PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida softball team's offense kept rolling on Wednesday, taking wins of 7-6 and 15-0 over Spring Hill in a doubleheader. The Argonauts are now 8-3 and riding a six-game winning streak, having scored at least seven runs in each of those games.
 
UWF hit .426 on the day and slugged .685, with six doubles, a triple, and two home runs. Teala Howard's four hits led the team, while Brett Leiva and Courtney McLellan each went 2-for-3 with two runs and a home run. McLellan also added four RBIs.
 
UWF will be at home against Alabama Huntsville this weekend to continue Gulf South Conference play. The Saturday doubleheader will begin at 1 pm, followed by the series finale at 1 pm on Sunday.
 
GAME 1: UWF 7, SHC 6
The opener turned out to be a thriller, with UWF overcoming a three-run deficit late in the game. Spring Hill jumped ahead with a Delaney Thomas RBI double in the first, but first baseman Ally Merrill singled to tie things up at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning.
 
Spring Hill's Peyton Desormeaux homered in the second to give the Badgers a 4-1 lead, but UWF would not be held off for long. In the fourth, Angela Agurkis and McLellan had RBI base hits, and McLellan hit a three-run home run – her first of the season – in the sixth, giving West Florida its first lead of the game at 6-5.
 
Freshman Montana Young relieved starter Grace Gilbert in the fifth, and she was sharp to start. She struck out Desormeaux and allowed a bloop single Madison Kroger, who was then caught stealing by catcher Jacquelynne Poling. Young ended the inning with another strikeout.
 
Gilbert was better than her final line on Wednesday, throwing five innings and striking out six. She was charged with three earned runs and five runs total in the start.
 
Young threw the final two innings of the game and improved to 3-0 this year. In the seventh, leading 6-5, Young struck out Kaycie Saxton and got a lineout from third baseman Delaney Thomas, but a Hannah Fillmore home run tied things up at 6-6.  
 
The Argonauts quickly rallied in the bottom half of the inning. Teala Howard struck out but reached first base on a wild pitch, then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error from the SHC catcher. Mika Garcia lifted a fly ball to right field and Howard scored well before the throw came in, giving UWF the walkoff victory.
 
GAME 2: UWF 15, SHC 0
The second half of the doubleheader was a much different story. Starting pitcher Kelsey Sweatt delivered a perfect first inning, and the Argonaut offense put up nine runs in the bottom half.
 
Howard scored on a single from Kara Wilson, who scored on a dropped fly ball at the wall hit by Angela Agurkis. Brett Leiva hit her second home run of the season – a two-run blast to right-center – to make it 4-0, before Gilbert singled through the right side and made it 5-0.
 
Mallory Vining was credited with a steal of home after Gilbert forced a rundown between first and second base, and Mika Garcia brought in two runs with a single. Wilson brought in the ninth and final run of the inning with a grounder that was misplayed, scoring Garcia.
 
Sweatt worked out of a jam in the second, striking out the side after the bases were loaded with no outs. Her day was finished after three innings, with five strikeouts and just two hits allowed on the day.
 
The second inning wasn't much different for UWF's offense. Gilbert brought in two runs with a single through the left side, and pinch-hitters Hanna Stapleton, Chelsea Dumas, and Laurynn Boggs each brought in runs with hard-hit doubles to stretch the lead to 15-0.
 
Young entered the game in the fourth inning and dominated. She struck out all six batters she faced to wrap up the game. Between her two relief outings on Wednesday, Young finished with 10 strikeouts, no walks, and just two hits allowed over 4 innings.