Box Score PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) baseball team used 17 hits including eight for extra bases to cruise to an 11-5 non-conference victory over the University of West Florida (UWF) Argonauts on Tuesday night for the first Badger win at Jim Spooner Field since 2007.
 
SHC grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 1^st inning after catcher Brennan Fontenot smacked a double to deep left-center with one out and later scored off a two-out infield single to shortstop by outfielder Ulysses Fluellen. The Argonauts (23-15) tied the game at 1-1 in the 2^nd inning with a single to right with runners at the corners and then took the lead 2-1 with their own single to short that plated a run. The UWF lead grew to 3-1 with a sacrifice fly to center just one batter later, but Badger starter Austin Barrios escaped a bases-loaded jam when Fluellen tracked down a deep fly ball at the left-centerfield wall.
 
The Badgers fought back with a single to right past a diving second baseman by third baseman Brandon Harigel off Argos starter Jackson Smith (5-3) to bring in right fielder Justin Collier. Fluellen then tied the game at 3-3 with a high hopping ground-out to 2^nd base that brought in Fontenot. Hargiel trotted home to hand back a 4-3 lead to Spring Hill as left fielder Conner Harrison poked a single up the middle with two outs.
 
UWF left two runners in scoring position after a foul pop to Harigel with two outs in the bottom of the 3^rd inning as designated hitter Hunter DArmond sneaked a triple between the diving right fielder and the foul line with one out that was followed up by Fontenot's seventh home run of the year out of right in the 4^th frame.
 
An Argonaut sacrifice fly to center in the next half inning cut it to a 6-4 lead for the Badgers, but Fluellen got that run right back with a leadoff homer out of left-center in the 5^th inning. SHC added another run off a bases-loaded double-play ball with no outs in the 6^th to build out an 8-4 bulge.
 
Harigel punched the third Badger home run of the day out of left center for two more runs in the 8th inning to expand the SHC advantage to 10-4. Harrison drove a run-scoring double to left in the 9th to keep the pressure on UWF and make it an 11-4 contest.
 
Every batter in the Badger line up picked up at least one hit in the contest with Harigel and Harrison leading the charge with three hits apiece. Left fielder Nick Kerkmann collected three hits with a double for the Argonauts.
 
Michael Romano evened his record at 3-3 on the year with a win in three innings of relief work that included three hits, no walks and three strike outs. Spring Hill sent five pitchers to the mound as did UWF with Smith suffering the loss in 3.1 innings with eight hits, no walks and one strike out.
 
SHC also snapped an eight-game losing skid to the Argonauts that dated back to 2015.
 
The Badgers (22-17, 10-2 SIAC) will host the Miles College Golden Bears (17-14, 9-3 SIAC) on Friday at 6 p.m. at historic Stan Galle Field in a showdown between the top two teams in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) West Division standings.