PENSACOLA, Fla. – The UWF baseball team pounded out 27 hits and got two very strong starting pitching performances in a doubleheader sweep of Alabama Huntsville at Jim Spooner Field on Saturday. The Argonauts won the first game 14-7 and then claimed the second contest 2-0.
UWF (19-13, 14-6 Gulf South) snapped a 3-game losing skid and remained in near the top of the league standings. The Argos also improved to 13-6 at home and clinched their seventh series win out of 10 this season.
"We had a great week of preparation and after last week at Montevallo it gave us an opportunity to reset and talk about the things we need to do to be successful," UWF head coach
Mike Jeffcoat said. "We hit well, executed the bunt and got great pitching – holding the opponent to no runs the first few innings which we hadn't done in nine of the last 10 games."
On Saturday,
Trent Jeffcoat went 6-for-7 at the plate and scored five times.
Cullan O'Shea had three hits, three runs and four RBI in the first game as eight starters had at least one hit.
The top four batters in the lineup – Jeffcoat, O'Shea,
Brady Browning and
Jadon Fryman – combined for 18 of UWF's 28 hits. The Argos had consecutive double-digit hit games for the first time this season and had the most base-knocks in back-to-back games in 2022.
GAME ONE
UWF had a season-high 17 hits and scored eight runs with two outs in a 14-7 win to start the day.
With the offense scoring in each of the first four innings and building an 8-1 lead,
Dilan Lawson was able to throw stress-free pitches. He improved to 3-0 as he worked 7.2 innings with nine strikeouts in his first start as an Argo. His last start came just about a year ago as a COVID freshman at Tallahassee Community College on April 20, 2021.
The Argos got the scoring started in the first inning thanks to some smart base running by Jeffcoat. After singling to open the game, he moved to third on a failed pickoff attempt and then trotted home on a Fryman single to right.
UWF broke the game open in the second when they scored four runs with two outs to extend the lead to 5-0.
True Fontenot doubled home
Josh Prizina and then scored on a Jeffcoat single to right. Jeffcoat advanced to third on a steal and throwing error before crossing the plate on an O'Shea double.
Fontenot added his second RBI in the third when he followed a Prizina double with a single through the left side of the infield.
Mitchell Rottier doubled to start the fourth and later scored on Carson Villalta's sacrifice fly to get the Chargers on the scoreboard.
The Argos got the run back plus one when O'Shea hit a 2-run home run in the fourth. It was his team-leading sixth of 2022 and 20th in UWF history, moving him into sixth place all-time.
UAH made things interesting in the eighth, scoring four runs with two outs to cut the UWF lead to 8-5. The big hits were two consecutive run-scoring doubles by Villalta and Jeff Hunter.
The Argonauts got the runs back with six in the home half of the eighth. O'Shea drove in a run with a double into the right field corner and Fryman had a 2-run double to left.
Mark Townsend had an RBI groundout and then Prizina hit a 2-run home run over the wall in left.
GAME TWO
The second game was a pitcher's duel. Fortunately for the Argonauts,
Salvatore Ferro worked into the seventh and improved to 5-2 as he struck out five with no walks while seven hits in six innings.
UWF scored first in the second contest as well. The Argos got four consecutive singles - two via bunt - with a slow-rolling RBI from Fryman to score Jeffcoat.
The defensive battle continued until UWF added another run in the sixth on a
Preston Moore sacrifice fly.
Jacob Estes came on with two runners on in the seventh and slammed the door. He got Colin Brewer to pop up a bunt that Estes caught and fired to second to turn a double play before ending the game on a groundout for his third save of the season.
Tyler Self (3-5) went the distance for UAH and struck out eight but allowed both runs on 10 hits.
The teams will conclude their series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
