LAKELAND, Fla. – The University of West Florida baseball team started off the NCAA Division II South Regional with a 7-3 win over Delta State on Thursday. 

The Argos started off strong with Jacob Heath on the mound, earning his first strikeout of the game against his first batter. Following that, UWF took the early lead putting their first run on the board in the bottom of the first. Alex Urias started it off with a single that was followed by a single for Cade Easterbrook. Brett Rowell advanced both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt that allowed Tanner Taylor to bring in Urias on a ground out.

Heath went three up, three down in both the second and third, adding two more strikeouts on the day. He faced four more in the top of the fourth, striking out the final batter to end the inning. The Argos added three runs on three hits in the bottom of the fourth. Dom Presto was hit by a pitch with one out on the board and was able to make his way to third with two outs. Urias knocked an RBI single to bring in Presto and Easterbrook followed it up with a double to left center that brought around Urias. Easterbrook saw home plate after a single from Brett Rowell and the Argos finished the inning up 4-0. 

Delta State put their first runs on the board in the top of the fifth with a two-run homer to left center, cutting West Florida's lead in half. The final runs for UWF came in the bottom of the sixth where it started off with a walk for Zack Stokes. Urias added his third single of the day to get on base and advance Stokes into scoring position. Bases were loaded with no outs after Easterbrook was hit by a pitch and the Statesmen made a pitching change. A wild pitch advanced all runners, allowing Stokes to score the fifth run and then bases were cleared by Taylor with a single up the middle, making it 7-2 in favor of West Florida. 

Two relievers came in to play for the Argos after Jacob Heath went six innings and earned his win with five strikeouts. Colton Dorsey added 2.1 innings of work with two strikeouts of his own and Chase Stanhope finished out the ninth with one more run scored for Delta State. 

Urias and Easterbrook both recorded three-hit performances, Urias tabbing three runs and an RBI. Easterbrook went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. 

With the win the Argos will face No. 2 Florida Southern on Friday at 6:00 p.m. ET  at Henley Field.