April 20, 2008
PENSACOLA, Fla. - Pitcher Emily Burge saw her final start of the regular season against West Alabama on Sunday afternoon, clinching the win to improve to 10-5 on the season. Burge struck out five and walked just to in the 4-3 victory. The Argos put four runs on the board off of nine hits, and defensively committed just one error. Kristee Wheeler went two-for-two with two singles, while Nicky VanCamp went two-for-three with a double and single. Caurie Miller had another outstanding day both at the plate and on the field, going two-for-three with a double and a single.
UWF took an early jump on UWA in the bottom of the first inning, as Heather Bell led off with a walk. Bell advanced on a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt from senior Whitney Gay, and then moved to third on a fly out from Taren Walton. Nicky VanCamp answered Coach Tami Cyr's call and singled to score Bell and collect the RBI.
West Florida put a second run on the board in the bottom of the second inning, while holding West Alabama scoreless. Caurie Miller led off with a double down the left field line, and Amie McMillion entered the game as Miller's pinch runner. Kristee Wheeler advanced the runner with a single, and Melissa Chastang took the RBI opportunity on a sacrifice fly to right field.
After West Alabama squeezed out a run in the top of the fifth inning, West Florida responded with two. Gay led off with a walk, which entered pinch runner Dawnyele Stapleton into the game. Walton followed with a single to put a runner in scoring position for VanCamp, who took advantage of the situation with a double to the left field fence that scored Stapleton and moved Walton to third. Pitcher Emily Burge helped her own cause with a single up the middle to score Walton and move VanCamp to third. Kat Pursell entered the game to run for Burge, and Wheeler loaded the bases with a walk, but two groundouts to third would end the inning for the Argos.
A two-run homerun from West Alabama came in the sixth inning to bring the score to 4-3, but West Florida held on through the seventh to clinch the win. The win improved West Florida to 38-18 on the season and 18-7 in Gulf South Conference play.
Defensively, the Argonauts put on quite a display with a number of big outs. Julie Carroll caught a foul ball over the fence in front of the West Alabama dugout, and Kristee Wheeler paired with shortstop Caurie Miller immediately following to catch a UWA runner stealing at second. Miller also made an excellent play in the fourth inning, stopping a ball that was headed for the 5-6 hole and then making the toss to Whitney Gay for the out at second.
Immediately following the first game and Senior Day activities, West Florida will take the field for the final time at home this season. Be sure to catch more West Florida softball action live from the Gulf South Conference Championship in South Haven, Mississippi on May 2-4, 2008.
