March 26, 2008
PENSACOLA, Fla. - The West Florida baseball team dropped its third straight game, after sweeping a double header on Good Friday. The Argos fell Wednesday afternoon to the Saints of North Georgia College & State University by an 8-7 score, despite scoring six runs in the first two innings. North Georgia improved to 18-13 on the season, while West Florida is now 15-20 for the season.
Curtis Teare put the Argos in a hole early, by allowing four runs before any outs were retired. However, Billy Whitaker came in and shut down the Saints over the next few innings, and the Argos made up the deficit quickly. The four run first inning including two hit batters and then a three run homer. West Florida would come right back in the bottom of the first inning and score three runs. Scott Beckwith tripled with two outs and two on in the first, and then scored on a Jimmy Boswell single to get the Argos right back in the game.
West Florida would take a 6-4 lead following a three run second inning. Jackson Woodard led off with a single; however, he was caught stealing. After Brandon Brewer walked, Kyle Andrews singled to put runners on the corner. Andrews would get caught off first base, but a double by Greg Pron, followed by singles from Craig Westcott and Beckwith would help the Argos to the 6-4 lead.
The Saints would close the gap to 6-5 with a run off three singles in the fourth inning. Craig Brisson drilled a two run homer in the sixth to give the Saints a 7-6 lead. The Saints added another run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to hold an 8-6 lead going into the ninth inning. The Argos attempted a late rally, with Kyle Brown and Greg Pron drawing walks to start the inning. Scott Beckwith would plate Brown with a run to close the gap to 8-7; however, Saints reliever Caleb Copeland enduced a fly out to save the game.
Argos reliever Shane Greene took the loss, and dropped to 3-3 on the season. Billy Whitaker pitched four solid innings in relief, allowing only three hits. Meanwhile, Garrett Lussi pitched six innings in relief for the Saints and earned the win to improve to 1-2 on the season. Brisson and Kevin Morrison drove in six of the eight runs for the Saints, while Scott Beckwith had three hits and three RBI's for the Argos. Kyle Andrews had a pair of hits for West Florida, while Kyle Brown scored twice.
The Argos who are 3-3 in conference play will travel to West Georgia for a weekend three game series with the 21-8 Wolves, who are 1-2 in conference play. The games will be broadcast on stretch internet. Look for the stretch internet link on the UWF Athletics home page (www.goargos.com), and click on the link for instructions to listen to the games.