Box Score

VALDOSTA, Ga. – It was a night of homers.
 
The 13^th ranked UWF Baseball Team used five solo shots to defeat Valdosta State, 11-8, on Friday night on Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park.
 
With the win, West Florida improves to 18-5 overall and 17-5 in the Gulf South Conference while the Blazers drop to 14-7 and 12-6 in the GSC.
 
"The offense set the tone tonight, with home runs from Menhennett, Imwalle and Roberts to get our guys going", UWF Head Coach Mike Jeffcoat said.  "Our eight and nine guys in the line-up and that usually is a good sign for us having a great night."
 
Friday night marked the first time since February 1^st 2009, in a win over Rollins, that the Argos have had five home runs in a contest.  Dylan Menhennett, now leading UWF with six homers on the season, had two while Jason Roberts, Adam Imwalle and Justin Dunnam each tallied one of their own.
 
West Florida also totaled 17 hits, one shy of their season-high, for the game.  Imwalle and Sam Clement had three hits apiece while three other Argonauts had multi-hit games.  Menhennett scored three times for UWF, putting him at 23 for the year, which ties for sixth in the conference.
 
VSU put up a run in the bottom of the first on a single by Nick Lewis to go up, 1-0, on Floyd.  It was the second straight start that Floyd has given up a run in the first. After allowing a home run in the second, Floyd settled down as he went six innings and allowed four runs on eight hits.
 
The right-hander walked no one while fanning eight batters.  He also had two strikeouts looking to remain in the top 10 of the GSC in both strikeouts and strikeouts looking.  With the win, Floyd moves to 6-0 and into a tie for the lead for wins in the conference.
 
"Floyd gave us what we needed for even though it was not his best", Jeffcoat continued.
 
UWF, however would provide plenty of run support for Floyd as they got on the board early thanks to three home runs in the third by Menhennett, Imwalle and Roberts, with Menhennett and Imwalle going back-to-back to left center field.  All of the home runs came against starter Elijah Gill, who gave up five runs on seven hits in four and 2/3 innings to take the loss.
 
Tied at three in the top of the fourth, Menhennett once again blasted a 2-1 pitch into left-center to help West Florida regain the lead.  The Argos would tack on another run as Cullan O'Shea would single to right field with two outs in the fifth.  After a Menhennett walk to put O'Shea at second, Imwalle would single to left field off of Ben Raiden, who came on in relief, to score O'Shea.
 
 Following a VSU run in the bottom of the frame to make it 5-4, the Argos offense went back to work in the sixth to put distance between the two squads.  With two outs and a runner on first, third baseman True Fontenot walked to get a runner on first and second.  After a walk by Matt Estrada to load the bases, Miller Hancock singled to right field with two strikes, scoring Fontenot and Clement to make it 7-4.
 
West Florida would add to the lead in the top of the seventh as Menhennett led off the inning by reaching on an error by the third baseman.  Imwalle followed with a single to advance Dylan to third with Dunnam reaching in the next at-bat on a bunt single to load the bases.  With the bases loaded, Roberts would get his second RBI of the contest on a groundout that scored Menhennett, while Clement layed down a sac bunt to score Sam Harris from third.  Harris came on as a pinch runner earlier in the inning for Imwalle.
 
Dunnam would launch a solo home run over the right field to put a 10 spot on the board, while Estrada added another single, scoring Smitty Luttermoser to make it 11-4.
 
Hunter Lucas came in to pitch two scoreless innings for the Argos, working out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh.  Lucas finished with two strikeouts in the appearance.  After giving up three straight baserunners to open the 9^th inning, Josh Pahlad came in on relief.  VSU did make it interesting as Jordan Holt tripled down the right field line to score three runners with one out, making it 11-8, before Pahlad induced a line-out and struck out Jisjar Clotida to end the game.
 
West Florida will be back it at tomorrow against VSU as they look to win the series.  Tomorrow's double-header begins at 1 p.m. with the second game starting approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
 
"We need to be better at closing out the game as we let them get the momentum late, but it's always good to win the first game of the series on the road in a tough environment", Jeffcoat closed.

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