PENSACOLA, Fla. – A five-run first inning set the tone for No. 12 West Florida's shutout victory over Lee on Senior Day to end the regular season. The 11-0 win improved the Argonauts' record to 39-12 overall and 23-9 in the Gulf South Conference, and those 39 wins are the regular-season wins for UWF since the team had 40 in 2009.
 
UWF also locked up the No. 2 seed in next week's Gulf South Conference Tournament, which will be in Huntsville, Alabama. That is the program's highest tournament seeding since 2006, when the Argonauts were the top seed in the East Division of the GSC. The Argonauts will face Shorter in the First Round of the Tournament on Friday, May 5, at 11:00 am.
 
The win marked head coach Melissa Paul's 100th at UWF, and she has hit the mark in just 159 total games. That is good for a .629 winning percentage in her three years, which would put her in the top 40 among active DII coaches, and in the top 60 all-time in DII.
 
It was a career day for junior third baseman Tiona Hill, who went 2-2 with four RBI and a double off the top of the wall in left-center field fence, which came in the first inning and scored Castro and Rhiannon Sassman to give UWF a 2-0 lead. Callan Taylor scored on a wild pitch soon after, Rachel Wright hit a sharp groundball to short and reached on an error to score Hill, and Steel scored Baleigh Boltz on a ground ball to third, giving UWF a 5-0 lead after an inning.
 
While Lee picked up singles to lead off the first and second innings, Taylor had no trouble cruising through the Lady Flames lineup and shutting down the opponent on Sunday. The second was capped off by Lee's Zoe Miller being caught stealing at second base after she reached on a fielder's choice.
 
Meghan Toney and Sassman each reached to lead off the second, with Toney ultimately coming across on a wild pitch and Sassman scoring on a sacrifice fly to left field by Hill.
 
Sassman chipped in with her second single of the day to score Castro and Toney in the third, putting West Florida ahead 9-0, and Hill brought in Sassman just two batters later with a single to left.
 
Though the game was already out of reach, the only real threat from Lee came in the top of the fourth with the first three batters reaching to load the bases with no outs. Taylor quickly struck out fellow pitcher Hailey Clark and then got a groundout from Miller that Toney turned into a 4-3 double play to end the frame.
 
Steel brought in the 11th and final run of the game with a single up the middle in the fourth, scoring Sara Spears.
 
Castro, Steel and Taylor each went out for the fifth and were pulled after the first out was made, exiting the field to a standing ovation from the crowd at the UWF Softball Complex.
 
Castro finished the day with a hit and two runs scored, Steel went 1-for-3 with two RBI and a runner caught stealing from behind the dish, and Taylor threw 4.1 shutout innings with just four hits allowed. Taylor's win on Sunday was her GSC-best 23rd of the year.
 
Sarah Maloney tossed the final two-thirds of the fifth, getting a popup from Kayla Louie and a groundout to short from Stevie Baird.
 
Sunday was highlighted by a postgame Senior Day ceremony, during which Jacey Castro, Caitlin Steel and Becca Taylor were recognized for their time at UWF. Castro has 30 multi-hit games and 105 career hits over the last two years, Steel leads the Gulf South Conference in runners caught stealing and is a career .321 hitter, and Taylor ranks in the top 10 in the UWF record books in wins, games started, innings pitched and walks per seven innings.
 
West Florida will head to Huntsville, Alabama, and face Shorter in the Gulf South Conference Tournament on Thursday, May 4. Game time is slated for 12:30 pm.