OXFORD, Ala. – Mark Townsend delivered a pinch-hit 2-run home run in the 10th inning to propel the No. 8/17 UWF baseball team past Valdosta State, 10-8, in the Gulf South Conference Championship Game at Choccolocco Park Tuesday.
 
In a game that began as a pitcher's duel with 'small-ball' dictating play for the first seven innings, both teams rode huge momentum swings with six runs in both halves of the eighth which setup Towsend's heroics.
 
The 15th game of the tournament delivered in a way few thought possible, with both teams doing whatever it took to help their side.
 
In the eighth, UWF scored six runs on eight hits – all with two outs to grab control. Jadon Fryman, True Fontenot, Jacob Bailey, Dean Hotz and Preston Moore all had run-scoring singles to put the Argos ahead for the second time in the contest.
 
But the lead was short lived as VSU answered with six of its own, using a pair of 2-run home runs to pull even.
 
"We went up by six and then they matched us with six of their own so you knew it would be one of those games," UWF head coach Mike Jeffcoat said.
 
Neither team did much in the ninth, with UWF stranding a runner at first and VSU going 3-up, 3-down.
 
With two outs in the tenth, Preston Moore raced down the line to beat a bad throw from Blazer shortstop Preston Joye who had entered the game as a sub the previous inning.
 
That's when the coaching staff called upon Townsend. In a situation where Tyler Dowdy has been the go-to pinch hitter, the staff had committed to using Dowdy's pitching skills as one of the next options out of the bullpen, putting Townsend's name as the next one on the lineup card. 
 
The left-handed hitting switch hitter who has battled an injury in the past month, lifted the first pitch he saw to deep right center where VSU's David Crawford was tracking the ball as he approached the 10-foot-tall fence. The Blazers' center fielder leaped at the wall only to have the ball hit the top of the railing an inch past his glove and go over for Townsend's second home run of the year.
 
"Tyler has been our big pinch-hit guy recently, but we thought we might need him out of the bullpen and Mark was our next guy up. He's very capable and boy did he come through today."
 
In the home-half of the tenth, Jacob Heath slammed the door with a pair of strikeouts looking and a groundout to earn the win with 2.2 innings of no-hit ball and four punchouts. This coming on the heels of a win on Monday where he held Lee scoreless in four innings.
 
"Jacob (Heath) closing the game with four innings yesterday and then another big day today was just awesome. I've never had a team like this persevere with so much energy. When we lost to Valdosta State (in the second game), this team came out to batting practice the next day singing and playing music on the bus… you never would have known we lost.
 
"I knew this team was special. They have to be special to win 16 straight heading into the tournament and this team wanted to make some noise in the postseason."
 
The Argonauts captured their third GSC title and 117th conference crown in UWF history. The Argos improved to 3-2 in GSC championship games with previous titles in 2007 and 2021, and became the 23rd team to sweep the regular-season and tournament titles in the same season, but the first since 2017.
 
UWF improved to 37-15 on the season and is 24-2 in its last 26 contests.
 
VSU scored first, manufacturing a run in the third. The Blazers got consecutive singles to open the first three innings, but it wasn't until the third that they attempted a sacrifice and put both runners in scoring position. Jovanni Canegitta grounded out to second to drive in Hunter Stowe.
 
The Argos tied it at 1-1 in the fifth with a 2-out single by Dean Hotz that scored Trent Jeffcoat.
 
UWF took its first lead in the seventh on Jeffcoat's first home run of the season. The Blazers answered in the home half of the inning when Kevin Taylor was hit by a pitch to open the frame, advanced to second on a sacrifice, got to third on a deep fly to right and later scored from third on a JP Gates double.
 
Grabsky was named the Most Outstanding Player after hitting .478 with seven runs scored and four RBI. He was joined by Jeffcoat, Fryman and Josh Prizina on the All-Tournament Team.
 
UWF will now await the announcement of the 2023 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship field on Sunday, May 14. The NCAA Selection Show will air on ncaa.com at 9 p.m. Central Time. The NCAA Regionals run from May 18-21.