COLUMBUS, Ga. – UWF Softball (7-4) showed it can win in multiple styles by sweeping the first two games of the Cougar-Hurricane Classic Friday.
The Argos defeated the Tusculum Pioneers 4-1 in extra-innings pitching battle, then followed it by defeating the hosting Columbus State Cougars 11-7 in a back-and-forth offensive show.
Montana Young (4-2) earned the win for her four innings pitched against Tusculum, and
Hannah Harper (3-2) added a win for her final two against Columbus State.
The two were the only pitchers to see the field today for UWF, with Harper starting the game against the Pioneers and throwing a season-high five strikeouts before getting relieved by Young. The opposite happened in game two, with Young being replaced by Harper in the sixth. Together they were responsible for holding Tusculum to just one run on four hits. They had less success against Columbus State but helped force the Cougars to strand six total runners in the game and notched three scoreless innings.
At the plate,
Jessie Baughan and
Madelyn Vasquez were the heroes against Tusculum. Baughan knocked her third home run of the season to tie the game at 1-1 and Vasquez drove in the winning runs with a 3-RBI double in the top of the eighth. Vasquez extends her streak of games with a hit to six, and continues to lead UWF in hits (14), doubles (5) RBIs (10) and batting average (.483).
Against Columbus State, it was an all-around performance as almost every batter in UWF's lineup added a hit to the effort. West Florida totaled 14 hits as a team, with
Emma Brice leading the way. The sophomore has been on a tear as of late, hitting her fourth home run in three days and scoring the final runs of the game with a 2-RBI double.
The Argos also added another weapon to the lineup in
Gianna Guerriero, who returned to the fold after missing the first few weeks of the season with an injury. The junior added two runs, two hits and two stolen bases in the Argos' win.
UWF 4, Tusculum 1 in 8 innings
The Argos' win over the Pioneers was a pitcher's duel right to the very end, with Harper and Young controlling the Pioneers and forcing them to strand five runners on base on seven combined strikeouts with only a single walk.
Tusculum did manage to strike first on an RBI-double but their lead would be short-lived as Baughan put the Argos on the board for the first time in the fifth inning, sailing a home run to left field.
The game would stay tied at 1-1 through the seventh, triggering extra innings. In the eighth,
Erin Moon was placed at second as a part of the extra innings base runner rules in college softball.
Bella Holliday and Brice managed to get aboard, and Vasquez cleared them with her 3-RBI double that would end up winning the game for the Argos.
UWF 11, Columbus State 7
It was a back-and-forth battle against the Cougars in West Florida's second game in Columbus. The game featured four lead changes and two ties as each team responded any time momentum seemed to be gained.
Erin Moon opened things up immediately in the first inning with a sacrifice fly-out for an RBI, scoring Brice. The Cougars followed it up with a sac-fly of their own, tying it at 1-1. Another sac-fly by
Jessica Ford and
Chelsea Dumas' first home run of the year put the Argos back on top 3-1.
The Argos got into trouble in the bottom of the third, but got out of it when the cougars tried to get greedy, advancing a runner and throwing out their leading runner at home.
Erin Moon got the ball back to 3B, where Maddie Vasquez threw it back to 2B for the tag out double-play. This cleared the bases, and a
Montana Young strike out ended the frame.
After two scoreless innings for the Argos, Columbus State rallied and tied it up 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth from an RBI double and single. In the fifth, Vasquez recorded an RBI-single and an error scored
Brianna Jennings to make it 5-3. Nonetheless, the Cougars capitalized off an RBI double and a 2-RBI home run to take a 5-6 lead for the first time in the game.
The Argos resiliency shined through, and they relied on their hottest bat in
Emma Brice. Brice homered to left field to drive in two runs and Harper continued her success on both sides of the ball, knocking an RBI single. With the score 8-6, Columbus State could only add one more RBI single and nothing in the seventh frame.
A wild pitch scored Guerriero and another Brice 2-RBI double finished the Cougars, giving UWF the 11-7 win.
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UWF has one more game in Columbus tomorrow against Newberry at 9:30 a.m. CT, and then makes the short drive down to Americus, GA to face Georgia Southwestern in a Saturday afternoon game before heading home.
Keep up on West Florida Softball by following @UWFSoftball on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
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