PENSACOLA, Fla. – No. 5/6 UWF baseball split a doubleheader vs. Lee University Saturday at Jim Spooner Field. The Argos fell 5-2 in Game 1 before rallying for a 2-1 victory in the series finale. Trevor Payne singled home Matt Sullivan in the game's seventh and final inning for the first Argonaut walkoff of 2019.
 
"We really needed that victory to salvage this series," said UWF head coach Mike Jeffcoat. "Lee absolutely played great all weekend. Their pitchers did an outstanding job. Taking nothing away from them, but we've got to get better offensively and, more importantly, mentally."
 
Game 1: Flames 5, Argos 2
 
Tony Kucera got the start for UWF in Game 1 and held the Flames to just one run for the first six innings. Lee scored three times in the seventh with Kucera and Dylan Mills-Derouen on the mound. Kucera (7-1) suffered his first loss of 2019 after allowing four runs (three earned).
 
The Flames outhit the Argos 10-7. Robert Lopez picked up an RBI double in the first to even the game 1-1. The Argos never led. Lee starter Alex Butler (3-3) earned the win after limiting UWF to two runs (one earned) over 6.2 innings. UWF committed three errors in one of the team's shakiest defensive efforts of the season. 
 
Sullivan and Payne scored the two Argo runs. Lopez and Payne picked up the team's RBIs. Three Flames finished with two-hit games.
 
The loss was just the second of Kucera's two-year Argo career. Thomas Zazzaro earned his second save of the season after helping the Flames out of a two-on, no-out jam in the ninth.
 
Game 2: Argos 2, Flames 1
 
Andrew Vaccacio spun six innings of one-run ball to propel the Argonauts in the series finale. The lefty allowed eight hits (all singles) but struck out eight while allowing just one walk. Jared Middleton (1-1) picked up the win after holding the score at 1-1 by stranding the bases loaded in the seventh.
 
UWF managed just two hits before the seventh frame. Matthew Estrada helped tie the game at 1-1 in the fifth by doubling down the right field line and scoring on the second RBI hit of the day by Lopez.
 
In the seventh, Sullivan singled with one out before Estrada joined him on the bases via hit-by-pitch. After a Flames pitching switch brought Zazzaro into the game, Payne punched a base hit through the left side as part of a daring hit-and-run. Sullivan scored with room to spare to give the Argos a dramatic 2-1 victory. Payne has now reached base in 35 straight games.
 
UWF (28-13, 18-6 GSC) snapped a four-game losing streak vs. Lee (20-22, 10-12 GSC) dating back to the 2018 season. No. 5/6 West Florida heads to Alabama Huntsville Apr. 19th and 20th. First pitch in the Friday doubleheader vs. the Chargers is slated for 1:00 p.m.
 
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