Spring Hill's softball team battled hard against No. 2 West Florida in the opener of the NCAA Division II South 1 Regional, but three errors would sting the Badgers as UWF took a 4-0 victory in Pensacola, Fla., Thursday afternoon.
The Badgers (30-20) will now face an elimination game at 3:30 p.m. Friday against either Valdosta State or the University of Tampa at the UWF Softball Complex.
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Starting Pitcher of the Year
Hannah Brenton (15-6) pitched well against UWF, allowing four runs (two earned) on seven hits to a tough UWF lineup. One of the unearned runs allowed by Brenton came in the first inning to give the Argonauts a 1-0 lead, as a throw back into the infield with two out in the frame went off an SHC glove and rolled away, allowing a UWF runner to score via the miscue.
UWF (48-8) would manufacture a run with two singles and a sacrifice fly to extend its lead to 2-0 after two innings.
Tiffany Fairchild would get SHC's first hit of the game when she singled through the right side in the third, but after a failed sacrifice bunt attempt, Fairchild would be left stranded on first to end the frame.
Back-to-back doubles in the third helped UWF stretch the lead to 3-0, but SHC would get its first runner into scoring position in the fourth. With one out, First-Team All-SIAC member
Delaney Thomas would double down the line in left. Thomas would only get as far as second, however, as a pop out and a ground out ended the threat.
In the fifth, UWF would score its second unearned run of the game as a pair of errors on stolen base attempts came back to bite the Badgers with a run crossing the plate for the Argonauts to make it 4-0. In the sixth,
Elise Caruso would walk for SHC, but a fielder's choice and a ground out meant the SHC runner would be left stranded.Â
The seventh began with
Hannah Fillmore singling to right, but a double play would clean the bases for UWF, and a fly out would end the game one batter later as UWF took the 4-0 win.
The Badgers are making their first appearance in a national tournament since 2014, when SHC appeared in the Oklahoma City Bracket as part of the NAIA National Tournament. The Badgers went through a four-year transition period to NCAA Division II and won the SIAC Championship in their first year of eligibility.
