DAHLONEGA, Ga. –  UWF Softball (5-4) bounced back in a big way Sunday with two statement wins over #8 North Georgia and Lake Erie College on day 2 of the Mizuno Invitational. 
 
UWF first took on Lake Erie and dominated, scoring seven runs in the first inning and run-ruling the Storm in five. The Argos then flipped the script on the Nighthawks in their second bout of the weekend, coming back from being down 3-0 and winning 5-4. 
 
Power hitting was once again the story of the day, as the Argos hit six home runs and nine total extra base hits combined in the two games. Angelia Discenza, Nicole Mergen, and Olivia Ryan each contributed their first home runs as Argonauts, with Mergen's being the go-ahead runs in the upset win over #8 North Georgia. 
 
Hannah Harper had an all-around impressive performance at the plate and in the circle, going 8-13 (.615) with six runs, a double, four RBI and recording a home run in three straight games. She now leads UWF with a .500 batting average through nine games and boasts the fifth-best batting average in the GSC. 
 
In the circle, the left-hander went 2-0 on the weekend, pitching 13 total innings and recording seven strikeouts with just two walks. 
 
Gianna Guerriero leads the GSC with at a perfect 8 for 8 on stolen base attempts. The senior added two more against Lake Erie Sunday. UWF is third in the conference with 24 stolen bases on 27 attempts.
 
UWF 15, Lake Erie College 2
 
Haley Guffey (2-3) got the start for the Argos in the circle and recorded two of her four strikeouts in the first frame. She held the Storm to zero runs until the fourth inning, when she allowed her lone earned run of the game. She continues to lead the team with a 2.57 ERA.
 
Offensively, the Argos put the game out of reach in the first few innings. Emma Brice logged a 2-RBI single to score Guerriero and Discenza first, and she was then brought in by Harper's double a few pitches later. Baughan reached on an error, and then scored off a Kyndal Cornelius 2-RBI double to left field. Bella Holliday stole second and Cornelius scored on the throw. After the dust had settled, UWF led 7-0 in the first inning.
 
Baughan recorded a solo home run in the second to bring the total to eight after the second. The third was almost as prolific as the first inning, with the Argos adding six more runs. Guerriero scored Victoria Tunon on an RBI bunt. Olivia Ryan hit her first home run as an Argo for a 3-RBI score. Harper smashed another home run to right center shortly after, and Baughan got aboard and scored from third off of a wild pitch. 
 
The score was now 14-0 in the fourth inning, and Lake Erie had two more innings to avoid a run rule. They managed a couple singles and a walk, scoring one on an RBI single. Their response was stopped there, and the run was taken off the board on an RBI single by Ryan in the next frame. Lake Erie managed one more run on an error in the fifth, but the run-rule was triggered and UWF earned the 15-2 win.
 
UWF 5, #8 North Georgia 4
 
Harper earned the start in the circle and shook off an initial rough start for the eventual comeback win. North Georgia started off hot, putting a few on base from a fielder's choice a single, and a hit-by-pitch. An error allowed the first score to come across, then an RBI double and another error on an attempted throw out at third on a stolen base. Harper closed the frame with a strikeout, but UWF was down 0-3 after one. 
 
Harper got the comeback going with a solo blast to right center field. The next three Argos went down in order, but so did the next three Nighthawk batters against Harper. Both teams were stifled in the third as well, until the Argos took control in the fourth. 
 
Discenza launched another solo home run to center field to bring UWF within one. With two outs and two on, Nicole Mergen stepped up and crushed a home run to center field, putting the Argos up 5-3 midway through the game. Through the next three innings, UNG managed one run off an RBI double, but UWF managed to strand two base runners and get outs off the rest. 
 
The score was 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh, and the Nighthawks put the tying run in scoring position with a double. Harper bookended her phenomenal game by grabbing the final out with a swinging strikeout to secure the huge upset win over a top-10 opponent. 
 
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The Argos return home to the Fork to open Gulf South Conference play, hosting Montevallo this Friday at 5:00 and Saturday for a doubleheader at 1:00. For news updates, meet results, rosters, bios, schedules, and more, visit GoArgos.com or follow @UWFSoftball on X, Instagram, and Facebook.