LAKELAND, Fla. – The Argos won the NCAA Division II South Region II with an 8-3 victory over host school No. 2 Florida Southern Saturday night at Henley Field. Florida Southern escaped elimination against Delta State earlier in the day and had to turn around to face the Argos tonight in the regional final matchup. 

Kade Manderscheid made his debut in this regional as the starter for the Argos on the mound. He faced four batters in the first and four more in the second. In the bottom of the second, Ben Maskin connected for a one-out double to center field. He was brought in by Dom Presto with a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher, putting up the first run for UWF. 

Alex Urias got hot with a triple to start off the third and was brought home by a ground out from Cade Easterbrook, making it 2-0. Manderscheid came back out to strike out two in the top of the fourth to keep the Mocs scoreless. Florida Southern added one run in the top of the fifth and Manderscheid's night would end there as he was replaced by Grant Adams. Two more runs were added for the Mocs as they took the lead 3-2. 

Dean Hotz showed out once again with a lead off homer in the bottom of the fifth to tie up the game. Urias and Easterbrook went back-to-back with singles while the Mocs switched pitchers in-between. Tanner Taylor perfectly laid down a bunt that saw him safe at first, while also scoring Urias and advancing Easterbrook on an error. A bases-clearing double from Brett Rowell gave the Argos a three-run lead over the Mocs. That was not it in the fifth for West Florida as Maskin knocked a two-run bomb to center field to make it 8-3 headed into the sixth. 

The Argos defense stayed strong with three batters faced and the half-inning ending on a double play. The game would remain 8-3 until the end and the victory was secured as Adams struck out three batters to end it all. 

With the win the Argos will advance to the NCAA Division II Super Regional next weekend.