GULF SHORES, Ala. – A walk-off win over Union on Saturday night puts the University of West Florida softball team at 2-1 on the year after a sweep against the Bulldogs and Palm Beach Atlantic.
 
Teala Howard led UWF with four hits on the day, batting an even .500, and Jessica Ford's three stolen bases were a team high.
 
The UWF pitching duo of Kelsey Sweatt and Jeya Prasad combined to post a 2.50 ERA and 13 strikeouts over 14.0 innings of work.
 
West Florida wraps up its run at the Gulf Shores Invitational on Sunday with a 1:30 pm game against No. 5 North Georgia at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex.
 
GAME 1: UWF 3, Palm Beach Atlantic 2
Kelsey Sweatt earned her first win of the year, going the distance against PBA and striking out three. Sweatt retired nine batters in a row from the second through the fourth innings, as she settled in on a cold night.
 
West Florida's offense put runners on in each of the first two innings but finally struck in the third. Teala Howard led off with a bunt single and stole second, coming around to score when Madelyn Vasquez reached on a wild throw from PBA's shortstop.
 
A few batters later, Mallory Vining drew a bases-loaded walk to stretch UWF's lead to 2-0.
 
Howard picked up her third hit of the day with a bunt double in the fourth inning, taking advantage when no PBA players covered second base. Vasquez drove Howard in with a sharp line drive through the right side of the infield, marking her first career RBI as an Argonaut.
 
The Sailfish added a run in the sixth with an RBI single and picked up another run on an error in the top of the seventh, but Sweatt forced a flyout to Kayanna Perez in left field to end the game.
 
Laurynn Boggs, Jessica Ford, and Howard each had a stolen base in the game.
 
GAME 2: UWF 5, Union 4
West Florida struck early against the Bulldogs. Jessica Ford led off the game with a walk, stole second, and came across on a wild pitch just a few batters later.
 
Ford lifted a sacrifice fly in the third to score Chelsea Dumas – who started the Argo rally with a single – and Kelsey Hodges drew a walk and scored on a wild pitch in the fourth.
 
Jeya Prasad was sharp in her first career start, especially early on. She struck out nine in her outing, including five of six batters she faced in the third and fourth innings.  
 
Dumas scored again in the fifth on a wild pitch, following her second single of the evening.
 
CBU added three runs in the sixth to even the score at 4-4, with back-to-back RBI singles.
 
Facing a small jam in the seventh inning, Sweatt entered the game in relief and struck out CBU's Macy Neal to end the inning. Sweatt was credited with the win and improved to 2-1 on the year.
 
Ford and Howard led off the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back singles, and Ford stole another base to put herself in scoring position. With one away and two strikes on her, Kelsey Hodges hit a chopper toward the shortstop, and Ford beat the throw home to give UWF the walk-off win.
 
UWF is back in action on Sunday with a game against No. 5 North Georgia at 1:30 pm from Gulf Shores.
 
For all information on the team, follow @UWFSoftball on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.