Game 1 | Game 2

VALDOSTA, Ga. – The 13^th ranked University of West Florida Baseball Team used a potent offense and timely pitching to take both games of a double-header at Valdosta State by scores of 7-4 and 15-10, on Saturday evening at Billy Grant Field in Valdosta.
 
With the win, UWF earns the series sweep and moves to 20-5 overall and 19-5 in the Gulf South Conference.  Valdosta State drops to 14-9 with the losses.
 
West Florida won its sixth straight series overall and moved its win streak to seven games.  The Argos also firmly entrench themselves in second place in the conference after the sweep as they came into the weekend holding a one-game lead over Valdosta.
 
Miller Hancock was the head-liner on offense for the Argos as the shortstop had a combined six hits between the two contests, adding two runs batted in and two runs scored.  Justin Dunnam finished the day with five hits while Dylan Menhennett added four of his own.  Jason Roberts led all Argos with three RBI's.
 
"Our offense showed up big time this weekend", UWF Head Coach Mike Jeffcoat said. "I could not be prouder of this team, especially after they came on the road in a tough environment and played the way they did.  It was a long, grinding day and our guys just kept answering the bell."
 
"Our pitching did enough when we needed it, but I have to give Valdosta credit, they were a terrific hitting team as well", Jeffcoat closed.
 
UWF will have two days off before returning to the road for a non-conference game on Tuesday, March 30^th at Spring Hill.  First pitch from Mobile, Alabama is set for 5 p.m.
 
Game 1: In the second game of the series, the Argos were able to get on the board first as they plated three runs in the first frame.  With one out, Hancock singled to third and advanced to second on a throwing error by the third baseman.  Following a walk by O'Shea and a single by Menhennett to load the bases, Adam Imwalle drew a walk on five pitches to score Hancock and open the scoring.
 
Two batters later, Roberts singled up the middle to score Menhennett and O'Shea, giving the Argonauts a three-run advantage after the opening frame.  West Florida would strike again in the top of the third as Imwalle singled through the right side to start a two-out rally.  Dunnam, the next batter, ripped a ball down the right field line, earning second triple of the season to score Imwalle, to put UWF up 4-0.
 
Dowdy, a true freshman making his seventh start of the year, cruised through the first three innings of the game as he picked up two strikeouts.  In the fourth frame however, VSU's first three runners reached to load the bases with one out.  After a strikeout looking, Jisjar Clotida blooped a single to right field to push a run across before Dowdy ended the threat with a strikeout and groundout to short to keep UWF firmly ahead.
 
West Florida would get more run support for the true freshman in the top of the fifth as Menhennett doubled to left center with Imwalle singling to left, to push another run across and equalize the Blazer run.  UWF would make it 6-1 in the top of the sixth frame as Matt Estrada singled up the middle with two outs.  Following a single by Hancock to move Estrada to third, O'Shea came through again with a base knock of his own to bring home Estrada. 
 
In the bottom of the sixth, the Blazers would once again put pressure on the Argo pitching staff as back-to-back singles put runners on the corner with no one out.  In this situation, Sean Means came on in relief to end Dowdy's day.  After walking a batter to load the bases, Means struck out two consecutive batters before getting David Mayberry, VSU's top hitter, to pop out to first base to end the threat and keep the game at 6-1.
 
Throwing five innings in the start, Dowdy allowed one run on 10 hits, with one walk and four strikeouts.  With the one run given up, Dowdy moved his record to 2-1 and lowered his ERA to 3.16, which is first among freshman.
 
UWF would score one more time in the top of the seventh as the pinch hitter, Jack Schad, doubled to left field to score Justin Dunnam and make it 7-1.
 
Valdosta State would not quit as they would load the bases in the seventh, eighth and ninth inning to test the mettle of the Argos.  However, Means was up to the task as he got Ryan Delnegro to ground into an inning-ending double-play in the seventh, and struck out the last two batters in the bottom of the eighth.  Sophomore Brendon Case came on for the ninth and while he gave up two runs on a sacrifice fly by Ralph Morla Jr. and a single by Ben Rowdon, Case would find the strength to get two straight groundouts to close the game out and shut the door.
 
Both teams had 16 hits in the contest with Hancock, Imwalle and Dunnam each having three hits for UWF.  Tristan Cone took the loss for VSU as he allowed six runs on 11 hits with two walks and four strikeouts over five and two-thirds innings.
 
Game 2: The Argos once again got on the board first thanks to Hancock as he doubled down the left field line and later scored on a passed ball to make it 1-0.
 
VSU, however would come back and plate three runs in their opening frame off of UWF starter, Joey Wozniak, who was making his first start.
 
Not to be outdone, West Florida would score three runs of their own in the second inning to retake the lead.  A walk by Dunnam combined with a hit by Schad put runners on the corners with no one out.  Sam Harris, starting at second base, singled home Dunnam on a bunt to cut the deficit to one with Fontenot walking in the next at-bat to load the bases.  UWF would take the lead on the next two batters as Estrada grounded out to shortstop, scoring Schad, while Hancock singled through the left side to bring Harris home and make it 4-3.
 
After the tough first inning, Wozniak would settle down and throw two scoreless innings.  Wozniak finished with two strikeouts on the day in three innings.
 
UWF's offense would once again put a crooked number on the board in the top of the fourth as they would score six runs in the frame.  Fontenot and Estrada led off with a single and double to open the inning with Fontenot coming around in the next at bat via a single from Hancock.  O'Shea doubled a batter later to score Estrada and put the score at 6-3.  After Menhennett was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Roberts came through again with a sacrifice fly to bring home Hancock from third.
 
West Florida would score three more times in the inning on a two-run double by Schad and a passed ball where Schad scored from third.
 
The Blazers would come back and score four runs of their own in the bottom of the frame against three different pitchers in Wozniak, Alex Knight and Roberts who moved from the designated hitter to pitcher.
 
Roberts would let the three final three runners of the inning score before settling down and giving the Argos much needed innings as the Freshman threw five innings, allowing three runs on five hits while walking two and striking out a season-high five batters on 76 pitches.
 
UWF struck again in the top of the sixth as Dunnam got the offense going with one-out single.  Two batters later, freshman Kyle D'Amour delivered his first extra-base of his career on a double to right-field, scoring Dunnam and putting the score at 11-7.
 
VSU would rebound with a run in the bottom of the inning, before UWF would have a flurry of hits to plate four runs in the eighth. Once again, Menhennett led off an inning with a double to left center before advancing to third on a passed ball.  Following walks by Dunnam and Schad, D'Amour came up with his second big hit in as many at-bats as the second baseman ripped a single to right field, scoring Menhennett.
 
West Florida would score a run in the each of the next three plate appearances as Dunnam scored on a wild pitch, Schad scored on a single by Fontenot and D'Amour came home on a sacrifice fly from Estrada.
 
Valdosta State had one more charge in them as Jacob Harper hit a two-run homer off of Jason Roberts to open the 9^th inning, before Josh Pahlad came on in relief and got the last two batters of the game, with the final out being a strikeout looking.  In all, the West Florida pitching staff fanned nine batters for the contest.
 
Zach Blankenship took the loss for VSU as he started the contest and allowed four runs on five hits in one and one third of an inning.  David Mayberry and Jacob Sessa each had two hits for the Blazers with Sessa having a team high two RBI's in the contest.
 
The 15 runs and 42 at-bats were both season-highs for the Argonaut offense.

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