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PRESEASON VIDEO
 
February 4, 2015
 
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida baseball team begins its 2016 season on Saturday, Feb. 6 with a doubleheader against Florida Southern College beginning at 1:00 p.m. The series will conclude on Sunday, with a single nine-inning game slated for a 1:00 p.m. start. UWF is coming off a 30-18 performance in 2015, including a 21-11 Gulf South Conference mark and fourth place finish in the final GSC standings.
 
NAGEM NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN: After one of the most dominant season's by a single player in UWF baseball history, senior ace Brandon Nagem has reeled in preseason awards leading into the 2016 season... The lefty was named a NCBWA Preseason All-American Honorable Mention while being named to the NCBWA All-South Region First Team... The Pensacola native was also named to the 2016 All-GSC Preseason team.

2015 HARDWARE: The NCBWA South Region and Gulf South Conference Pitcher of the Year has high expectations for 2016... The Northwest Florida State College transfer led the South Region in ERA (2.00) and innings pitched (94.1) while sitting fourth in strikeouts (90).

ALL-TIME LEADER: When Nagem makes his first appearance of the 2016 season, he will qualify for UWF's record books and if he lowers or maintains his 2.00 ERA, he will be No. 1 on the all-time list... To qualify, pitchers must play two seasons and throw a minimum of 60 innings for West Florida... Junior college statistics are not averaged with UWF numbers.

ARGOS SELECTED SECOND IN GSC PRESEASON RANKINGS: After finishing fourth in the GSC last year, league coaches selected West Florida to finish second in 2016... UWF and West Alabama split first place votes, as each club grabbed four first place votes apiece... UWF fell only two points shy of grabbing the first overall spot... UWA enters 2016 ranked No. 8 nationally in NCBWA poll.
 
OTHER RANKINGS: To begin preseason rankings, UWF saw themselves ranked No. 39 in the Collegiate Baseball poll... UWF was ranked as high as No. 25 in Collegiate Baseball rankings in 2015... West Florida will see No. 15 North Georgia, No. 8 West Alabama, No. 27 West Georgia, No. 30 Alabama Huntsville and reigning NCAA Division II National Champions and No. 1-ranked Tampa in 2016... UWF was the third highest GSC team ranked in the NCBWA South Region rankings, being ranked seventh... UAH came in at No. 6 and West Alabama came in at No. 2... UWF opened the season in Perfect Game's Preseason National Top 25, as PG ranked West Florida No. 10 in the nation.
 
SUSTAINABLE SUCCESS: West Florida enters 2016 looking for its eighth consecutive 30-win season, as its current streak of seven seasons marks as the longest active streak in the GSC... West Florida's 2011 NCAA Division II National Championship is the last time a GSC club has won the national title... UWF has appeared in seven consecutive GSC Tournaments and four of the last six NCAA South Regional tournaments.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. FLORIDA SOUTHERN: West Florida enters 2016 with a 18-13 record all-time against Florida Southern... This will be the fourth consecutive year UWF has its opening series against FSC... UWF took both decisions in 2015, winning a pair of one-run contests (3-2, 4-3) before the final game of the series was postponed due to bad weather... Since 2013, UWF is 7-1 against Florida Southern in opening weekend matchups and has outscored the Mocs 38-15 in those contests... With last year's series being in Pensacola, the last time UWF traveled to Lakeland was 2014 and UWF took two of three (1-2, 6-2, 4-1) in that series.
 
LAST TIME OUT: UWF took game one of the 2015 series 4-3... Walker O'Connor would pick up his first win of the season after throwing two innings of relief without surrendering a hit... Jarrod Petree started the opening game for the Argos, going six strong surrending two earned runs and striking out five... Chase Kiefer hit his first home run of the season in a 3 for 4 performance... Brandon Nagem began his historic 2015 against the Mocs in Game 2 where he picked up his first win as an Argonaut... Nagem tossed 4.2 innings while not allowing an earned run and only giving up four hits... Jimmy Redovian had an RBI single while Kiefer and Alex Greene scored runs in the 3-2 victory.
 
