ends of its Wednesday doubleheader against Nova Southeastern, defeating the Sharks by scores of 7-2 and 3-1 at the UWF Softball Complex.
The Argos improve to 14-8 on the year, and complete its stretch of four midweek nonconference games with a perfect 4-0 mark.
Game 1: West Florida 7, Nova Southeastern 2
The Argos used a six-run third inning featuring six hits and three Shark errors to take a commanding 6-0 lead. After Megan Toney drove in
Caitlin Steel and
Jibrasha Moore was able to score on an error by NSU left fielder Ashley Roe,
Rhiannon Sassman hit her team-high fourth triple of the season to score Toney and
Jacey Castro.
Callan Taylor later drove in Sassman on a sacrifice fly to left to make it 5-0 and
Tiona Hill capped the third-inning outburst by belting her second home run of the year over the left center field fence.
Becca Taylor improved to 7-5 on the year after hurling her sixth complete game of the season. Taylor allowed just one earned run and five hits over seven innings of work and struck out five with no walks. The senior allowed just two hits over her first five innings of work.
NSU posted a run in the fourth and a run in the sixth, but the Argonauts continued to apply pressure in the late stages with a double steal in the sixth inning allowed Castro to score the seventh Argonaut run after an errant throw by Alex Suzuki.
Hill led the Argos offensively in the first game, going 2-for-3 with a home run and a triple. Steel also turned in a strong showing in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with a run scored. Sassman led all players with a game-high two RBI.
Game 2: West Florida 3, Nova Southeastern 1
Sarah Maloney struck out a career-high 11 in 5.1 innings in the circle to lead the Argonauts to a 3-1 victory in Game 2.
All of UWF's first six outs came via a Maloney strikeout, but Nova Southeastern was still able to jump out to a 1-0 lead in the third inning after an Argonaut error allowed Sydney Lageyre to run from first to home after recording an infield single.
The Argos responded quickly in the home half of the third with
Jacey Castro driving in
Jibrasha Moore to knot the game at 1-1. Two batters later, Megan Toney and Castro pulled off a double steal allowing Castro to score and give UWF a 2-1 advantage.
Maloney ended her outing allowing a pair of walks in the top of the sixth, but
Taylor Rolison was able to get UWF out of the jam by recording back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.
The Argos added an insurance run in the sixth with
Jacquelynne Poling's RBI single to left scoring
Tiona Hill.
Rolison went back out for the seventh and threw a 1-2-3 inning as the freshman retired all five batters she faced to record her first career save.
After four games of non-conference action, UWF welcomes Gulf South Conference foe and No. 14-ranked Alabama Huntsville to the UWF Softball Complex this weekend. The Argos and Chargers begin a three-game series on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
For information on UWF athletics, visit GoArgos.com.
