PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida baseball team capped off its first home weekend of the year with an 8-2 win over Rollins on Sunday, wrapping up a series win. The Argonauts are now 2-4 on the year as they head into Gulf South Conference play next weekend.
 
"Today we swung the bats early, and it was up and down the lineup," head coach Mike Jeffcoat said. "I'm proud of the way we came back and adjusted today, proud of the energy we had today. We talk about trying to bring it home on Sunday and with the series on the line, and with the adversity this team has gone through, I'm really proud of them."
 
West Florida got out to a quick 5-0 lead in the first three frames, highlighted by a four-run second inning. The Argonauts picked up a run on four consecutive at-bats in the inning, starting with a Brooks Mitchell double down the left field line that scored Trevor Payne.
 
Justin Dunnam followed with a single to left-center to score Bryant Harris Jr., Miller Hancock singled and scored Mitchell, and Matthew Estrada's grounder to short brought in Dunnam to stretch the lead to 4-0.
 
Harris Jr. roped a double into left-center and scored Adam Imwalle an inning later, putting UWF ahead 5-0.
 
Those five runs were more than enough for starting pitcher Daniel Floyd, who threw seven strong innings and allowed just two runs in his first win of the year. He cruised through the Rollins order in the first three innings and allowed just one hit.
 
"I just think all my pitches were working today," Floyd said. "The offspeed, and of course the fastball, and I had pretty good control over all four pitches today. Today gives us a lot of confidence. We had that first rough road weekend at Florida Southern, so to come out against Rollins and get a series win is going to give us a lot of confidence going into conference."
 
The only trouble Floyd ran into came in the fourth, when the Tars scratched across two runs with a triple from Parker Smith. In his final three innings, Floyd allowed just one hit – a two-out single in the fifth.
 
"Really proud of the starting pitching this weekend – all three starters went seven innings and all three starters gave our team a great chance to win," Jeffcoat said.
 
Dunnam added to the UWF lead with a double in the bottom of the eighth that brought in Harris Jr., and Estrada sent a two-run single up the middle to finish the scoring and extend UWF's lead to 8-2.
 
Brendon Case and Alex Knight finished off the final two innings for UWF with little trouble. Case forced a 4-6-3 double play to end the eighth, and Knight induced a pair of groundouts in the ninth.
 
Justin Dunnam, Trevor Payne, Bryant Harris, and Brooks Mitchell each had two hits on the day, and Dunnam and Matthew Estrada had multiple RBIs – their first such games of the year. Estrada also extended his hitting streak to six games to begin the season.
 
West Florida will open Gulf South Conference play on the road next week, heading to Montevallo for a series on Friday and Saturday.
 
"When we don't have any midweeks, the final game of the weekend is huge in terms of momentum going into the next weekend," Jeffcoat said. "We've got to get that first victory on the road and the first conference victory, and we want to come out of the gates strong next week."
 
For the latest information on UWF baseball, follow the team on Twitter @UWF_Baseball.