PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida softball team got a dominant start from Montana Young in a Game 1 win and fell short of a comeback effort in Game 2 on Saturday afternoon. With the split against Delta State, UWF is now 7-7 on the year with a 1-3 record in Gulf South Conference play.
 
Young was the standout for UWF on Saturday, as she tallied a career-high 10 strikeouts in Game 1. She went 7.1 innings in the circle between the two games with a 0.95 ERA and a .214 opponent batting average.
 
Freshman Hannah Harper had multiple hits in each game of the twin bill, going 4-for-7. Madelyn Vasquez extended her hitting streak to 11 games, with a 3-for-8 day that included a double, a triple, and a team-best three RBIs. Jessica Ford added two RBIs with a pair of triples as well.
 
The series wraps up on Sunday with a single game. First pitch is expected for 1 pm at the UWF Softball Complex.
 
GAME 1: UWF 8, Delta State 0 (5 innings)
Montana Young put together an outstanding start in the front half of the doubleheader, striking out a career-high 10 batters. The junior was dominant all game long, allowing just two hits and a walk across five innings of work.
 
With another complete game shutout, Young improved her season ERA to 2.10. She has also recorded a 1.18 ERA over her last five appearances, dating back to February 11 against Embry-Riddle.
 
The Argonauts got started early offensively, when Madelyn Vasquez and Erin Moon pulled off a double steal in the first inning. Vasquez scored on the play with a throwing error from DSU, giving UWF a 1-0 lead.
 
Hannah Harper would strike in the second with a line drive single that brought in Chelsea Dumas, stretching West Florida's lead to 2-0. Harper scored Dumas again in the fourth with a sacrifice fly to left field, putting UWF ahead 3-0.
 
Madilynn Webb added another run with a line drive RBI single in the fifth, before a DSU error on Chelsea Dumas's sacrifice bunt scored two more, putting the Argonauts ahead 6-0.
 
An RBI bunt single from Laurynn Boggs and a sharp RBI single up the middle from Vasquez capped off a five-run fifth inning for UWF and gave the Argos the 8-0 win.
 
GAME 2: UWF 5, Delta State 6
The Lady Statesmen jumped ahead with two runs in the third inning, scoring on an RBI double from MyCala Helms and a Sydney Pevey sacrifice fly.
 
Delta State added two more in the top of the fourth, before Montana Young entered the circle again for UWF. Sydney Pevey hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth to extend the lead once more.
 
Trailing 6-0 in the seventh, West Florida refused to go away easily. Kayanna Perez reached on a dropped fly ball to start the inning, and Hannah Harper lined a single into left field. Vasquez followed with a two-run triple into the right-center field, and Jessica Ford's two-run triple to dead center cut the deficit to 6-4.
 
Kayla Mayo then brought in Ford with a grounder, cutting the score to 6-5, but that would be all the Argonauts could muster in the comeback effort.
 
Jeya Prasad was charged with four runs over 3.2 innings of work in her start. Young went 2.1 innings and allowed just one earned run, and Hannah Harper finished off the game for West Florida with a scoreless inning of relief.