PENSACOLA, Fla. - No. 4 Florida Tech opened the south super regional with a loss against No. 2 West Florida, 6-3. 

Vanessa Rubio was a standout at the plate as she went 1-3 with one run, two RBI, one home run and a base on balls. Mikayla Wessel was the sole Panther to collect multiple hits as the Virginia Beach, Virginia, native went 2-3. 

Melanie Murphy (25-6) was the first pitcher to hit the dirt for the Crimson and Gray. Murphy went 5.1 innings and gave up five runs, three earned, on four hits and walked four. 

Jordan Lawlis finished the contest as she was tasked with the final two outs. During her outing, she surrendered one run, one hit and a walk. 

The Panthers jumped out to an early first-inning lead as a two-run moon shot from Rubio gave the team the early advantage. The Argos would go onto halve the lead in the second inning. 

Tina Velazquez Rolon brought it back to a two-run game when she hit a ball deep to right-center that got Katie Maiello home from second base. This put the score at 3-1 as the game went into the bottom of the fifth. 

The Argos got it back to a one-run contest in the bottom half of the fifth off of a single through the right side. 

A few bad breaks in the sixth inning were what ultimately sunk the Panthers as UWF tallied four runs to make it 6-3. This would end the scoring as Tech did not garner a run in the top of the seventh. 

Florida Tech will look for redemption Friday, May 17, as they look to take game two and three of the series and move onto the national championship tournament. 

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