PENSACOLA, Fla. – Saturday afternoon provided plenty of reasons for the University of West Florida softball program to celebrate. The team won two thrillers over Lee, winning Game 1 in extra innings and run-ruling the Lady Flames in Game 2 behind four home runs, the Argonauts celebrated Senior Day for the Class of 2021, and head coach Ashliegh McLean earned her 100th career win.
 
With the doubleheader sweep, UWF improved to 29-12 overall and 21-7 in the Gulf South Conference, while Lee fell to 17-20 and 14-15 in the GSC. The series wraps on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1 pm.
 
McLean hit the century mark with her 100th career win in Game 2. With a 100-32 career record, she has a .758 winning percentage.
 
The Argonauts hit .364 in the doubleheader with four doubles and four home runs, slugging .655 and scoring 15 runs. Teala Howard led the way with four hits (4-8) and was one of four home run hitters on the day, joining Brett Leiva, Courtney McLellan, and Kara Wilson.
 
The four home runs in Game 2 matched a season high for UWF, and it also marked the fifth game this season in which UWF has scored 10 or more runs.
 
Howard stretched her hitting streak to 12 games, as well.
 
GAME 1: UWF 4, Lee 3 (8 innings)
It took going to extra innings to settle the first game of the day.
 
Ally Merrill started the action in the eighth inning with a double to right-center, before Courtney McLellan drove a double to left-center immediately after and brought in the game-winning run to give UWF a 4-3 victory.
 
Prior to the eighth, it was a back-and-forth contest. Mika Garcia hit a high chopper to shortstop with the bases loaded in the bottom of the third, allowing Mallory Vining to beat the throw and put UWF ahead 1-0.
 
Lee bounced back with back-to-back singles in the top of the fourth before a Shelby Cole single evened the score. Lee's Taylor De Adder singled up the middle to score two more runs in the fifth, giving Lee its first lead of the day.
 
The lead did not last long, however, due to some heads-up, aggressive baserunning.
 
West Florida scored two runs of its own in the bottom of the fifth, on a Jacquelynne Poling sacrifice fly. Teala Howard scored from third on the play, and Garcia read the throw home perfectly, never breaking stride when the high throw bounced off of Lee catcher Madison Besaw's glove and allowed her to cross the plate.
 
Montana Young worked out of jams in the sixth and seven to earn the win, throwing 4.0 innings of scoreless relief. The rookie struck out two batters and did not issue a walk, improving to 8-3. Gilbert was ultimately charged with three runs over 4.0 innings, despite a stronger start than her final line suggests.
 
GAME 2: UWF 11, Lee 3 (6 innings)
West Florida was in control throughout Game 2, taking a 7-0 lead after four innings.
 
Brett Leiva lifted her fourth home run of the year in the second inning to give UWF a 1-0 lead. Kara Wilson and Courtney McLellan hit back-to-back homers in the bottom of the third to stretch the lead to 5-0.
 
Wilson's, a three-run shot, was her 10th of the season, making her the first Argonaut since Shannon Miles in 2010 to reach double-digit home runs in a season.
 
Ally Merrill extended the lead a little more in the fourth, with a bases-loaded, two-run single up the middle to put UWF ahead 7-0.
 
Those seven runs, of course, were more than enough support for Kelsey Sweatt in the circle. Sweatt improved to 14-3 on the year, going the distance and striking out six batters over six innings, with five hits allowed.
 
Sweatt has a 4-0 record and a 1.35 ERA over her last five appearances, with 35 strikeouts over 26.0 innings.
 
Lee put three runs on the board in the top of the sixth, but UWF got those runs and a few more right back.
 
Teala Howard drove a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth, her third of the year, and Wilson brought in pinch-runner Chelsea Dumas with a single to left to give UWF a 10-3 lead.
 
McLellan ended the game a batter later with a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Ally Merrill, giving McLellan her second walk-off of the afternoon.