PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida softball team took a 12-4 win over Spring Hill on Wednesday afternoon in the team's home-opener to the 2020 season. Grace Gilbert took the win in the circle, Kelsey Sweatt earned the save, and UWF put a season-best 12 runs on the board.
 
"Our bats have been quiet, so I'm glad we opened up our offense today and came out hot," head coach Ashliegh McLean said. "Plus Gracie had a good start, and Kelsey came in and finished strong for us. It was a special day to open our home schedule."
 
The offense started off hot, with a leadoff home run from sophomore Teala Howard. The round-tripper was the second of her career, and Jacquelynne Poling put UWF ahead 2-0 later in the inning with a double to right-center.
 
Spring Hill struck for a run in the top of the second, but UWF responded with another four runs in the bottom half of the inning. The first two of those runs came on left fielder Kara Wilson's first career home run, following a Courtney McLellan walk, which gave UWF a 4-1 lead.
 
Later in the inning, Howard hit a line drive off the wall for a double, and Gilbert tripled to center field to bring her in. Gilbert came around a batter later on a grounder from shortstop Mika Garcia, putting West Florida up 6-1.
 
SHC scored three in the fourth inning, but that would be all the offense for the Badgers for the rest of the day.
 
West Florida added another three runs in the fourth inning, with RBI singles from Poling and Callan Taylor and a wild pitch that scored Angela Agurkis.
 
UWF finished it off in the fifth with RBIs from Gilbert and Agurkis, whose two-run single up the middle ended the game.
 
Five Argonauts had multi-hit days in the win – Howard, Gilbert, Agurkis, Poling, and Wilson. Gilbert, Agurkis, Poling, and Wilson each also had multiple RBIs.
 
Gilbert threw two innings and allowed a run and only one hit, while striking out three batters to improve to 3-3. Sweatt earned her second save of the year, striking out three batters over three innings and retiring the final seven batters she faced.
 
UWF will head to Livingston, Alabama, for a weekend series against West Alabama on February 21-22, before coming back to the UWF Softball Complex on February 29-March 1 against Delta State.
 
Fans can keep up with the team by following @UWFSoftball on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.