LAKELAND, Fla. – The University of West Florida baseball team dropped its season opener 7-0 Friday evening on the road against Florida Southern at Henley Field.

The game remained scoreless through three innings of play with a strong start on the mound from senior Dalton Neuschwander. The Spanish Fort, Ala. native struck out two in the second inning and another in the third. Neuschwander finished with five strikeouts in five innings of work.

Despite striking out the first two batters the Moccasins broke through in the fourth inning with a three-run double to take the momentum and a 3-0 lead.

"Dalton had a solid start," said UWF head coach Mike Jeffcoat. "He had one bad pitch at the wrong time with the bases loaded. He kind of pitched into that with a two-out walk, but he will learn from that. He's a smart guy."

Florida Southern added another run in the fifth inning and then tacked on three more runs in the seventh.

The Argos couldn't manage to get the offense clicking with just five hits in the contest. UWF got hits from Jadon Fryman, Cade Easterbrook, Brett Rowell, Tanner Taylor, and Brantley Willis.

In discussing the needed adjustments heading into the next two games with Florida Southern, Jeffcoat said the team needs to be more offensive and find ways to get baserunners to put some pressure on the Moccasins defense.

UWF will look to bounce back with a quick turnaround as the team will play the second game of its three-game series with Florida Southern on Saturday at noon C.T.