KIEFER'S SET OF WHEELS: Senior outfielder Chase Kiefer is expected to be UWF's Opening Day leadoff hitter and centerfielder... Kiefer led UWF and the GSC in stolen bases, swiping 23 bags while only being caught five times... Kiefer's 56 career stolen bases has him sitting 10th all-time in program history... Iff the Pensacola native posts similar numbers in 2016, he will be in striking distance of the program's all-time mark of 77, which is currently held by Greg Pron...Kiefer's .875 stolen base percentage marks as sixth best in UWF history.
 
MORE THAN A SET OF WHEELS: In addition to being a base-stealing threat, the 2015 All-GSC Second Team selection had a team-best 60 hits while hitting three home runs, the second highest total on the team... If history is any sign, Kiefer will continue to hit well in the leadoff spot as the senior hit .425 when        leading off an inning in 2015... Hit .328 while scoring 28 runs and recording 19 RBI... Only had two errors in 62 opportunities in 2015, with recording four       outfield assists... Named to 2015 GSC All-Tournament Team and GSC All-Academic Team.
 
BAND'S BACK TOGETHER: Head Coach Mike Jeffcoat will have the luxury of having all three of his award-winning starting pitchers return for 2016... In addition to Brandon Nagem, Walker O'Connor and Jarrod Petree are set to make their mark in 2016... O'Connor, the 2014 Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Year, is coming off a 7-4 season where he recorded a 2.22 ERA... Through his first two seasons, O'Connor currently possesses the fifth lowest career ERA in program history at 2.48... O'Connor's 1.73 walks per nine marks as the fourth best in UWF history... Petree, who spent his first year of college action at UCF, has yet to record a loss in his collegiate career, going into 2016 with a 9-0 record... Petree earned All-GSC Second Team honors after going 5-0 with a 3.31 ERA in 2015... Struck out 55 while only walking 13 in 65.1 innings... Petree is expected to move to the bullpen for the 2016 season, as transfer JT Granat is expected to be in the rotation.
           
THE BACKSTOP: Kyle Hamner enters his fourth season with the Argos, and second as the team's starter... Posted a perfect fielding percentage in 2015, while throwing out 42% of would-be base stealers... 2015 ABCA South Region Gold Glove team selection... Proved to be a threat in the lineup, batting .284 with 24 RBI in 44 games... Caught a pitching staff that posted a 3.11 team ERA, a stat that was second best in the GSC in 2015... Batted .318 with runners in scoring position and .429 with the bases loaded in 2015.
 
SIX PIECES TO THE LINEUP RETURN: Of the starting nine in 2016, Jeffcoat will see six starters return to the 2016 lineup... While Jeffcoat has mentioned junior college transfers will more than likely take some spots in the lineup, returners include Chase Kiefer, Alex Greene, Nic Strasser, Nick Kerkmann, Kyle Hamner and Jimmy Redovian. Kiefer, Greene, Strasser, Kerkmann and Hamner are expected to join rejoin the Opening Day lineup, while Redovian will be shifted towards a utility infield-type role... Kerkmann will make the transition from the outfield to third base.
 
SOPHOMORE LEADERS: While there were occasions UWF struggled offensively in 2015, two big bright spots for West Flordia included a pair of freshmen in Nic Strasser and Nick Kerkmann... Strasser and Kerkmann are the only two sophomores on the roster this year... The duo combined for seven GSC Freshman of the Week honors, with Strasser earning four and Kerkmann being awarded three... Kerkmann primarily split time in the outfield and at designated hitter... Strasser posted an award-winning season at second base, earning ACBA South Region Gold Glove honors... Kerkmann led the 2015 Argos in batting average, hitting .338... Strasser led the team in doubles with 11... Kerkmann and Strasser posted 22 and 25 RBI, respectively... Each player contributed one home run apiece, and Strasser assumed the No. 2 slot in the order by season's end while Kerkmann was placed in the clean up spot.
 
NOTABLE JUCO TRANSFERS: Although the 2015 lineup and starting rotation mostly remained intact, Jeffcoat lost 19 total players from 2015, leaving the Argos needing to rebuild a bullpen and bolster the lineup for the 2016 team.
 
