JACKSON, Tenn. – The 22nd-ranked University of West Florida softball team got two strong efforts in the circle on Friday to pick up a doubleheader sweep against Union on the road. UWF improved to 20-10 overall and 14-6 in the Gulf South Conference with the wins, and the Argonauts will go for the series sweep on Saturday at 1 pm. 
 
Grace Gilbert and Kelsey Sweatt combined for a 1.50 ERA over 14 innings, with 18 strikeouts and a .180 opponent batting average. Sweatt's 12-strikeout effort marked the ninth time this season that a pitcher in the GSC struck out 10 or more batters. 
 
Courtney McLellan, Kayla Mayo, and Jacquelynne Poling each had multiple RBIs, and Mika Garcia, Kayanna Perez, and Teala Howard each had two hits. Howard also led the team with three runs scored on Friday. 
 
GAME 1: No. 22 UWF 3, Union 1
A great outing from Grace Gilbert and a timely hit from Courtney McLellan told the story in Game 1. 
 
Gilbert improved to 5-4 with her fourth complete game of the season, dropping her season ERA to 3.00. The Chipley, Florida, native struck out six Union batters over seven innings, allowing just five hits and one earned run. Gilbert retired seven of the final eight batters she faced, which came after Union scored its lone run of the afternoon in the fifth inning. 
 
UWF broke the scoreless tie in the third inning, with McLellan's bases-clearing triple to give UWF a 3-0 lead. Her third triple of the year came at the perfect time – just before her, Kayanna Perez and Jacquelynne Poling drew walks, with an Ally Merrill single coming between them. 
 
The Lady Bulldogs picked up a hit in each of the first two innings, but Gilbert had no trouble retiring the side and keeping them scoreless. She had perfect innings in the third, fourth, and sixth innings, allowing just one run in the fifth on a bases-loaded walk. 
 
GAME 2: No. 22 UWF 8, Union 2
UWF got another strong performance in the circle in Game 2, this time from Kelsey Sweatt. The senior threw the full seven innings and struck out a season-high 12 Union hitters. 
 
Sweatt improved to 8-3 for the year, and Friday marked her fifth career game with double-digit strikeouts at UWF. Her 12 strikeouts are tied for the second-most in a single game by a GSC pitcher this season, and are one off her career-best 13, which she set last year against West Georgia on March 7. 
 
The UWF offense did more than enough for Sweatt on Saturday afternoon, with a quick two runs in the second inning from a Kayla Mayo double to deep left-center field that scored Brett Leiva and Ally Merrill.
 
Merrill added a sacrifice fly to score Teala Howard in the top of the third, stretching the lead to 3-1 after Union's Tori York hit a solo homer in the second.
 
The Argonauts put together a four-run fifth inning, which started with Howard scoring on a wild pitch. Jacquelynne Poling drove in two runs with an RBI single, and Chelsea Dumas stole home later in the inning to give UWF the 7-1 advantage. Howard scored again in the sixth on a grounder from Kara Wilson, after Union right fielder Mackenzi David homered in the fifth. 
 
After David's home run in the fifth, Sweatt sat down 9 of the final 10 batters she faced to finish off the 8-2 victory for UWF.