MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Rhiannon Sassman, Meghan Toney and Tiona Hill each reached base four times and led the offense in the University of West Florida softball team's 12-4 win over Christian Brothers on Sunday afternoon. No. 24 UWF improved to 14-8 overall, 5-4 in the Gulf South Conference and has now won five in a row.
The team set or tied season highs in runs (12), doubles (7), RBIs (12) and stolen bases (3) in the win.
Sassman had one of the best games in recent Argonaut history, going 4-for-4 with two doubles, four runs scored, a home run, a walk, and five RBIs. Her five runs driven in were the most since Baleigh Boltz brought in seven at West Alabama on April 8 of last year, and she and Toney are the first Argos to score four times in one game since Rachel Wright scored four times against Miles on February 11, 2016.
Toney went 2-for-2 with a walk and a hit by pitch, and she also stole two bases in the game. Sunday marked the third time this year, and the 10th time in her career, that Toney has stolen two bases in a game, and she stretched her hitting streak to six games – a team high.
Hill recorded her first career three-hit game on Sunday and her third 3-RBI game of the season, while also scoring three runs for the second time in her UWF career.
Sassman's two-run home run in the first brought in Toney, who singled and stole second, and Rachel Wright doubled into the right-center gap to make it 3-0 after just one inning. Sassman and Hill each had an RBI double in the two-run second for West Florida, making it 5-0 Argonauts.
After CBU scored once in the second, West Florida put another pair of runs on the board in the fourth, with a single from Sassman into right field that scored Toney and a bases-loaded pinch-hit walk from Ashley McNally that scored Courtney McLellan.
The fifth was the biggest offensive inning for UWF, with the Argos scoring four runs and stretching the lead to 11-1. It started with an RBI double from Sassman, and she and Toney came around on a single from Hill. McLellan laced a double into left center field to wrap up the scoring, bringing in Hill.
Christian Brothers scored three in the bottom of the fifth, but Ally Merrill got a run back with a double into center field that brought in Sassman and made the score 12-4.
Olivia Printiss earned her second win of the year after going four innings in relief of Sarah Maloney. Printiss allowed six hits and three runs to improve to 2-3, and Maloney struck out three and allowed just one hit in her two innings of work.
In addition to Toney's extended hitting streak, Rachel Wright has now had a hit in five consecutive games, and Kara Wilson has had a hit in four in a row.
The series wraps up on Monday with a doubleheader scheduled for a noon start at Bland Field in Memphis.
#ARGOS#
