Box Score

PENSACOLA, Fla.–Two home runs from Adam Imwalle and Sam Clement were the difference as the top-ranked UWF Baseball Team beat Shorter, 6-3, on Thursday night at Jim Spooner Field in the opener of the NCAA South Regional.
 
With the win, West Florida improves to 35-9 on the year and advances to a Friday night contest against Delta State at 7 p.m. DSU lost earlier in the day and would be eliminated from the tournament with a loss.  Tyler Dowdy is expected to start on the mound for West Florida.

"Getting the first victory under our belt was huge", said UWF Head Coach Mike Jeffcoat.  "It helped loosen our guys up and (Evan) Floyd went out there and gave our team a chance to win and that's what we needed.  We had three big hits from Imwalle, Clement and Dunnam that really sealed the deal for us."
 
Miller Hancock was an offensive force for the Argonauts on Thursday night as the shortstop led all players with three hits, raising his batting average to .377 on the year.  Five other Argos added a hit each in the game, while Imwalle, Clement and Justin Dunnam each drove in two runs.
 
West Florida's pitching was another bright spot on the night as the pitching staff earned 13 combined strikeouts.  Evan Floyd moved to 9-1 on the year, collecting another win as the right-hander threw six innings, while allowing three runs on seven hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts.  It is the fourth time this season that Floyd has struck out at least 10 batters in a game this season.

"My fastball felt alive and my slider in the last half of the outing was really working for me", stated Floyd.  "I worked with what I had and tried to keep us in it by throwing strikes and really going at their hitters."
 
Josh Pahlad and Brendon Case finished the final three innings of the game, tossing three strikeouts between them, with Case pitching the ninth inning to earn his eighth save of the year.
 
SU got on the board on the first to put pressure on the top-seeded Argos in the top of the first as Cory Mason singled to center which scored Jacob Pajer.  UWF immediately responded in the bottom of the frame of the inning as Imwalle launched his fourth home run of the year 3-2 fastball off Hawks starter, Jonathan Pintaro. 

"For Imwalle to hit that home run was really big for us as a team and it also settled Evan down", remarked Coach Jeffcoat.  "
 
The Argos added another two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth from Clement to mark his first round-tripper of the year.  It was the Argonaut's 34^th homer of the year and their first home runs since May 9^th against Lee.
 
Shorter continued to fight back in the top of the fifth as Justin Barnes scored on a fielder's choice to put the score at 5-2.  Floyd was able to escape bigger damage in the inning by inducing a groundout to third base, setting up another two-run offensive inning for the Argos.  In the bottom of the frame, West Florida was able to put together their third score with two outs as Matthew Estrada was hit-by a pitch to load the bases.
 
In the next at-bat, Dunnam ripped a double down the right-field line to score Menhennett and O'Shea from second and third, putting the Argos comfortably ahead by a score of 6-2. With the six runs scored, UWF was able to match their offensive output of six runs, the most scored against Pintaro in 2021.  Pintaro entered the match-up as the Gulf South Conference Pitcher of the Year, NCBWA and D2CCA South Region Pitcher of the Year and NCBWA First Team All-American.  Pintaro (10-4) pitched all eight innings for the Hawks, allowing six runs on eight hits with three walks and nine strikeouts.
 
SU added another run in the top of the sixth before Floyd stranded the bases loaded with a strikeout and a fly-out to end the threat.
 
Pahlad and Case faced one batter over the minimum in the eighth and ninth inning, with Case inducing a game-ending double-play via a groundout to end the contest.  Jacob Pajer and Justin Barnes each had two hits for the Hawks.
 
For the latest on the UWF Baseball Team, please visit GoArgos.com or follow the team on Twitter @UWF_Baseball.