PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida softball team dropped the series finale against No. 15 Alabama Huntsville on Sunday afternoon, putting UWF's record at 9-5 overall and 4-2 in the Gulf South Conference.
 
UWF will be back at home on Friday, March 5, and Saturday, March 6, to host Mississippi College.
 
The Argonauts jumped out to an early lead, scoring six runs across the first two innings, and they did it in several ways.
 
UWF went with the small-ball route in the first, taking advantage of two of UAH's five errors on the afternoon, after a wide throw to first put Kara Wilson on third and Brett Leiva on first. Leiva pulled off a delayed steal, and the throw went far left of second base into center field, allowing Wilson to score and put UWF ahead 1-0.
 
Then West Florida tallied five runs in the second, with a sacrifice fly from Mika Garcia, a liner up the middle from Wilson, and home runs from Leiva and Ally Merrill. That gave UWF a 6-0 lead, and the home runs were third of the year for both Leiva and Merrill, tying them for fourth in the GSC home run race.
 
Freshman pitcher Montana Young was sharp, especially early in her Sunday start. The rookie from Slidell, Louisiana, was able to get out of jams in the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings, allowing just two runs through five frames. She ended the day with a no decision in the circle, striking out seven and not issuing a walk to one of the top offenses in the country. In all, six runs were charged to Young, only two of which were earned.
 
Alabama Huntsville's final blows came in the sixth and seventh, when the Chargers tallied five runs. Ashley Cornell and Kiara Akles picked up run-scoring singles in the sixth, cutting the UWF lead to 6-5.
 
UWF's Grace Gilbert entered the game in the seventh with UAH shortstop Lila Young on first and no outs. The following batter, Reagan Malone, lifted a high fly ball that dropped in left-center and brought Young across to even the score. After Malone advanced to third on an error, she scored the walkoff run on a passed ball.
 
Gilbert was charged with the loss and fell to 1-3 on the year, going a third of an inning and allowing just the one hit and one unearned run.

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.