PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida softball team picked up a pair of wins over No. 19 Lubbock Christian on Saturday afternoon at home, winning a nail-biter in Game 1 before cruising to the doubleheader sweep in Game 2. The wins put UWF at 2-0 on the season.
 
Six Argonauts finished the day with a .500 batting average. Courtney McLellan, Kara Wilson, and Teala Howard each had three hits to lead the way, while McLellan's three RBIs and Howard's four stolen bases each led the team, as well.
 
The Argonauts used their full pitching staff on Saturday, getting strong performances from Kelsey Sweatt in Game 1 and Grace Gilbert and Montana Young in Game 2. The staff combined for 13 strikeouts and a .146 opponent batting average over LCU in the doubleheader.
 
The win in Game 1 also gave UWF head coach Ashliegh McLean a career 3-0 record in season-openers. She has defeated ranked teams in all three of those games, by a combined score of 22-5.
 
Game 1: UWF 2, LCU 1
Game 1 turned out to be a classic pitcher's duel between Sweatt and LCU starter Taylor Franco. Sweatt struck out four in a complete game victory, walking just two and allowing only one unearned run.
 
UWF struck first with a run in the second inning, after McLellan doubled down the left field line and scored after LCU committed two errors on a grounder from Mallory Vining. The Lady Chaparrals got the run back in the third on a sacrifice fly, and the pitcher's traded zeroes until the bottom of the seventh.
 
LCU put together a pair of threats in the fourth and fifth innings, but Sweatt held the opposition scoreless and kept the game tied. The senior retired eight of the final nine batters she faced in the game.
 
Freshman Madilynne Webb pinch hit to start the seventh and drew a walk, before Laurynn Boggs came on as a pinch-runner. With Boggs running on the pitch, McLellan cashed in with a single through the right side. When LCU made the throw to third to try to get Boggs, McLellan advanced to second and drew a threw, which went into right field and allowed Boggs to score the walkoff run.
 
Game 2: UWF 7, LCU 1
West Florida jumped ahead quickly in Game 2, with an Angela Agurkis two-run double that scored Howard and Gilbert, and a single from Webb that scored Agurkis to give the Argonauts a 3-0 lead in the first.
 
That lead was plenty for Gilbert and Young, who combined to throw a gem on Saturday and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Gilbert threw three hitless innings in her start, with five strikeouts. Young's collegiate debut was a strong one – she struck out four over four innings of relief, with no walks and just one hit – a home run in the seventh by Angela Donaldson – allowed.
 
UWF would add three more runs in the third, on a sacrifice fly from Ally Merrill that brought in Kara Wilson, and with a two-run triple from McLellan that scored Webb and Agurkis. Morgan Zettle added a pinch-hit single up the middle to score Howard in the fourth, stretching UWF's lead to 7-0.
 
Wilson and Agurkis finished the game with two hits apiece.
 
West Florida will be in action again on February 12-13 at No. 2 North Georgia, for doubleheaders against the Nighthawks and Hillsdale in Dahlonega, Georgia.
 
For the latest information on the UWF Softball team, fans can visit GoArgos.com/Softball or follow the team @UWFSoftball on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.