LAKELAND, Fla. – UWF baseball opened its 2020 season with a 5-0 loss at Florida Southern on Friday night at Historic Henley Field. The Argos were only able to muster up three hits on Friday night, with Justin Dunnam going 2-5 with two singles and Matthew Estrada finishing 1-3 with a single and a HBP.  

Pensacola State transfer Ryan Brewer got the start for West Florida and pitched 5.1 innings allowing two earned runs. He finished the night with seven strikeouts and two walks. He was charged with the loss in his first outing of his UWF career. Florida Southern starter J.J. Niekro pitched six scoreless innings and allowed only three hits. He struck out six and walked three, receiving the win.
 
The Moccasins struck first in the bottom of the second inning after Brewer allowed a two-out double to the left center gap, giving Florida Southern the 1-0 lead. Then in Brewer's last inning of work in the sixth he allowed a leadoff double to the right center gap, and later let up a base hit down the right field line that scored the Mocs second run. Brendon Case entered the ball game and was able to keep FSC from adding to their lead by retiring the two batters he faced in the sixth inning. Florida Southern added a three-run homer in the eighth inning to increase their lead to 5-0.

"It was disappointing not to get the win on opening night, but we pitched well tonight. Brewer had a great start for us and Case did great out of the bullpen," said UWF head coach Mike Jeffcoat. "Baseball games are won on two-out hits and they had a couple big ones tonight. A positive note is that we didn't strike out much tonight, but going forward we need to be more competitive at the plate."
 
UWF and FSC will meet again Saturday at Historic Henley Field. Daniel Floyd (0-0) is expected to make his first start for West Florida. Trevor Castell (0-0) will make his first start of the season for Florida Southern. First pitch is slated for 2:00 pm ET.
 
"It's just one ball game. We've got to bounce back and have confidence in our club, so we'll see what happens tomorrow." Jeffcoat said about tomorrow's matchup against the Mocs.

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