BOX SCORE: G1 | G2
ROME, Ga. – The University of West Florida baseball team entered this weekend's series having never lost to Shorter, but the Hawks ignored the history books in a Gulf South Conference doubleheader sweep at the Ledbetter Baseball Complex on Saturday. The Argos dropped a closely contested ballgame in game one, 6-5, and a three-run sixth inning put the game out of reach for UWF in a 7-3 setback in game two.
The Argonauts are now 15-14 in the GSC and 24-21 overall. Shorter improves to 11-18 in the league and jumps above .500 on the season at 22-21.
Game 1: Shorter 6, West Florida 5
After Shorter posted a run in the bottom of the first,
Chase Kiefer responded with a 2-RBI double scoring
Tanner Halstead and
Michael Savas to claim a quick 2-1 advantage.
In the fourth, Shorter built a 5-2 lead with a three-run, two-hit inning.
Robert Lopez posted a sacrifice fly in the fifth, but Shorter responded with a Patrick Sanderson home run in the home half of the fifth to bring the score to 6-3.
The Argonauts fought back to make it a one-run game with a
Brandon Harmon RBI double and a solo home run from Lopez in the sixth. The long ball for Lopez gave the sophomore the fourth of his career against the Hawks in just four career games.
That would be all the Argos would muster offensively, as Shorter's Jason Gilford ended the game with three innings of shutout relief to seal Shorter's first-ever win against UWF.
Trevor Payne posted a season-high three hits to lead the Argonaut lineup. Kiefer, Harmon,
Nick Kerkmann and
Ladeavon Matthews all added two hits each as the Argos totaled 14 in the contest.
Game 2: Shorter 7, West Florida 3
West Florida jumped out to a 3-0 lead with RBIs from
Nick Kerkmann,
Chase Kiefer and
Brandon Harmon all coming in the first inning.
However, Shorter ended the game with seven unanswered runs and claimed the lead with a fifth-inning Blaze Vasquez solo home run.
After UWF roughed up Shorter starter Jerry Liang for three runs on three hits in one inning of work, Hawks reliever Banks Woodley posted six innings of relief and limited UWF to just two hits for the remainder of the game.
Kerkmann had UWF's lone multi-hit showing, going 2-for-4 in the second half of Saturday's doubleheader. Kerkmann led the team with a 4-for-9 performance on the day.
UWF and Shorter conclude the series tomorrow with a single game at 1:00 p.m. ET.
To stay updated on all things UWF baseball, follow the team on Twitter @UWF_Baseball.
