VALDOSTA, Ga. – The 17th-ranked University of West Florida softball team took two losses at No. 7 Valdosta State on Saturday afternoon, putting the Argonauts' record at 18-9 overall and 12-5 in the Gulf South Conference for the year.
 
Four Argonauts tallied multiple hits in the doubleheader, with Kayanna Perez leading the team with three, including an RBI double in Game 2. Brett Leiva, who also doubled, Kara Wilson, and Teala Howard each had two hits. With a 3-for-5 day at the plate, Perez improved her batting average to .474 (9-19) for the season.
 
Jacquelynne Poling hit her fifth home run of the season in Game 1, giving her five homers in her last 9 games at the time.
 
The series wraps up on Sunday, with first pitch at 1 pm ET from Steel's Diamond at Blazer Park.
 
GAME 1: No. 17 UWF 3, No. 7 VSU 6
Valdosta State got ahead early with a Morgan Hill leadoff homer and an RBI single later in the inning, but UWF tied things up in the next two innings.
 
Poling's opposite-field solo homer in the second cut into the Lady Blazer lead, and Teala Howard put down a bunt single in the third that scored Grace Gilbert after VSU misplayed the bunt and made a wild throw.
 
VSU hit a pair of solo home runs in the bottom of the third to re-take the lead, 4-2, but UWF did not go away easily. In the fifth, Howard again dropped a bunt single and a Valdosta State error on the play scored Kayanna Perez, who had an infield single a batter earlier.
 
A Kiley Robb two-run home run for VSU in the bottom of the inning would stretch the lead to the final 6-3.
 
Gilbert was charged with the loss, going 2.1 innings and allowing four runs – three of which were earned. Montana Young pitched the final 3.2 innings, allowing three runs and two hits. Gilbert is now 4-4 this season.
 
GAME 2: No. 17 UWF 4, No. 7 VSU 6
Kelsey Sweatt held down the Lady Blazers in Game 2 until the very end, when VSU picked up a five-run seventh inning to take the late win. The senior from Jacksonville held a potent Valdosta offense to just two hits through six innings, with five strikeouts.
 
The action started in the fourth inning, with UWF trailing 1-0. Kara Wilson and Ally Merrill led the inning off with a pair of singles, and Brett Leiva laced a double down the right field line to score Merrill and tie the game. A batter later, Courtney McLellan lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Jacquelynne Poling at giving UWF the 2-1 lead.  
 
The teams traded zeroes through the sixth, before UWF added another two runs in the seventh. Madilynne Webb started the inning with a pinch-hit single, and Perez doubled to right-center to score Mallory Vining from second, after Vining re-entered for Webb.
 
A batter later, Howard put down yet another bunt that was misplayed by Valdosta State, scoring Perez and putting UWF ahead 4-1.
 
But VSU hit three home runs in the seventh to take the win, starting with a two-run shot from Nicole Pennington and a solo homer from Logan Hill.
 
Young entered the game in the seventh with the game tied, and started her outing with an Aniston Gano flyout. But Taylor Lewis's pinch-hit two-run home run a batter later ended the game, 6-4. 
 
In all, Sweatt was charged with five runs over 6.1 innings, striking out 5 VSU batters and allowing just 5 hits. She is now 7-3 on the year.