Behind the arm and the bat of senior Leigh Beatenbough the Lee softball team earned a much needed series victory over No. 14 West Florida with an 8-1 win in game two of Sunday's doubleheader from Butler Field.

The victory was extra special as it marked the 600^th career win for head coach Emily Russell. The former standout pitcher for the Lady Flames is now 600-287-1 during her fantastic 16-year tenure as coach.

"I feel like I'm right where God wants me and he prepared me for this my whole life. I'm just humbled to be able to be the coach here and work with these ladies," said Russell.

Beatenbough pitched a complete game and allowed just one run on two hits to earn the victory and move to 10-8 on the season. The right-hander took a no-hitter into the fifth and punched out five Argonaut batters while walking four.

 "My curve ball wasn't working yesterday so I prayed to God that it would work today and I had a good feel for it and that helped me keep them off balance," said Beatenbough. "I think we were mentally strong today and stayed positive and that helped us pull out this final game to win the series."

Beatenbough helped herself at the plate as she got the Lady Flames on the board in the bottom of the first with an RBI single to left field to score Brooklynn Frazier.

Lee would explode for a six-run second inning to blow open the contest. Kayla Gooch brought Claudia Jones home on an infield single to start the rally. Frazier followed with a two-run single to center before Taylor Moran delivered the decisive blow as she hit a laser over the left field wall with two runners on for her 12^th home run of the season and second of the series.

Beatenbough capped off the scoring with a single to left to plate Lilly Hatcher.

Olivia Printiss (4-5) lasted just 1.1 innings in the circle for West Florida. Printiss allowed seven runs on eight hits before giving way to Sarah Maloney. The reliever settled things down yielding just one unearned run over 4.2 innings and struck out five.

Kara Wilson drove in the lone run for the Argonauts on a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. Rachel Wright doubled and Callan Taylor broke up the no-hitter with a single in the fifth.

The Lady Flames improve to 20-23 and are now 9-13 in league play as they battle to stay alive for one of the eight spots in the GSC Tournament on May 3-6. The series loss drops West Florida to 22-13 overall and 13-9 in the GSC.

Sunday was the second annual Dad and Daughter day at Butler Field. The event featured player and father introductions, free food, a t-shirt, giveaways and a special moment after the game as all Dads and their daughters in attendance were invited to the field to meet the players and play catch.

"It a special opportunity to bring together the community and faculty and staff and take time to celebrate and recognize families because throughout the years you spend so much time together at the ballpark. It's a neat opportunity to thank the Dads for introducing their girls to the game of softball," noted Russell."

GAME 1 – LEE 2 UWF 6
West Florida capitalized on two defensive miscues by the Lady Flames late in the game and rode the arm of Gracie Gilbert to a 6-2 victory in game one.

Gilbert (9-2) danced around seven hits and five walks to limit Lee to just two runs, one earned throwing all seven innings.

West Florida added three insurance runs in the sixth. Meghan Toney singled through the right side to make it 4-2 before an untimely fielding error allowed two more runs to score.

A turning point in the game took place in the very first inning. The Argonauts jumped on the board early as Taylor drilled an RBI double and Tiona Hill followed with a RBI single to make it 2-0. Gilbert then preceded to perform a Houdini act as she worked out of a bases-loaded and nobody out jam to preserve the lead.

The missed opportunity would be the story of the game for the Lady Flames as they left 10 runners on base in struggling to find the elusive big hit.

A day after coming in with the bases loaded to earn an improbable save by striking out the side Erika Greek (2-3) fought through all seven innings allowing six runs, four earned on eight hits. Greek struck out three and walked a pair.

Claudia Jones put Lee on the board with a pinch-hit RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the second. The Lady Flames would cut the lead to one in the fourth inning as Zoe Miller came around to score on an error.

Rachel Wright singled and scored twice as West Florida pounded out eight hits. Toney added two run-scoring singles and came around to score twice.

The game was delayed for 35 minutes as the Argonauts' shortstop Mika Garcia was injured in a collision with Lee's Miller at first base trying to bunt for a base hit. Garcia was taken to the local hospital and treated for a concussion.