Box Score

PENSACOLA, Fla. –Tyler Dowdy limited the Delta State offense to just two runs over 8.1 innings, while the Argonaut offense found their rhythm after a tough game one, as the second-ranked UWF Baseball Team bounced back and defeated the Statesmen, 5-2, on Wednesday night at Jim Spooner Field in the GSC Championship Series.
 
UWF moves to 33-9 on the year while DSU drops to 28-17 with the defeat.  West Florida's victory forces a winner-take-all game three of the series tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. from Jim Spooner Field. Ryan Brewer is expected to start on the mound for the Argos.
 
"What can you say about Tyler Dowdy, he always gives us a chance to win", said UWF Head Coach Mike Jeffcoat.  He is not going to light up the radar gun, but he's a competitor and he was a bulldog tonight.  He baffles hitters as he changes speeds constantly and he did that all night."
 
Dowdy, a freshman from Plant City, Florida, had one of his best performances of the season.  The right-hander improved to 6-1 on the year after throwing 8.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with two walks while collecting eight strikeouts, which ties a career-high.  He also threw a career-high 119 pitches on the night.
 
The UWF offense, limited in game one of the series, broke out with eight hits in the ballgame.  The top three batters in the Argonaut line-up; Miller Hancock, Cullan O'Shea, and Dylan Menhennett, all had two hits, with Matthew Estrada and Adam Imwalle grabbing a hit each.  Cullan O'Shea paced the team with two runs scored, which gave the Mobile, Alabama native the team lead with his 45^th run scored.
 
"Cullan got our big inning going with a hit-and-run and then Imwalle came up big with that single, as he continues to execute to put a four-spot in that inning", Jeffcoat continued. 
 
After three scoreless innings were spun Dowdy and his pitching counterpart, Christian Day, West Florida got on the board in the fourth inning as O'Shea doubled to lead off the inning.  With O'Shea collecting the first extra-base hit of the series for UWF, the first baseman would score three batters later on a groundout from Estrada.
 
That score would hold for two more innings before a wild top of the sixth allowed the Argonauts to push their advantage to 5-0.  Three straight singles from Hancock, O'Shea and Menhennett put the Argos ahead 2-0, with two more runs coming home in the next at-bat as Imwalle singled home O'Shea with Menhennett scoring on a throwing error by the Statesmen.  The throwing error allowed Imwalle to get all the way to third, with the Sarasota, Florida product scoring in the next at-bat on a sacrifice fly by Estrada.
 
DSU would make the game closer in the bottom of the sixth on RBI singles by Kirkland Trahan and Blayke Dendy to put the score at 5-2 entering the seventh as Dowdy induced a groundout by Jake Barlow, the Statesmen leading home run hitter, to end the frame.
 
Tyler sent the Statesmen down in order in both the seventh and eighth innings before allowing a walk to the second batter of the ninth inning. Brendon Case came in for the final two outs of the game, striking out both batters with the final one being of the lookout variety, to earn his seventh save of the season.  That earns the Argonaut, their 13^th save as a team this year, which ties them for sixth all-time in program history.
 
Christian Day dropped to 7-3 on the year with the loss as the right-hander threw eight innings, allowing five runs (three earned), no walks with five strikeouts.  Trahan, Dendy, Barlow and Donovan Shows each had a hit for DSU. 
 
"Pitching and defense is again the key tomorrow", Jeffcoat closed.  "We have to keep playing the way that we have always played and I think our offense is starting to see the ball better.  I think if we stick with that approach, we'll have a chance to raise the trophy."

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