CLEVELAND, Miss.  –  After North Alabama defeated Mississippi College on Sunday morning, the University of West Florida baseball knew that advancing to Tuesday's Gulf South Conference Championship game was out of reach.
 
That did not stop the Argonauts, however, as after last night's extra-inning win victory over West Alabama, West Florida carried the momentum into a 9-6 victory over Mississippi College on Monday night.
 
West Alabama won the three-way tiebreaker between West Florida and North Alabama, being the highest seeded team among the three, and will advance to tomorrow's championship game against Delta State. West Florida concludes 2017 with a 28-23 record.
 
"I'm really proud of these guys. They could have folded the tents," said head coach Mike Jeffcoat. "They showed a lot of pride for our university, and it's good to go out on a winning note. I'm disappointed that it didn't turn out better for them."
 
JT Granat made the final start of his collegiate career and went out in style, earning his third win of the season with six innings pitched and only one earned run allowed.
 
The Argonauts provided Granat with run support early and often, and got the scoring started with a Justin Ambrosino hard-hit RBI single to left center. Mississippi College responded by taking its first and only lead of the night with a pair of runs in the home half of the inning.
 
Matt Sullivan would not let the Choctaws lead last for long, however, as the sophomore – who hit the first two home runs of his career in last night's win – kept his power stroke going with his third home run of the tournament sent well beyond the left field fence.
 
The Argos added some more offensive pressure in the fifth, with Ladeavon Matthews posting an RBI single to left. Two batters later, Justin Ambrosino closed his collegiate career in memorable fashion, hitting a no-doubt, three-run shot for his team-leading eighth home run of the season to bring the score to 6-2.
 
Mississippi College made it close in the late stages, scoring a run in the fifth and a pair in the seventh. Robert Lopez and Colby Brown added key insurance RBIs to help UWF maintain the lead throughout.
 
Seniors Steve McClellan and Jarrod Petree teamed up to shut down the Choctaw lineup. McClellan retired all four batters he faced while Petree hurled a 1-2-3 ninth inning with back-to-back strikeouts to seal UWF's season-ending victory.
 
Ambrosino's 4-for-4 night was the brightest spot in the lineup while Matthews, Lopez, Tanner May and Brandon Harmon all added two hits apiece.