PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The University of North Alabama baseball team mounted two rallies Saturday with one resulting in a 6-4 come-from-behind win over West Florida in the opening game and the other coming up short in a 4-3 loss in the nightcap.
With the split, UNA is now 11-6 overall and 6-2 in the Gulf South Conference. West Florida is now 9-7 overall and 5-3 in the GSC.
In the opener, UNA trailed 4-1 in the top of the ninth inning but rallied with five runs on six hits in the Lions' last at bat to take a 6-4 win. In the second game, UWF took an early 4-0 lead before UNA rallied to cut it to 4-3. In the top of the seventh with two outs,
Kyle Hubbuch singled and
Brandt Holland reached on a fielder's choice to keep the threat alive. The Argonauts got
Drake Tucker on a ground-out to end the game.
West Florida broke on top in the opener with a run in the third inning and added another in the fourth for a 2-0 lead on UNA starter
Tyler Joyner. The Lions cut into the lead with a run in the top of the fifth when
Drake Tucker singled, was sacrificed to second and later scored on a single by
T.J. Lockett that was then misplayed by the center fielder, allowing a run to score.
West Florida answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth for 4-1 lead.
Tate Mathis got a pinch-hit single to lead off UNA's ninth inning rally and Lockett followed with a one-out walk.
Davis Elliott drove in Mathis with a single and Lockett scored on a single by
Logan Carter to make it 4-3. With two outs, Holland's RBI-single drove in Elliott to tie the game and Tucker singled to score Carter and give UNA a 5-4 lead.
Peyton Sockwell's RBI-single extended the UNA lead to 6-4.
Joyner then allowed one hit in the bottom of the ninth before retiring the side to get the win. It was Joyner's third straight, nine-inning, complete-game win as he improves to 5-0. He scattered 11 hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.
Steve McClellan (0-2), the fouth of five UWF pitchers in the game, took the loss for the Argonauts, allowing five runs on four hits in just two thirds of an inning.
Tucker was four-for-five in the game.
West Florida took a 4-0 lead in the nightcap with three runs in the first inning and one in the second.
The Lions got a run in the third and two in the fourth to pull within a run of the Argonauts.
In the third, Elliott drew a two-out walk and Carter followed with a single. An RBI-single by
Kyle Hubbuch scored Elliott.
In the fourth,
Peyton Sockwell singled,
Ben Cooley was hit-by-pitch and
Chris Blakey singled to load the bases. Lockett then drove in two runs with a single to cut the UWF lead to 4-3.
UNA was held scoreless over the final three innings as the Argonauts held on for a 4-3 win.
Bradley Bailey (2-2) took the loss for UNA, allowing four runs on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts over four innings.
Dylan Stewart pitched two scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one hit.
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