April 5, 2008
PENSACOLA, Fla. - The West Florida baseball team ran into a red-hot offense in the opening game of the three game series at West Alabama. The Tigers, ranked 20th in the nation, scored 10 runs on 11 hits in the first two innings, and coasted to a 13-3 win over West Florida in a game that ended in seven innings Saturday night. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Sunday, beginning at Noon.
West Florida managed just five hits off the Tigers starter Mike Schmitt; however, two of the hits were home runs. Scott Beckwith led off the second inning with his third home run of the season to cut the West Alabama lead to 4-1. Brandon Brewer homered in the third inning to cut the score to 10-2. Brewer had two hits on the day, including his second home run of the season, and also added a seventh inning RBI. Schmitt pitched a complete game for the Tigers, improving to 8-1 on the year, and finishing with 10 strikeouts.
West Florida starter Nick Presley was touched up for eight runs in the first two innings, and took the loss to drop to 1-3 on the season. The Argos fell to 18-24 on the year as a team, and are now 4-6 in conference play. West Alabama, who has been ranked as high as third in the nation this season, improved to 31-7 on the year, and 6-4 in the conference. The Tigers pounded out 18 hits in the contest, including a pair of home runs and four doubles.
Matt Collins pitched five solid innings in relief for the Argos, striking out eight batters, while walking only one. Kyle Brown had a pinch hit single in the seventh inning and scored the third Argos run on a sacrifice fly by Brewer. Jon Reed had the other Argos hit on the day.
The two teams will play two games on Sunday, beginning at Noon. Both contests will be broadcast on Stretch Internet. The series was originally scheduled for a doubleheader on Saturday, but heavy rains soaked Tartt Field, and the series was switched to a single game Saturday evening, and a doubleheader on Sunday, to help the field conditions.
