University of West Florida downs West Georgia in GSC action

CARROLLTON, Ga. – No. 13 West Florida went perfect in their opening day of Gulf South Conference play, scoring 11 runs in each game against West Georgia. The 11-1 victory in game one was credited to Jillian Lafrance (Calgary, Alberta/Charleston Southern) who threw a complete game, while Ashleigh Allgood (Oxford, Ala./Jefferson Davis CC) earned her second season victory, 11-7. The Argos improve to 17-2 on the season, 2-0 in conference play.

Crystal Thompson (Bonifay, Fla./Gulf Coast CC) and Lexi Mikedia (Citra, Fla./Central Florida CC) led with two hits each in the first game, while Danielle Kildow (Fort Walton Beach, Fla./Stetson) totaled a game-high three RBI. Lafrance gave up just four hits in the contest, allowing just a single run to score.

Shannon Miles (Shreveport, La./Bossier Parrish CC) and Thompson used long balls to work to a 2-0 Argo advantage, as Miles blasted her fifth this season, and Thompson collected her first UWF homerun.

The Argos then used five hits and a string of walks to put up a mighty nine-spot in the top of the fourth inning. Miles led off with a walk, and advanced on Mikedis’s bunt single. Thompson loaded the bases with a base hit down the left field line, and Kildow plated Miles with a sacrifice fly. With Dawnyele Stapleton (Navarre, Fla./Navarre HS) pinch running for Thompson, she staged a stolen base opportunity that allowed Mikedis to score on the throw to second. Three walks, a base hit, and an error pushed three across, while a double by Mikedis added two runs. Kildow then returned for her second plate appearance of the inning, and roped a single to right that scored the final two of the frame.

In the bottom of the fourth, West Georgia’s Crissy Rainwater launched a solo homerun that would prove to be the Wolves’ only score of the game. Both teams were held scoreless in the fifth, and the Argos closed the game on the mercy rule.

In game two, the Argos were efficient from the plate, scoring 11 runs on 14 hits that led to the 11-7 defeat of the Wolves. Melissa Chastang (Satsuma, Ala./Satsuma HS) was stellar from the plate with a 4-for-5 outing at the plate that included four RBI, while Allgood collected her first GSC victory of her UWF career.

Chastang put the Argos up 1-0 in, going yard to left center for her second season homerun. The Wolves, however, responded with four runs on three hits to take their first lead of the day over UWF, 4-1.

Relentless Argonaut bats provided run support for their pitcher Allgood in the top of the 2nd, posting five runs to take back over the lead for the remainder of the game. Kildow reached on a walk and Ryan on a fielder’s choice, while Thompson loaded the bases with a pinch-hit single. Chastang then laced a bases-clearing double down the left field line for a 4-4 score. The tie then gave way to a 6-4 lead on a two-RBI double from designated player Lafrance.

Two more runs scored for a four-run cushion, 8-4, as Stephanie Ryan (Calgary, Alberta/Webber International) stepped up with her first UWF homerun to right field. Both teams were quieted in the fourth, but Kildow singled and scored on Ryan’s double to the left field fence to add an insurance run in the fifth.

West Georgia tacked one on off a solo homerun from Meagan Sitton in the bottom half of the fifth, with West Florida posting two more in the 6th. Miles collected an RBI single, while Allgood’s sacrifice fly was responsible for West Florida’s 11th and final run.

UWG threatened in the sixth and seventh frames, scratching one across in each inning, but they were unable to overcome the Argo lead.