February 7, 2015
 
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PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida baseball team will play its first 2016 game at Jim Spooner Field this weekend, hosting Mobile for a midweek contest. First pitch is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. and freshman Troy Brown is scheduled to make his first collegiate start in the Tuesday evening matchup.
 
RECAPPING OPENING WEEKEND: West Florida began its 2016 season on Saturday against Florida Southern in Lakeland... Saturday was originally scheduled for a double header, however heavy amounts of rain only allowed for one game to be played and the double header was pushed to Sunday... UWF took one of three contests, falling in both the series opener and series finale but winning the middle game in decisive fashion.
 
GAME ONE: West Florida began its 35th season of baseball on Saturday, dropping a 6-4 rain-shortened decision on the road against Florida Southern... The game was originally slated for a 1:00 p.m. ET start, however was delayed an hour and a half due to rain... Heading into the sixth inning, UWF and FSC were tied at 1-1 before UWF scored three runs in the top half of the sixth... FSC would respond with five runs in the home half of the sixth and after the conclusion of the sixth, field conditions were deemed unplayable giving FSC a victory in the six-inning contest... Brandon Nagem went 5.1 innings allowing four earned runs on eight hits, while reliever Sean Kennedy was given the loss.
           
GAME TWO: With much better conditions for day two, UWF wasted no time in Saturday's first game getting the bats going, posting a five-run second inning and a three-run third inning to jump out to an early 8-0 lead... Nic Strasser posted a four-RBI performance while hitting his first home run of the year... Strasser's performance broke him out of an 0-17 skid carrying over from last season in a big way, matching his single-game career high in RBI… Ladeavon Matthews hit a 400+ foot home run to centerfield to give him his first home run as an Argonaut... Jean Figueroa concluded the scoring for UWF in the ninth, hitting an inside-the-park home run off the fence in left center field... JT Granat made his UWF debut memorable, going five shutout innings surrendering just two hits and one walk... UWF's 12-0 victory in the second game of the series marked as the largest shutout victory since April 6, 2013, when UWF beat West Georgia 14-0... At that time, UWF was ranked No. 15 nationally.
           
GAME THREE: Strasser, Matthews and Figueroa all hit their second home runs of the day in the second game... Originally scheduled for seven innings, UWF and FSC needed 10 to determine a winner, with FSC eventually scoring two runs in the bottom of the 10th to pick up a 6-5 victory... Walker O'Connor got the start, going 3.2 innings and surrendering three earned runs on six hits and one walk... Lake Sumter State transfers Anthony Mazzurco and Steve McClellan combined for 5.1 innings of shutout relief... Freshman Troy Brown, although not allowing a base runner or recording an out, was given the loss in his West Florida debut.
 
#DEFENDTHESPOON: Today is UWF baseball's home opener for the 2016 season... Over the past three seasons, UWF owns an impressive 72-13 record at Jim Spooner Field... Last year included an eye-popping 25-5 record at home... UWF will play just 24 of 50 regular season games at home this season.
 
POWER PRESENCE: The UWF offense certainly showed some power potential in the season's opening weekend... Nic Strasser, Jean Figueroa and Ladeavon Matthews all had two home runs, making West Florida the only team in the Gulf South Conference with three players with two or more home runs... UWF's team total of six home runs marks as the third highest in the GSC... Strasser surpassed his 2015 freshman season total of home runs in a single double header, as the Orlando native hit one last season... Matthews matched his 2015 season total as he hit two long balls at Lawson State a year ago... Figueroa, who missed nearly all of 2015 with an injury, hit his first and second career home runs as an Argonaut... A season ago, UWF hit 15 home runs in the entire season, having this year's early total at six being 40% of 2015's total after the season's opening weekend.
 
BULLPEN SHINES: The West Florida bullpen combined for 10 innings in the season's opening series and only allowed two earned runs, good for a 1.80 ERA... 9.1 of those 10 innings came during Sunday's double header. The combination of Cole Crowder, Anthony Mazzurco, Steve McClellan and Josh McLaney did not allow any earned runs on Sunday, while striking out eight, walking one and allowing 10 hits.
 
ABOUT JIM SPOONER FIELD: Jim Spooner Field opened in 1981 when the baseball team first became of the UWF athletic program... In August 2008, the field was named after legendary long-time UWF baseball head coach Jim Spooner... Spooner led the Argonauts from 1983-2006 and complied 688 wins as head coach... UWF renovated the facility in 2008, adding bleacher sections and party decks.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. MOBILE: UWF has won its last eight meetings against NAIA member Mobile... UWF has not lost to Mobile since Feb. 18, 2003... Over the last eight meetings West Florida has outscored Mobile 70-30... UWF owns an all-time mark of 30-28 against the Rams.
 
LAST TIME OUT: UWF and Mobile last squared off on March 31, 2015, as the Argonauts defeated the Rams 8-3 in Pensacola... Walker O'Connor made the start for West Florida and shut down the Mobile lineup, going five strong innings and keeping the Rams scoreless... O'Connor only allowed three hits in his outing while striking out four... Ben Emery recorded three RBI in a 2-for-3 performance... Nic Strasser and Kyle Hamner also posted RBI in the victory.
 
SCOUTING MOBILE: Mobile, a member of the NAIA, has started its season 2-2 after splitting a four-game series against St. Catharine College... The Rams were outscored 17-14 in the series... Mobile went 36-20 last year and made an appearance in the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament... Mason Schoettlin leads the team with a .455 (5-11) batting average... Travis Tessandori and Chandler Durham each have three RBIs to lead the team... Christian Breath is 1-0 on the hill this season and owns a 1.50 ERA after surrendering one run in six innings in his first start of the season.
 
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.