GULF SHORES, Ala. – The third-ranked University of West Florida softball team struggled to get momentum going in Sunday's loss to No. 7 North Georgia, falling 8-0 in the Gulf Coast Invitational finale. West Florida (2-3) totaled just five hits in the loss, but sophomore Jacquelynne Poling picked up two hits and Rhiannon Sassman reached base twice.
 
Starting pitcher Sarah Maloney cruised through the first three frames, allowing just one hit and striking out four Nighthawk batters, including all three batters she faced in the third. Maloney got some defensive help from second baseman Meghan Toney, who turned 4-3 double plays in both the second and fifth innings.
 
North Georgia first struck in the fourth inning, with a double into right center field from Alishia Frierson, and a leadoff double by Lexi Duncan ultimately helped extend the UNG lead to 3-0 in the fifth.
 
The UWF offense had a tough time stringing things together against UNG starter Amber Johns, who picked up her first win of the season. UWF began to stretch innings with a pair of singles from Poling and Jibrasha Moore in the bottom of the fifth and hits from Sassman and Tori Perkins in the sixth, but both rallies would come up short.
 
UNG put more on the board in the sixth and seventh, with four runs coming in the final frame on four hits and two UWF errors.
 
Maloney dropped her first decision of the season, allowing three earned runs and striking out five batters in six innings.
 
Several Argonauts rank in the top 10 in the Gulf South Conference after a weekend of play. After going 4-for-6 on the weekend, which included a Sunday's two-hit game, Poling leads the GSC with a .667 batting average, ranks second with a .714 on-base percentage, and is sixth in the league in slugging at .833. Sassman is not far behind in any of those three categories, standing 10th in batting (.545), third in OBP (.706) and eighth in slugging (.818). Tiona Hill ranks second in the league with six RBIs through five games.
 
UWF will take a trip to South Florida next week, visiting Palm Beach Atlantic, Nova Southeastern, and Barry for doubleheaders on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.