LIVINGSTON, Ala. – It was a long day at the UWA Softball Complex, but the University of West Florida softball team pulled away with two wins. With the victories, UWF stretched its winning streak to 13 games and improved to 16-3 on the year with an 11-0 Gulf South Conference record.
 
The UWF offense kept on slugging on Friday, scoring 13 runs in Game 1 and another 8 in Game 2. The wins made it eight consecutive games that the UWF offense has scored at least eight runs.
 
Madelyn Vasquez and Jessica Ford led UWF offensively, each tallying five RBIs and two home runs on the day.
 
Vasquez has had at least one RBI in each of her last nine games and a home run in five of her last eight. Ford homered twice in Game 1 – the second multi-homer game for UWF in the last week, since Teala Howard did so in Game 1 of the Christian Brothers series.
 
Vasquez leads the GSC in slugging (.833) and OPS (1.326) while ranking second in home runs (6) and RBIs (25) this season. Ford is second in the conference in runs scored (22), while ranking in the top 10 in slugging, OPS, RBIs, doubles, and home runs.
 
West Florida goes for the sweep on Saturday, with first pitch at 1 pm from the UWA Softball Complex.
 
GAME 1: UWF 13, UWA 9
The front half of the doubleheader was a game of big innings.
 
UWA struck first with four runs in the first on just two hits, but UWF would even the score with four runs in the top of the third. Those runs came from three UWF hits, including an RBI single from Teala Howard, a pair of sacrifice flies from Jessica Ford and Madelyn Vasquez, and a grounder from Laurynn Boggs that was misplayed by UWA.
 
West Alabama got those runs right back in the bottom of the third and added a fifth run, scoring on a wild pitch, a three-run triple from Kacy Noland, and a West Florida error.
 
From there, it would be all UWF, as the Argonauts scored four runs in the fifth, three in the sixth, and another two in the seventh.
 
The highlight would be two home runs from Jessica Ford, in the fifth and sixth innings. Her first was a solo homer and was immediately followed by a solo home run from Madelyn Vasquez, before Boggs hit a two-run triple to right center field.
 
That continued a hot streak from Boggs, giving her 12 RBIs in her last four games. The home runs for Ford give her four on the year, and her five RBIs in Game 1 give her 20 on the year, ranking second on the team.
 
Ford's second home run was a two-run roundtripper in the sixth, and Madilynne Webb lifted a sacrifice fly to score Vasquez. Boggs would score on a wild pitch in the seventh, and Ford singled to left to score Howard in the seventh, giving her five RBIs – a career high.
 
Kelsey Sweatt got the start in the circle for UWF but lasted just 2.2 innings in the start. She struck out five but struggled to find the strike zone and walked seven and was charged with seven earned runs despite giving up only four hits.
 
Jeya Prasad improved to 5-0 on the year with 3.2 innings of scoreless relief, with just two hits allowed. The freshman got one out in the seventh and walked the next two batters before Sweatt returned to the game.
 
In her second appearance of the game, Sweatt struck out UWA's Hannah Mynard and forced a popup to end the game and give UWF the win.
 
Vasquez's home run was her team-best fifth and she leads UWF with 22 RBIs and 7 multi-RBI games.
 
GAME 2: UWF 8, UWA 2
Montana Young turned in a quality start in the circle for UWF in the second game, going the distance with five strikeouts and just two runs allowed.
 
While West Alabama put a runner or two on in each of the first four innings, Young wouldn't budge. She improved her record to 3-0 on the year in the win.
 
Kayla Mayo put down a bunt single in the first that scored Teala Howard for UWF's first run of the game, and it would be followed by an Angela Agurkis sacrifice fly and an Erin Moon RBI single to put the lead at 3-0.
 
Madelyn Vasquez hit another home run in the top of the third, scoring Mayo and Ford and stretching UWF's lead to 6-0. The homer was her sixth of the year, a team high and the second-most in the GSC this year.
 
After a Hannah Mynard homer in the bottom of the sixth put UWA on the scoreboard, Erin Moon added an RBI double in the top of the seventh. Moon finished the game with two hits and two RBIs, marking her second career multi-RBI game.
 
Mayo finished the game 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and an RBI, and Moon and Madilynne Webb each added two hits as well.