LIVINGSTON, Ala. – West Alabama came back from a 5-3 loss in game one to shutdown West Florida 4-0 in game two and split the Gulf South Conference doubleheader on Sunday.
West Alabama, who is still seeking one of the six bids to the conference tournament in seventh place, moves to 18-23 overall and 10-18 in the GSC. West Florida trails the Tigers in eighth place, now 16-29 and 8-20.
"We played well enough to win in the first game, but we just didn't have the timely hits," said UWA head coach
Will Atkinson.
"We did have nine hits; we just weren't able to string them together like we needed to. We were only one hit away from the sweep; unfortunately it just didn't go our way. Our defense played well all day today, and that's what made the difference. We took a half inning off in the first game and it ended up costing us the win, but I am still really proud of the effort."
The Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead with two RBI singles by
Ashley Stassin and
Miriah Chavez in the first inning and a run by
Audrey Diekmann on a UWF error in the fourth.
The Argos tied the score up with two doubles in the sixth that brought in three runs and completed the come from behind victory with sacrifice RBI and RBI single in the eighth.
Kaylan Rowell led game one for UWF with two RBI, while Bianca led with three hits in four at-bats.
Becca Taylor (8-8) claimed the win in the circle by striking out five UWA batters and giving up two earned runs through all eight innings.
Giana Cavallaro (1-5) entered for the Tigers in the seventh, replacing the starter
Alli Hall, to record the loss. Cavallaro gave up two runs on two hits.
The Tigers controlled game two with
Ashley Stassin (8-2) in the circle. She allowed only two hits, while the defense did not surrender a single error. It was Stassin's third shutout of the year.
UWA's offense also did its part, led by Diekmann who finished 2-for-3 with an RBI double in the fourth inning.
Lacey Santiago put the Tigers on the board in the first with a RBI single in the first inning, while Stassin added the last run on a RBI single in the fifth.
Scarlett Wright scored on a passed ball in the fourth.
Kaylan Chapman (18-16) opened the first five innings in the circle for UWF, allowing four runs on five hits to take the loss.
"We're going to have a chance to win the series tomorrow," Atkinson said. "We're in a spot now where we feel like we have to win them all. We're still battling Delta State and Union for a spot in the conference tournament, so we just have to keep winning."
The series will conclude with game three on Monday at 1 p.m. at the UWA Softball Complex.
