PENSACOLA, Fla. – It took a pair of drama-filled games to do it, but the No. 10 University of West Florida softball team finished a sweep over Mississippi College on Saturday afternoon, stretching the team's winning streak to 17 games and improving the Argonauts' record to 21-1. With the sweep, UWF is also now 9-0 in Gulf South Conference play.
 
On a day where UWF hit .345 and averaged six runs per game, Teala Howard and Courtney McLellan led the offensive charge. Howard went 5-for-7 with a pair of runs scored and three stolen bases in as many tries, while McLellan went 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI in Game 1 before adding a seventh-inning pinch-hit single in Game 2.
 
Rachel Wright led UWF with four RBIs in the doubleheader, including a walkoff double in Game 2. Additionally, Wright stretched her hitting streak to a team-best 15 games and her on-base streak to 16 games, which matches Rhiannon Sassman for the team-high.
 
Game 1: UWF 9, MC 6
The front end of the doubleheader was an offensive battle, with UWF jumping ahead 2-0 in the first inning with back-to-back RBI doubles from Kathleen Smiley and Callan Taylor.
 
Mississippi College first baseman Brianna Caldwell responded with a two-run home run off Kelsey Sweatt in the top of the second, but UWF would bounce back with consecutive hits from Wright and Howard in the bottom half of the inning to give West Florida the 4-2 lead.
 
The teams would trade runs in the third inning, and the Lady Choctaws cut the deficit to 5-4 in the fourth inning. In the fifth, however, UWF stretched it back out to a three-run lead with an RBI groundout from Kara Wilson and a single to center field from Wright.
 
The Lady Choctaws would not go away easily, with Annemarie Peavy hitting a solo home run and Caldwell delivering an RBI single in the sixth inning to cut into UWF's lead again. The Argonauts struck with some good fortune in the bottom half of the sixth, with Sassman drawing a leadoff walk and scoring on a fielding error by MC pitcher Madi Lancaster on a batted ball from Callan Taylor.
 
UWF scored its final run of the game with an RBI single from Courtney McLellan that scored pinch-runner Harley Targert, putting West Florida ahead 9-6.
 
Kelsey Sweatt went the distance to earn her seventh win of the season, striking out eight in the complete game effort. After Saturday's start, Sweatt leads the GSC in opponent batting average (.146) and strikeouts (61), while also ranking second in the league in wins and ninth in ERA (1.44).
 
Sweatt had little trouble getting through the Lady Choctaws order in the seventh, getting a strikeout, a flyout to Wright, and a groundout to Sassman at short to retire the top of the MC lineup.
 
Game 2: UWF 3, MC 2
While there was plenty of offense in Game 1, a pitchers' duel between Tori Perkins and Hannah Creel provided more than enough drama in the nightcap. The pitchers allowed just six combined hits through the first five innings, and Perkins earned her seventh win of the year – tying Sweatt and Grace Gilbert for the team lead and the second-highest total in the GSC this season.
 
Mississippi College cashed in on an RBI double after a one-out walk to get the scoring started in the third inning, but Ashley McNally's leadoff double in the bottom half of the frame put UWF in position to tie the game early. Wilson dropped a sacrifice bunt to move McNally to third, and Rachel Wright drove McNally in with a groundball to tie things up.
 
Mississippi College scored again in the fifth with a Morgan Bradford single up the middle, and UWF was unable to bounce back in the bottom half, trailing 2-1 going into the sixth.
 
Perkins and the UWF defense cruised through the next half-inning, with Sassman making a strong backhand grab and throw in the hole at short before Howard fielded a sharply hit ball at third to end the inning. With momentum shifting as the game moved to the bottom of the sixth, Howard put down a one-out bunt single and stole second.
 
Sassman singled up the middle to score Howard just a batter later to even the score, and Perkins would breeze through the seventh to take the tie game into the bottom of the seventh.
 
With one out in the seventh, McLellan hit a pinch-hit single up the middle to put UWF's first runner on in the inning. McNally put down a sacrifice bunt and reached to get two runners on with only one away. After MC fielded a grounder from Wilson to third, Wright came to the plate with two outs and two on.
 
Wright battled with Creel for seven pitches, including three foul balls that went down the right field line. With a full count and the runners on the move, Wright lifted a fly ball down the right field line that dropped beside a sprinting Paige Hulin and allowed pinch-runner Sara Spears to score the game-winning run and give UWF the series sweep.
 
UWF will hit the road next weekend for the Captain D's Surf 'N Turf Classic in Dahlonega, Georgia, where the team will face Wingate and No. 7 North Georgia.