PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida softball team stretched its winning streak to six games with a pair of wins in a doubleheader against Shorter in Pensacola on Saturday afternoon. Grace Gilbert and Kelsey Sweatt combined for a 1.50 ERA against the Hawks on the afternoon, as UWF improved to 33-4 overall and 16-1 in the Gulf South Conference.
 
Gilbert and Rhiannon Sassman each hit .500 in the doubleheader to lead the Argonauts, and Mika Garcia hit her second home run of the season in Game 2 and led the team with 5 total bases between the two games on Saturday. Gilbert and Sweatt each threw complete games, their ninth and eighth of the year, respectively. Sassman is also now riding an 11-game reached base streak.
 
After the pitching performances today, all three UWF pitchers rank in the top three in the GSC in ERA among pitchers with more than eight innings thrown. Tori Perkins is first with a 1.24, Sweatt is second at 1.39, and Gilbert is third with a 1.47.  UWF is also a perfect 14-0 at home this year – the only team in the conference that is undefeated at home.
 
GAME 1: UWF 4, Shorter 2
Gilbert earned her GSC-best 14th win of the season with a complete game, throwing 98 pitches across seven innings in which she allowed just six hits. She is 4-0 with a 1.27 ERA in her last four appearances, dating back to March 20 against Spring Hill.
 
Shorter cashed in early on a few timely hits that were perfectly placed to take a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Gilbert settled in quickly after, however, allowing just three hits in the rest of the game.
 
UWF had trouble early with Shorter starter Payton Lippert, tallying only three hits across the first five innings. But the Argonauts used a four-run sixth inning to take the lead and the win, getting things started with Teala Howard.
 
Howard led off the frame with a bunt single and stole second before Sassman also dropped a bunt single and stole, putting two runners on for senior Kathleen Smiley. Smiley then doubled off the wall in center field to score both runs and even the score at 2-2 with nobody out.
 
After Jacquelynne Poling drew a walk, Callan Taylor sacrificed her at-bat with a bunt to put both runners in scoring position with only one away. The game-winning run came in on Courtney McLellan's single to center field that scored Smiley, and Gilbert singled to right and brought in Poling a batter later, putting the score at the final 4-2.
 
With a pair of hits in the game, Gilbert recorded her fourth multi-hit game of the season and the sophomore is now hitting .371 in games she pitches.
 
GAME 2: UWF 6, Shorter 1
Mika Garcia hit her second home run of the season to give UWF a 1-0 lead in the third inning of Game 2, and the sophomore ended her day with her fourth multi-hit and sixth multi-RBI games of the season.
 
Kelsey Sweatt improved to 11-1 for the year with a complete game effort, striking out only one batter but not issuing a walk in the contest. The one mark against the Jacksonville, Florida, native was an RBI double in the fourth inning that tied the game, but West Florida bounced back with a two-run inning immediately after that pulled the Argonauts away.
 
Sweatt allowed just three Shorter batters to reach in the final three innings – all of which reached on singles.
 
Garcia gave UWF the lead again in the fourth inning with a single to left that brought in Ally Merrill, who led off the inning with a walk. After Garcia and pinch-runner Sara Spears stole second and third, Mallory Vining hit a sharp grounder and Shorter committed an error on the throw home in an effort to catch Spears, giving UWF a 3-1 lead.
 
West Florida added three more runs in the fifth on just one hit – an RBI single from Smiley that brought in Sassman. The next two runs came in on fielding errors from Shorter, on hard grounders from Courtney McLellan and Garcia.
 
That 6-1 lead would be more than enough for Sweatt, who sat down eight of the last 10 batters she faced. Sweatt is 3-0 in her last four starts with a 0.88 ERA and a .174 opponent batting average.
 
UWF will go for the sweep on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for noon.