WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The third-ranked University of West Florida softball team split a doubleheader at Palm Beach Atlantic on Thursday afternoon, taking the first game 4-1 and falling on a walkoff double in Game 2, 5-4. West Florida now stands at 3-4 on the year.
 
Rachel Wright, Kara Wilson and Tori Perkins each had two hits on the day, and Wright led UWF with a pair of RBIs. The UWF pitching staff had a 2.70 ERA on the day and held PBA to a .245 batting average.
 
Game 1: UWF 4, Palm Beach Atlantic 1
The first half of the doubleheader turned out to be a textbook example of a pitcher's duel, with West Florida's Sarah Maloney and PBA's Ashton Adkins combining to throw 13 innings, strike out 10, and allow just 9 hits. Neither pitcher allowed more than one hit in an inning until the fifth, when PBA Maddie Bertisch singled and stole second to lead off the inning.
 
A single from pinch hitter Hannah Carlton two batters later continued what looked like it could be a dangerous rally for Palm Beach Atlantic, but Maloney battled to get a foulout from Michaela Hynes and a flyout from Loren Kilgore to end the threat and hold PBA scoreless.
 
While the West Florida offense wasn't overpowering in Game 1, the Argos came through with a clutch string of hits in the seventh inning. Callan Taylor led off with a double, and pinch runner Sara Spears advanced to third when a Courtney McLellan sacrifice bunt was misplayed by the Sailfish to put two runners on with no outs.
 
After McLellan stole second with no throw, Rachel Wright delivered a line drive single into left center field to score Spears and McLellan and give West Florida the 2-0 lead. Jacquelynne Poling put a double into the left-center gap just a batter later, Kara Wilson's single moved Poling to third, and she scored on a grounder from Meghan Toney to wrap up the scoring.
 
Leading 4-0 in the bottom of the seventh, PBA was able to put a run on the board but Maloney ended the inning and the game with a weak popout in foul territory. Maloney finished the day with just one unearned run allowed, and she picked up her first win of the season.
 
Game 2: UWF 4, Palm Beach Atlantic 5
The UWF bats came out of the gate hot in Game 2, scoring three runs on three hits in the first inning before putting another run on the board in the second inning.
 
The Argonauts strung together a few timely hits, showed patience at the plate and took advantage of a wild pitch from PBA to score those three runs, with Kathleen Smiley recording the only RBI hit in the inning. Palm Beach Atlantic got a run back in the bottom half, with an RBI single from Kilgore, but UWF bounced back with another single from Perkins that scored Sassman and gave West Florida the 4-1 lead.
 
Unfortunately, the Sailfish were relentless and gradually chipped away at the UWF lead. PBA's Claudia Pizzarelli was hit by a pitch and came around to score on a ground ball from Hynes, cutting the West Florida lead to 4-2.
 
Magnolia West singled to score Carlton in the third to make the score 4-3, and she would ultimately hit the walkoff double to give Palm Beach Atlantic the win in the seventh, after a single to right center from Alexis Guerra in the sixth scored Taylor Pennica to even the score.
 
Perkins led UWF with a pair of hits, a run and an RBI at the plate, and Grace Gilbert was the tough-luck loser in the circle, going 3.2 innings and allowing just two runs.
 
UWF will visit Nova Southeastern on Friday, with a doubleheader starting at 5 pm ET.