Box Score
OXFORD, Ala. – The third-ranked University of West Florida Baseball Team used an high-powered attack and late inning dominance from relief pitcher
Alex Knight, to prevail 8-5 over Alabama Huntsville on Saturday night at Choccoloco Park at the GSC Tournament.
West Florida moves to 31-8 with the victory while UAH drops to 20-17 on the year. UWF will now play the winner of Lee and Valdosta State on Sunday afternoon in Oxford, Alabama.
The Argonauts recorded 13 hits in the contest as four players had at least two hits.
Dylan Menhennett, extending his hitting streak to 28 games, finished with two doubles, while
Adam Imwalle,
Matthew Estrada and
Sam Clement also had two hits each.
UWF used three pitchers on the day with
Tyler Dowdy getting the start, while
Sean Means and
Alex Knight threw over two innings in relief. Means got his fourth win of the year with Knight receiving his first save of 2021.
West Florida again was first on the score board as
Justin Dunnam, the left-fielder, scored Imwalle on a two-out RBI single. UAH would strike back in the next inning following three consecutive hit-by pitches.
Cullan O'Shea would break the tie in the immediate next inning as the first baseman clobbered a home run to right-field, scoring
Miller Hancock in the process, and giving the visitors a two-run advantage. It was Cullan's seventh home run of the year, trailing Menhennett by one home run for the lead on the squad.
True Fontenot added to the lead in the fourth inning with a single to right-field to score Clement to make it 4-1, before a Carson Villalta solo home run put the contest at 4-2 after four. That would be end of the day for Dowdy, who finished with four innings pitched, allowing two runs on four hits, with one strikeout on 46 pitches.
Despite the Chargers getting back in it, West Florida would once again put distance between the two teams as Imwalle doubled home Menhennett, with Estrada immediately following with a single up the middle to make it a four-run game. Means would face trouble in the sixth as UAH would load the bases, but the redshirt freshman limited the damage as he only allowed two runs and kept the Argos on top.
Both teams would tally a run in the seventh as Dunnam hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Menhennett while John Trousdale scored for UAH on a Zach Duvall single. With one down in the seventh, UWF Head Coach
Mike Jeffcoat to redshirt senior, Knight, who delivered with 2.2 scoreless innings. He got the final two outs of the seventh with a groundout and a flyout while he only faced one batter over the minimum in the eighth and ninth innings.
Means tallied 2.1 innings with three runs on two hits, with two walks and a strikeout while Knight went 2.2 innings, allowing two hits with one walk and a strikeout.
Tyler Self took the loss for the Chargers as the starter went 4.1 innings, allowing six runs on 10 hits. Trousdale, Colin Brewer and Griffin Rivers each had two hits for UAH.
For the latest on the UWF Baseball Team, please visit GoArgos.com or follow the team on Twitter @UWF_Baseball.
