SAINT LEO, Fla. – UWF third baseman
Preston Moore hit two home runs, including a solo blast in the top of the 11th inning to help seventh-seeded UWF to an 8-7 victory over second-seeded and No. 7 ranked Saint Leo in the first game of the NCAA South Regional at Thomas B. Southard Stadium Thursday.
UWF (33-21) had 13 hits and belted four home runs to advance in the winner's bracket portion of the 4-team double-elimination regional. The Argonauts will face either third-seeded Embry-Riddle or sixth-seeded Delta State on Friday at 6 p.m. EDT.
UWF got back-to-back long balls from
Darrien McDowell and
Jadon Fryman in the first to grab a 2-0 lead. They exploded for a 5-run sixth to grow the advantage to 7-1 before SLU scored two in the next three frames to knot things up at 7-7.
Dalton Neuschwander (7-4) came on in relief in the ninth and allowed just two base runners in three innings. He picked off a Lion at first for the last out of the ninth and then induced a ground ball double play to first where he ended the game receiving the relay from second baseman
Jackson Grabsky.
"The wind was blowing out today so there were some long balls being hit," UWF head coach
Mike Jeffcoat said. "Our guys showed some toughness. It was a back-and-forth game. We held the lead but then (Saint Leo) came back. We did a great job of giving ourselves a chance to win and fortunately Preston came up with the big hit for the lead."
Moore's homers were his sixth and seventh of the season as he went 2-for-5 with three RBI and two runs. McDowell had a game-high four hits with a pair of runs and an RBI. He now has 23 home runs this season to rank second in the country as he added to his UWF-record single-season total.
Cade Easterbrook and
Mark Townsend joined Moore and Fryman with 2-hit days for the Argos. Easterbrook continued his torrid streak in the postseason as he extended his hitting streak to eight games and is hitting .500 in the last seven contests.
Jacob Heath started and went 6.1 innings with five strikeouts. He left in the seventh and was charged with five runs on nine hits.
Saint Leo (38-12) finished with 12 hits, including three home runs of its own. The Lions lost at home for just the sixth time in 29 games this season.
Luke Lashutka gave up a season-high seven runs on 10 hits in six innings for the Lions. He had allowed just three home runs this year but gave up three to the Argos.
The Lions will play an elimination game on Friday at 2 p.m. EDT.
