MOBILE, Ala. – The University of West Florida softball team earned its 20th consecutive win with a 6-0 shutout over Spring Hill in Mobile on Wednesday afternoon. Becca Taylor and freshman Taylor Rolison dazzled in the circle against SHC, needing just 84 combined pitches to complete West Florida's 12th shutout of the year.
 
With the midweek victory, UWF improved to 30-8 on the season and 3-0 against SHC this year. This marks the 26th time in 31 seasons that UWF has won 30 or more games.
 
Offensively, UWF was led by Tate High School product Rachel Wright, who went 4-4 with three RBI and a double, and Tiona Hill, who went 2-2 with a triple and two walks. Wright's batting average has jumped 89 points since the beginning of the Alabama Huntsville series on March 11, and she has nine hits and seven RBI in her last three contests. With her performance, Hill is now hitting .407 during UWF's winning streak, with five doubles, two triples and two home runs.
 
Wright and Taylor, in particular, have performed quite well against Spring Hill in their careers. Wright has hit .438 (7-16) against the Badgers, with four runs and five RBI in six games, and Taylor has put together a 1.77 ERA to go with a 3-1 record over 23.2 career innings against SHC.
 
The 20-game winning streak is the third-longest in UWF softball history, tying this year's squad with the 1998 team that won 20 in a row from February 20 to March 14.
 
Taylor got off to a strong start in the circle, retiring the first four batters she faced rather easily, before allowing a single to SHC's Aly Fowler. Fowler would record the lone hit of the day for Spring Hill, and Taylor sat down the next 10 batters she saw and ended her day with five innings pitched, no walks allowed and a strikeout. Rolison entered in the sixth and struck out one while allowing no hits in her two innings of work. Taylor has now walked just three batters in her last 38 innings.
 
Wright recorded the first of her four hits for the day in the second to bring around Callan Taylor and Hill, who reached on an error and a walk, respectively. Baleigh Boltz put the pair in scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, which led to Wright's two-run single up the middle.
 
Taylor and Wright were back at it again in the third, with a single from Taylor to score Rhiannon Sassman after the latter's team-high sixth triple of the season. Miranda Smith came in to pinch-run for Taylor, and Wright found a hole in the defense to bring Smith around with a double, making the score 4-0.
 
UWF's final runs of the day came on a double from Caitlin Steel, who drove a double to left center to score Wright and Boltz.
 
UWF will visit West Alabama in Livingston for a three-game set this weekend.
   
Longest winning streaks in UWF softball history
27 games – February 25 to April 5, 2005
26 games – February 28 to March 21, 1992
20 games – Since March 7
20 games – February 20 to March 14, 1998
19 games – March 25 to May 3, 2003