PENSACOLA, Fla. – West Florida responded to a midweek setback with a doubleheader sweep over Gulf South Conference foe Delta State on Friday afternoon, winning 8-2 and 4-3. The Argonauts improved to 35-10 overall and have sole possession of the top spot in the GSC standings at 19-7.

The Argonauts also became the first team to clinch a berth in the GSC Tournament. UWF has won 17 consecutive GSC matchups, having jumped from 11th place in the league standings at 2-7 in early March.
 
Becca Taylor hit a milestone in Game 1, going five innings and striking out four Lady Statesmen to earn her 20th win of the year. Taylor is the 10th pitcher in Division II to hit 20 wins this season, and this marks the first time she has hit that mark in her career. She is just the third UWF pitcher since 2008 to win 20 games in a year, joining Jillian LaFrance (24, 2009) and Kalyn Chapman (20, 2016).
 
Friday was a prime example of a team effort offensively, as Tiona Hill, Baleigh Boltz, and Rachel Wright each tallied three hits on the day, and Hill reached a team-high four times in the doubleheader. She and Jacey Castro each scored three runs, and Boltz, Wright, Jacquelynne Poling and Caitlin Steel each brought in two runs.
 
GAME 1: UWF 8, DSU 2
UWF got out to a quick start in Game 1, with a leadoff walk from Castro and a bunt single from Meghan Toney. Rhiannon Sassman dropped a sacrifice bunt just a batter later, and Castro came around to score the first run of the game on a dropped throw by DSU first baseman Carah Nunez.
 
Boltz chipped in later in the inning with a sacrifice fly to score Toney, and Wright lined a single up the middle to score Sassman, giving UWF a 3-0 lead after just an inning of play.  
 
The Argonauts put two more on the board in the bottom of the second, starting with a one-out triple from Castro. Toney lifted a sacrifice fly down the left field line to clear the bases, and Sassman followed with her seventh triple of the season a batter later. A sharp ground ball from Callan Taylor made its way through the infield, scoring Sassman and stretching the UWF lead to 5-0.
 
Taylor more or less breezed through the first two innings, but the veteran worked through jams in back-to-back innings in the third and fourth to hold the DSU offense at bay. The Lady Statesmen got leadoff singles from Colben Patin and Kara Lane Nowell to start the third, followed by a sacrifice bunt from No. 1 hitter Olivia Dick to put runners in scoring position for the most dangerous part of the Delta State order.
 
Delta State left fielder Jordan Jones hit a liner into center field that was caught by a diving Rachel Wright for the second out, though a run would score. Taylor then went to battle against 3-hitter Mari Alex Sandridge and came out on top with a strikeout after a nine-pitch effort. Taylor got a big strikeout to end the fourth, as well, facing Nowell with two on and two away.
 
UWF strung five consecutive singles together to pad its lead in the fifth, with Wright bringing in a run and Poling bringing in two with a sharp single through the left side of the infield.
 
Taylor's day was finished after five, and freshman Taylor Rolison relieved her in the sixth. It was a perfect sixth for the rookie, who ended the inning with a strikeout, but the seventh proved a little more challenging. Pinch hitter Kory Watterson drew a leadoff walk and ultimately came around to score in the inning, but Rolison forced Nunez into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.
 
It was UWF's 15th twin killing of the season, tying the Argonauts for the most in the Gulf South Conference. Taylor improved her record to 20-6 on the year.
 
GAME 2: UWF 4, DSU 3
West Florida scored in each of the first two innings in Game 2, getting a sacrifice fly from Sassman to score Castro after a leadoff double in the first, and a sacrifice fly from Steel in the second that scored Hill after a leadoff single.
 
Sarah Maloney went to work in the circle with the two-run lead after two innings, and she surrendered just one hit while striking out six batters through the first four frames.
 
UWF continued to help out Maloney in the bottom of the fourth, with back-to-back doubles from Hill and Boltz to start the inning. Boltz would get an RBI on her hit, as would Steel, who brought in the freshman with a single up the middle.
 
Delta State tacked a run on in the fifth with a sacrifice fly from Mari Alex Sandridge to Wright in center field, resulting in a remarkably close play at the plate that went in DSU's favor to cut the score to 4-1.
 
The Lady Statesmen threatened again in the seventh, with a triple from Jones that scored Olivia Dick, and a single from Carah Nunez that scored Jones. With two away, Madison Zoeller singled into right center and pinch-runner Brittany Taylor tried to score from first before being gunned down by a throw from Wright to Toney to Poling at the plate.
 
Maloney earned her 11th win of the season, making UWF one of just three teams in the GSC with two pitchers who have at least 11 wins (Alabama Huntsville and Valdosta State).
 
The series wraps up with a noon first pitch at the UWF Softball Complex on Saturday.