Box-Score
PENSACOLA, Florida.-The University of West Florida’s leading national baseball team scored seven runs in the first two innings as they drove to a 3-3 win over fourth-placed Delta State in the NCAA South Regional at Jim Spooner Field on Saturday morning. There was a two-hour and 26-minute lightning delay and a 22-minute power outage in the competition.
With the win, West Florida improves to 36-9 year-over-year and advances to Saturday’s winning class at 3pm this afternoon against third-placed University of Tampa. DSU falls to 28-20 a year and was eliminated from the Regionalliga with the defeat.
“I was really proud of our boys’ competitive spirit and willingness to get the job done,” said UWF head coach Mike Jeffcoat. “They answered the bell by playing Delta State for the seventh time this season and they still take it as a challenge and know that we have to play well to get where we want to go.”
Adam Imwalle was a force for the Argonauts on the offensive side with four hits leading all players. Justin Dunnam and Dylan Menhennett both had multi-hit games while five others added a hit to Argos. Imwalle and Dunnam each drove in two runs for blue and green. West Florida had a total of 13 hits, making Jan.st Time this season the Argos have scored 10 or more hits in a game.
UWF got its second solid consecutive start on the hill as a Tyler Dowdy threw a full game, his second in three starts, and allowed for three runs on eight hits with three walks and six strikeouts. It was also the fourth time in his last five starts that Dowdy has thrown at least seven innings. Tyler took his seventh win of the year while lowering his earned run average to 3.46 by throwing 123 pitches.
“I feel great, especially since we took the win,” said Dowdy. “It was great to come out and beat a great team at Delta State and for us to stay collected and locked in.”
West Florida has benefited from three DSU mistakes, including one in the first inning where the statesman starter had a bad throw in a sacrifice attempt from Cullan O’Sheaallow Miller Hancock to make a goal to make it 1-0 as second. Two strokes later, O’Shea would come home with a sacrificial fly from Imwalle to give the Argos a quick 2-0 lead.
After a single from Dunnam to advance Menhennett, who had previously gone in the inning, Matthew Estrada Hit a sacrificial flight into deep midfield, which Menhennett can score.
After a statesmen-laden stroll at the end of the first, UWF went straight back to work at the top of the second. Jason Roberts having a walk led by the frame while back to back singles out True Fontenot and Hancock as well as another DSU mistake gave the Argos a 4-1 lead. UWF added three more runs as part of a sacrificial fly by Menhennett, an RBI single from Imwalle that saw O’Shea score on a failed pickoff attempt. O’Shea started his ninth home run of the year in sixth to further extend the lead.
The ninth home run for O’Shea tied nine more Argonauts, with Matt Sullivan being the youngest in 2019, for 10the Always in the history of the program for home runs in one season.
Dowdy was able to take advantage of the six-run lead as the freshman only managed two batter over the minimum for the next four innings with two strikeouts. DSU added a run in the bottom sixth on a single from Josh Smeltzer, which scored Blayke Dendy, who doubled up to lead the inning, and also a run in the bottom eight on an RBI single from Dendy.
West Florida was able to cross two more runs in the top of eighth place with a two-run double on the first baseline to meet Menhennett and Imwalle.
For the latest information on the UWF baseball team, please visit GoArgos.com or follow the team on Twitter @UWF_Baseball.
