PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida baseball team fell to Delta State, 6-0, in Saturday's series finale at Jim Spooner Field. With Delta State's sweep, the Argos suffer their first home Gulf South Conference sweep since 2012.
 
"Can't win if you don't score, but I thought our pitching did a better job today," said head coach Mike Jeffcoat. "Jared Gonzalez gave us a solid start and kept us in the ballgame."
 
Delta State (32-8, 22-5 GSC) posted a pair of first-inning runs to take an early 2-0 lead, and that proved to be all the offense the Statesmen needed. DSU starter Seth Birdsong went the distance, hurling a complete game shutout with only five hits allowed. Birdsong improved to 7-1 with the effort.
 
Gonzalez pitched well for UWF (23-18, 15-12 GSC) and his outing was highlighted by a span of 13 consecutive batters he retired from the end of the first inning to the top of the sixth inning. The junior was dealt his first loss of the season after finishing his outing with five innings pitched, three earned runs allowed and one walk.
 
Gonzalez was taken out after an error and three consecutive DSU singles allowed the Statesmen to plate their third run of the game in the sixth inning. JT Granat took over on the bump and allowed one inherited runner to score on a RBI single and in the next at bat, a costly error allowed an additional pair of DSU runners to cross the plate and bring the score to its final 6-0.

Granat was strong from that point on, finishing his day with three shutout innings and just one hit allowed. Matt Whetstone tossed a scoreless top of the ninth in his fifth appearance of the season. 
 
Justin Ambrosino's 2-for-4 performance was the lone multi-hit showing for the Argos. The No. 3-6 hitters of Ambrosino, Robert Lopez, Ladeavon Matthews, and Tanner Halstead combined to go 5-for-15 to generate all the UWF offense. UWF collected three two-out hits in the first but were then held without another base hit until the bottom of the ninth inning.
 
The Argonauts look to snap a four-game losing skid on Tuesday when they host Columbus State for a two-game non-conference series.
 
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