GAME 1 | GAME 2
 
GULF SHORES, Ala. – The second day of the season featured an offensive explosion and a late comeback that fell just short for the No. 3 University of West Florida softball team, which went 1-1 at the Gulf Coast Invitational on Saturday. The Argonauts are now 2-2 on the season and have posted a .393 team on-base percentage and a 1.88 ERA over the first two days of the 2018 campaign.
 
Meghan Toney led UWF with three runs and four hits, picking up two in each game, Kathleen Smiley had a team-best four RBIs and Rhiannon Sassman reached base six times in seven trips to the plate across the two games.
 
Game 1: UWF 11, Tuskegee 0 (5 innings)
Grace Gilbert and Olivia Printiss combined to allow just one hit in the Saturday opener against Tuskegee, with Gilbert getting her second win of the season in her first career start and Printiss earning a save after going three innings in relief.
 
As strong as the pitching duo was early in the day, the UWF offense was dominant. It started in the four-run first inning, with a line drive single up the middle from Kathleen Smiley that scored Meghan Toney and Callan Taylor. Just a batter later, Rachel Wright hit a high fly ball that was dropped in right field and brought in Smiley and Rhiannon Sassman to give West Florida the 4-0 lead.
 
Back-to-back walks started the second for UWF, and singles from Tiona Hill and Callan Taylor each drove in a run for the Argonauts. Sassman drew a bases-loaded walk and Smiley hit a sharp grounder to bring in another run, giving West Florida another four-run inning and an 8-0 lead after two frames.
 
West Florida's final runs of the day came on a sharply hit ground ball from Hill that was misplayed, an RBI single up the middle from Ally Merrill in her first career at-bat, and a sacrifice fly from Kara Wilson that brought in Ashley McNally in the 4th.
 
The defense greatly improved from Friday, and the Argonauts turned two inning-ending double plays against Tuskegee. The first came in the first inning when Toney caught a line drive and performed a diving tag on second base to finish it off. In the third, Tiona Hill caught a liner at third and made a strong throw over to first to catch a Tuskegee runner sleeping.
 
Gilbert walked a pair of Tuskegee batters in the first but quickly settled in and retired the final five batters she faced.
 
In the first inning, Sassman was hit by a pitch for the 15th time in her career, tying her for the fourth-most times hit by pitch in UWF history.
 
Game 2: UWF 3, Eckerd 4
West Florida stormed back from a 3-0 deficit starting in the 4th inning, with back-to-back walks from Callan Taylor and Sassman that started the inning. Kathleen Smiley then dropped a sacrifice bunt, and a deep fly ball to left center field from pitcher Tori Perkins cut the Tritons lead to 3-1.
 
UWF evened things up in the fifth with a single from Sassman and a bases-loaded walk for Smiley. Toney started the inning by reaching on an error before stealing second, and Hill and Taylor each drew a walk to load the bases.
 
With the game tied, Perkins breezed through the 5th and got three easy groundouts, and a pickoff from Jacquelynne Poling in the 6th stopped any potential Eckerd threat for the inning.
 
The Argonauts were just a few feet short of taking a 4-3 lead into the seventh inning, but a high, deep fly ball from Rachel Wright was caught at the fence by Kaleigh Floyd
 
The comeback ultimately fell short in the bottom of the seventh inning, with a Kaylin Kramer double off the wall that scored Crystal Garcia.
 
Perkins went 6.1 innings and struck out seven batters in the effort, forcing 11 groundouts. She allowed just three hits in her final 3.1 innings in the circle and forced seven groundouts.
 
UWF wraps up its time at the Gulf Coast Invitational on Sunday with a 1:30 pm game against No. 7 North Georgia.