Box Score

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Despite Dylan Menhennett's record-breaking night in which the centerfielder broke a 23-year old school record by getting a hit in his 30^th straight game, the second-ranked UWF Baseball Team fell 2-1 against Delta State on Tuesday night at Jim Spooner Field in the GSC Championship series opener.
 
UWF drops to 32-9 on the year while DSU improves to 28-16 with the victory.  The teams will face off again tomorrow night at 6 p.m. from Jim Spooner Field in game two of the series.  Tyler Dowdy is expected to start on the mound for UWF.
 
"We got on them in the first inning thanks to a balk and then (Dylan) Menhennett extended his hitting streak and we were in good shape", said UWF Head Coach Mike Jeffcoat.  "We just unfortunately could not get our offense consistently going and you have to give credit to (Hunter) Riggins for that.  I know our team will respond, and I believe that our competitive spirit will be there tomorrow night for game two.
 
Menhennett, a native of Biloxi, Mississippi, extended the streak in his first plate appearance of the night as he legged out an infield single and grabbing his team-leading, 42^nd RBI and 65^th hit on the year.  Hitting safely in 30 straight games, Dylan moved into first place in school history for hits in consecutive games, besting the previous mark of 29 by Stephen Jackson during the 1998 season.  Dylan will now look to take aim at the GSC mark of 38.
 
"It is very tough to do what he did", Jeffcoat continued.  "When you are the clean-up hitter, people prepare differently for you.  It's a great accomplishment and we hope that he can keep it going and get a few more hits tomorrow to help us win the game."
 
Pitching was the theme of the night as both starters in Hunter Riggins and Evan Floyd were in control for most of the night.  Riggins moved to 9-4 on the year after the right-hander went seven innings, allowing one run on five hits with five walks and seven strikeouts on 112 pitches.
 
Meanwhile, Floyd was dominant as the redshirt junior threw six scoreless innings as he only allowed three hits and two walks while striking out eight batters. In the GSC Tournament, Evan has thrown 15 scoreless innings, only allowing six with three walks while striking out 19 batters.  The Pensacola Catholic product dropped his season earned run average to 2.59, which is the second lowest in the conference.
 
Additionally, Floyd picked up his 92^nd strikeout of the season, tying him for eighth all-time in program history for strikeouts in a single season.
 
Delta State was able to take advantage of the pitching change in the seventh inning as Darek Sargent, the Statesmen nine-hole hitter, hit a two-run home run over the left field fence off Argo reliever, Alex Knight, to give the visitors the lead.  Knight recovered well from the homer as the right-hander picked up five strikeouts in his 2.2 innings of relief.
 
Jackson Rutledge earned his second save of the season for Delta State as he finished the game, throwing two innings of scoreless relief, not allowing a hit while striking out five batters.
 
Cullan O'Shea led the Argos with two hits while Miller Hancock scored the only run of the night for UWF.  Matthew Estrada and Justin Dunnam each had a hit for the Argos as well.  Kirkland Trahan had two hits for the Statesmen, with four other players each tallying a hit for the visitors. 

For the latest on the UWF Baseball Team, please visit GoArgos.com or follow the team on Twitter @UWF_Baseball.