PENSACOLA, Fla. — Georgia Southwestern kept pace early but No. 10 University of West Florida used a pair of mid-game surges to pull away for a 9-3 win Tuesday evening in nonconference action at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
The Hurricanes moved to 15-12 on the season, while West Florida improved to 19-6.
Hurricanes Strike First
GSW opened the scoring in the second inning.
Evan Wainman led off with a single before
Carson Shaw delivered an RBI base hit through the left side to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 advantage.
Georgia Southwestern threatened again in the third with a two-out single from
Devon Murphy, but the Argonauts worked out of the inning to keep the deficit at one.
West Florida Answers in Fourth
West Florida broke through in the fourth inning, scoring four runs to take control.
Gann Nobles delivered an RBI single to tie the game before a throwing error allowed another run to score. Zack Stokes capped the inning with a two-run double to give the Argonauts a 4-1 lead.
The Argonauts added two more runs in the fifth on a two-run double from Nobles, extending the advantage to 6-1.
Hurricanes Cut Into Deficit
GSW responded in the sixth inning.
Kelsen Johnson reached on a walk and later scored on a passed ball before Wainman added his second hit of the night.
Josh McDonald followed with a base hit, and Shaw drove in his second run of the game with an RBI single to trim the deficit to 6-3.
Wainman finished 2-for-4 at the plate, marking his team-leading 12th multi-hit game of the season.
Argonauts Add Insurance
West Florida added a run in the seventh on a sacrifice bunt and plated two more in the eighth on a two-run single from Gustavo Mendez to push the lead to 9-3.
The Hurricanes loaded the bases in the eighth inning but were unable to capitalize, as the Argonauts worked out of the jam to maintain control.
Notes and Streaks
Johnson extended his on-base streak to 22 consecutive games with a walk in the sixth inning. Longest appearances of the season for pitchers
Colby Beach and
Trey Clinton. Beach started the game, threw 3 1/3 innings and held the Argonauts to one earned run. Clinton threw 41 pitches over 2 1/3 innings of relief.
Next Up
The miniseries between GSW and UWF will shift to Jim Spooner Field on the campus of West Florida for the finale Wednesday at 4 p.m. EDT..
