MOBILE, Ala. – The University of West Florida made it four consecutive wins with a doubleheader sweep at Spring Hill on Wednesday afternoon at Murray Field in Mobile. UWF took wins of 5-0 and 6-2, while outscoring SHC 11-2 and improving to 13-8 on the year.
 
Rachel Wright led all players in the doubleheader with three runs scored, two RBIs, six total bases, a 1.000 slugging percentage, and three hits, all of which were doubles. It was another strong all-around day for the West Florida offense, which hit .323 and had 10 hits in each game. Ashley McNally led all players by getting on base four times on the afternoon, doing so in the first game by picking up a hit, drawing a walk, and getting hit by two pitches.
 
The pitching staff did not slack either, with UWF posting a 1.00 ERA across 14 innings with 13 strikeouts and a .149 opponent batting average. Sarah Maloney and Tori Perkins each went five innings in their starts, before Olivia Printiss and Grace Gilbert finished each respective game off with two innings and three strikeouts apiece.
 
When SHC scored two runs in the final inning of the doubleheader on Wednesday, West Florida wrapped up a streak of 37 consecutive scoreless innings against the Badgers, dating back to a single game on April 6, 2016, that UWF won 9-2.
 
Game 1: UWF 5, SHC 0
McNally got the offense moving in the second inning with a single through the right side, and Wright delivered a double into the left-center gap to give West Florida the 1-0 lead. While that would be all Maloney and Printiss would need in their combined shutout, Meghan Toney brought in Wright and Mika Garcia with a single into left-center and a Callan Taylor line drive dropped in right field to score Toney in the same inning, giving UWF the 4-0 lead after just two frames. Taylor chipped in with a single down the left field line in the sixth inning, scoring Rhiannon Sassman and stretching UWF's lead to 5-0.
 
Maloney threw five scoreless innings and struck out four batters while allowing just three hits, earning her fifth victory of the year. She now ranks seventh in the Gulf South Conference with a 1.21 ERA, sixth with 46.1 innings pitched, and fifth with 41 strikeouts on the year.
 
Olivia Printiss did not allow a hit in her two scoreless innings of relief, picking up three strikeouts. She now ranks ninth in the conference with a 1.44 ERA.
 
The pitching staff got some major defensive help in Game 1, with UWF turning inning-ending double plays in three consecutive innings. Jibrasha Moore had the first, when she made a diving catch toward the right-center field gap and threw back to Taylor at first to double off Kelsie Authement in the fourth. The second came on a lineout to Mika Garcia at short in the fifth inning, and she finished it off by catching Brittany Hartung at first, and the final double play of the game was a traditional 4-6-3 groundout fielded by Garcia in the sixth.
 
West Florida now leads the Gulf South Conference with 10 double plays turned this year.
 
Game 2: UWF 6, SHC 2
It took UWF's offense a little longer to get going in Game 2, with Perkins and Hannah Brenton dueling it out in the circle for the first four innings. Until Rachel Wright's leadoff double in the fifth inning that got West Florida's offense moving, UWF and SHC combined for just five total hits in the first four frames.
 
Garcia was the one who ultimately brought in Wright, with a deep fly ball to center that was dropped and allowed Wright to come around. Grace Gilbert doubled down the left field line just two batters later with one of her two hits in the game, scoring Garcia and putting UWF ahead 2-0.
 
Perkins dominated Spring Hill, allowing just one hit and striking out three batters over five innings. She retired 11 of the final 13 batters she saw, and her season ERA dipped to 2.29 while she earned her third win of the year.
 
Taylor and Ally Merrill led off the three-run sixth with a walk and a single, respectively. Wright's third double of the afternoon would score pinch-runner Sara Spears, and a sacrifice fly from Garcia that reached the wall brought in both Merrill and Wright, making it 5-0 UWF.
 
Kara Wilson lifted a pinch-hit, bases-loaded sacrifice fly to stretch the lead to 6-0 in the seventh inning.
 
SHC scored twice in the seventh against Gilbert, but Gilbert forced a weak groundout from Sarah Johnson to end the game and give UWF the win.
 
West Florida will visit Christian Brothers for a Gulf South Conference series, scheduled for Sunday and Monday in Memphis, Tennessee.