PENSACOLA, Fla. – The No. 2-ranked University of West Florida softball team used a pair of walkoff wins against 5-seed Tampa on Saturday afternoon to advance to the NCAA South Super Regional for the second time in program history. West Florida took wins of 1-0 and 2-1 in two elimination games against the Spartans to improve to 51-9 for the season and keep its NCAA Tournament run alive.
 
Grace Gilbert was the hero on Saturday, earning the win in each game and bringing in the game-winning RBI in the seventh inning of Game 2 to push UWF onward. She and Kelsey Sweatt combined to throw 15 innings on Saturday, striking out 12, walking 1, holding Tampa to a .122 batting average, and recording a 0.47 ERA.
 
For the weekend, the pair held opponents to a .167 batting average and struck out 22 with 4 walks and a 0.95 ERA. Gilbert led UWF with a .500 batting average and two doubles for the weekend, while Teala Howard's eight hits and three steals led West Florida in the NCAA South 1 Regional.
 
West Florida will now play Florida Tech in the NCAA South Super Regional, beginning Thursday. Official start times for the three-game series will be made later this week.
 
GAME 1: UWF 1, Tampa 0 (8 innings)
Gilbert took a no-hitter against Tampa into the sixth inning and struck out seven against one walk over eight innings. The sophomore retired 13 of the first 15 batters she faced and tallied six strikeouts in the first 4.1 innings.
 
West Florida had some opportunities against Tampa starter Makayleigh Dooley but struggled to get anything going. UWF's best opportunities came late in the contest, with leadoff batters reaching in each of the last three innings.
 
Mika Garcia led off the sixth with a walk but was thrown out at second after an excellent effort from Tampa third baseman Sam Worrell. The UWF threat came to a close after Dooley induced a flyout to deep center from Jacquelynne Poling.
 
Poling would more than make up for it in the eighth, however, after Garcia led off with a walk again. Following the walk, Dooley – the two-time reigning Sunshine State Conference Pitcher of the Year – was pulled for Corynn Miner, who issued a walk to Rhiannon Sassman to put two runners on with no outs.
 
UWF hit some misfortune when a bunt from Howard was fielded cleanly by Worrell and Garcia was retired at third. Just a batter later, Kathleen Smiley hit a grounder to short and Worrell dropped the throw from shortstop Stephanie Balmer, who was trying to get the lead runner.
 
With the bases loaded, Poling drilled a hard ground ball up the middle and brought in Sassman for the only run of the game, giving UWF its first walkoff win of the day.
 
GAME 2: UWF 2, Tampa 1
Game 2 started on an ominous note, with Tampa's Lexie Chevalier hitting a leadoff home run to give Tampa a quick 1-0 lead. From there, Sweatt settled in and dominated for UWF.
 
The sophomore took no decision in the game despite retiring the next 10 batters she faced and allowing only one other hit in the game. Gilbert entered the game in the sixth and threw two scoreless innings, keeping the 1-0 game within reach. The win put her record at 22-4 for the season.
 
Howard dropped a bunt single in the first, and Dooley turned in one of her best starts of the year after that until the seventh, when things started to go UWF's way.
 
Poling hit a sharp grounder to third to start the seventh inning, and Worrell's throw to first went wide, allowing her to get to second, where Sara Spears pinch-ran. A batter later, Smiley lifted a bloop single into right, putting Callan Taylor in position to hit a sacrifice fly and score Spears to even the score at 1-1.
 
A costly mistake from Tampa's defense then took place, when Courtney McLellan hit a grounder to short and put pinch-runner Mallory Vining in a rundown going from second to third. Balmer threw to Worrell at third, and Worrell's throw back toward second was dropped, putting Vining at third and McLellan at second.
 
Two batters later, facing an 0-2 count, Gilbert lifted a fly ball down the right field line with two away that dropped just in fair territory, bringing in Vining and pushing UWF into the next round of the NCAA Tournament.