JC NATIONAL CHAMPION JOINS SQUAD: JT Granat, a former standout at nearby Tate HS, played the past two seasons at Northwest Florida State before transferring to UWF... Granat was a member of 2014-15 NJCAA National Championship team, helping Nortwest Florida State to a 42-12 record... Pitched in 18 games, making nine starts... Posted 8-1 record with one save and one complete game with a team-high 78 strikeouts and 2.32 ERA... Granat was recognized as a All-Panhandle Conference First Team selection... Expected to be in starting rotation to begin season.
 
 ALABAMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE POTY: John Price, 2015 Alabama Community College Player of the Year, joins the Argonauts for 2016 and is expected to begin the season in the middle of the order for UWF... Finished fourth in ACCC with .412 batting average... Led his team in batting average, on base percentage (.495), slugging (.654), stolen bases (30), walks (25), RBI (46), home runs(5), triples (8), hits (75), and runs (47)... Only struckout 18 times in 53 games played... Slashed .412/.495/.654 with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.   
 
ADDS FROM COLLEGE OF CENTRAL FLORIDA: Junior college teammates Justin Ambrosino and Colby Brown remain teammates as both made the move to Pensacola to join the team in 2016... Ambrosino and Brown were second and fifth, respectively, in batting average for the Patriots in 2015... Ambrosino hit four home runs and 35 RBI with a .349/.419/.505 slash line... Brown swatted three home runs while driving in 37 runs and hitting .337.
 
TEAM LEADER AT LAWSON STATE: Ladeavon Matthews, a transfer from Lawson State and former three-sport star as a high school athlete in Georgia, is expected to be an offensive weapon for UWF in 2016 and compete for the starting job in right field... Matthews comes to UWF after earning an All-Conference selection in 2015... Played 56 games and led his team in at bats (180), runs (40), hits (61), doubles (18), triples (3), RBI (28), stolen  bases (29), batting average (.339), on base percentage (.449) and slugging percentage (.506).
 
GREENE ENTERS FOURTH YEAR AS STARTER: 2015 All-GSC Second Team selection Alex Greene enters his fourth season as the team's starting shortstop... The redshirt-senior has struck out just 30 times in 108 career games, good for a percentage of only 10.5% of his at bats... Currently ranks fifth in program history with 342 career assists... Proved to be very useful in moving runners over, as Greene posted 13 sacrafice bunts in 2015, the second most in a single season ever at UWF... Batted .314 with a .376 on base percentage while recording six doubles and 16 RBI in 2015.
 
HOMECOMING FOR FOUR: Four newcomers to the team will get a taste of home on UWF's first roadtrip of the season, as Lakeland natives Colby Brown, Troy Brown, Cole Crowder and Robert Lopez will begin their UWF careers in their hometown. The Brown's come from Lakeland HS, while Crowder and Lopez were teammates at George Jenkins HS in Lakeland.
  
SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN: West Florida has 50 games slated for the 2015 regular season, split between 24 home and 26 road games... UWF will host the defending NCAA Division II National Champions, Tampa, next weekend in Pensacola from Feb. 12-14... UWF has 33 Gulf South Conference contests, while having 17 non-conference matchups on the schedule... The Argonauts will play five different team ranked in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's Preseason Top 40.
 
ARGOS LOOK TO END ROAD WOES: West Florida posted the second best home winning percentage (.833) in the GSC in 2015, going 25-5 at Jim Spooner Field... Despite the impressive home mark, UWF struggled on the road, posting a lackluster 5-13 away record... The Argonauts were able to rebound after starting 0-7 on the road in 2015, going 6-6 the rest of the way.
 
SCOUTING FLORIDA SOUTHERN: The Mocs split their opening series, going 1-1 against Augusta University... Florida Southern took the first game 7-2 before being shutout 6-0 in the second game... Florida Southern is receiving votes in the Collegiate Baseball poll after going 22-23 in 2015... Posted a 10-14 record in Sunshine State Conference action... Jason Sierra led Florida Southern in its opening series, going 3-8 with a pair of RBI... Logan Browning went 2-7 while hitting his first home run of the season... Ben Richardson got Florida Southern's opening day win, going seven innings and conceeding one earned run on six hits and two walks.
 
To stay updated on everything concerning UWF baseball, follow the team on Twitter at @UWF_Baseball. For information on all UWF athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.