PENSACOLA, Fla. - The No. 35 West Florida baseball team opens the 2015 season with a three-game series against No. 16 Florida Southern Jan. 31-Feb. 1 at Jim Spooner Field in Pensacola, Fla. The Argonauts will play a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. and wrap up the series with one game Sunday at 1 p.m.

The opening series is an important one for the Argos who missed the NCAA Tournament last season after being on the "bubble" before the selection committee chose the top six teams from the South Region. UWF won two out of three games at Florida Southern last season. The Argos were left out of the NCAA Tournament, and Florida Southern was given the No. 4 seed, eventually finishing runner-up at the NCAA South Regional.
 
UWF lost its entire weekend rotation and six of its lineup regulars to graduation and the MLB draft. 

Pitching
UWF's top three starting pitchers from 2014 combined for 35 starts and a 23-6 record. Juniors Jordan DeLorenzo and Dawson Brown were selected in the MLB Draft, and Dayan Rodriguez graduated.

The Argos return potential starters Walker O'Connor (5-0, 44 IP), Kevin Peters (3-2, 29.2 IP) and Matt Rodriguez (1-0, 15.2 IP). Former closer Alex Stevens (8 saves, 17 IP) is another starting candidate.

Pitchers joining the UWF roster include three underclassmen and five junior transfers. Jarrod Petree (4-0, 30.2 IP) from Central Florida and Brandon Nagem (4-3, 46.1 IP) from NWF State are expected to make an immediate impact.

Hitting
UWF graudated all 16 of its home runs from the 2014 lineup. Six seniors graduated, and Cliff Covington was selected in the MLB draft.

Returning to the lineup are All-GSC and All-Region selection Sean Plunkett, starters Chase Kiefer and Alex Greene and backup catcher Kyle Hamner.

Hitters joining the roster include three underclassmen and seven junior transfers. NJCAA All-American Jean Figueroa and the state of Mississippi's top JUCO prospect Ledarious Clark are expected to make an impact in the outfield. 

Infielders expected to make an impact are Jordan Stark (.340, 40 RBIs) from Jones County CC, Dylan VanPutten (.310, 8 HRs, 75 RBIs) from Grand Rapids CC, Jimmy Redovian from Wake Forest, and freshman Nic Strasser.