MOBILE, Ala. – The University of West Florida softball team improved to 28-4 on the year with a 5-0 win against Spring Hill on Wednesday afternoon in Mobile. West Florida, ranked No. 3 nationally, has now beaten Spring Hill in its last 11 head-to-head matchups, dating back to February 2016 and including two victories in February this year.
 
UWF got several standout performances in the game, including two in the circle from Grace Gilbert and Tori Perkins, who combined to throw West Florida's 11th shutout of the season. Gilbert earned the win to improve to 11-2 – tying her for the most wins in the Gulf South Conference – and Perkins earned her second save of the year.
 
Gilbert threw four shutout innings of one-hit ball, striking out three batters and not issuing a walk. The Chipley, Florida, native retired the first 10 SHC batters she saw and the only batter to reach against her was Elise Caruso with a double in the fourth.
 
Perkins was nearly perfect in three innings of relief to earn her second save. A senior from nearby Tate HS, Perkins did not allow a hit and struck out four batters, issuing one walk. After today's performances, Perkins, Kelsey Sweatt, and Gilbert rank second, third, and fourth in the GSC in ERA, and each are in the top six in the conference in opponent batting average.
 
The UWF offense, led by Teala Howard and Kathleen Smiley on Wednesday, tagged SHC pitchers Olivia Brown and Morgan Kramer for nine hits, four of which went for extra bases. UWF also was a perfect 4-for-4 in steal tries, with Rachel Wright swiping two bags – the first of which resulted in her scoring West Florida's first run of the day in the first inning.
 
Smiley picked up her first three-hit game of the season, going 3-for-3 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored. Howard added another multi-hit day, her 16th of the season, by going 2-for-4 at the plate with a triple. Smiley's first hit of the afternoon scored Rhiannon Sassman to put UWF up 2-0, and Smiley came in on a sac fly from Courtney McLellan just a few batters later.
 
West Florida's final two runs of the day came on triples from Howard and Perkins. Howard's came in the second, scoring Jibrasha Moore, and Perkins' plated McLellan in the sixth.
 
UWF will visit Delta State in Cleveland, Mississippi, for a Gulf South Conference series over the weekend.