PENSACOLA, Fla. – An upset bid of No. 1 West Florida came up painfully short for the Lee softball team as the Argonauts rallied for five runs in the final two innings to stun the Lady Flames, 7-6 on Friday evening.
Rhiannon Sassman capped of a perfect 3 of 3 day at the plate with a single to left field to score Mika Garcia with the winning run. Mika Garcia tied things up with a one-out single to right to score pinch-runner Ally Merrill.
Lee jumped out to a 5-1 advantage with a five-run fourth. Taylor De Adder, Abby McKinney and Kiley Longmire delivered three straight run-scoring singles. Bailey Church followed that up with a sacrifice fly before Longmire scored on a wild pitch.
Sassman jumped started the comeback with a solo home run to right center in the fourth frame for the home team to cut the deficit to 5-2.
McKinney would push the Lee lead back to four with a RBI double in the fifth inning. The junior leads the Lady Flames with a .667 slugging percentage. Kayla Louie would score on the play and finished with three singles and two runs scored. Louie would also swipe two bases and broke the Lee program record for career steals with 93 as just a junior in the fifth inning.
West Florida heated the bats up late in the contest and scored three runs in the sixth thanks to a two-run double by Kathleen Smiley. She would come around to score on a double by Jacquelynne Poling.
Shonna Penney (9-14) went the distance the circle for the Lady Flames allowing seven runs, six earned on 11 hits. Penney struggled with her command allowing seven walks.
Kelsey Sweatt (9-2) earned the win in relief for the Argonauts. She tossed 2.2 scoreless innings, striking out two and allowing just two hits.
The loss drops the Lady Flames to 19-26 overall and 7-14 in the GSC. The win sends the top-ranked Argonauts to 37-5 on the year and 20-2 in league play.
The two teams will wrap up the three-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 2 p.m.
