March 11, 2016
 
Full Release and Game Notes in PDF Format
Live Stats
 
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida baseball team, who has won nine of their last 11 games, faces a red-hot Alabama Huntsville team on the this weekend. The Argos will start a doubleheader tomorrow at 11 a.m. against the No. 9-nationally ranked Chargers, with Sunday's game having a scheduled start time of 1 p.m.
 
KNACK FOR THE DRAMATICS: For the third consecutive game at Jim Spooner Field, UWF won in walk-off fashion via a 10th inning RBI single from Brandon Tyler... In the home games prior, Kyle Hamner hit a walk-off single against Valdosta State on Feb. 28 and Jimmy Redovian hit a walk off home run against Stillman on March 2... UWF is now 3-1 in games ending in a walk off this season, while owning a 6-2 record in one run games.
 
ARGOS SWEEP SEASON SERIES WITH SPRING HILL: With Tyler's walk off, UWF had its second consecutive one-run win against Spring Hill, as UWF bested their opposition from Mobile 3-2 on Feb. 24... Justin Ambrosino paced the offense with his second three-hit game of the season, going 3-for-5 with an RBI... John Price recorded a season-best two RBI while going 1-for-3... Gray Dorsey made his first collegiate start, going three innings while allowing no runs and four hits while striking out four... Steven McClellan rebounded nicely after recording the first blown save of his career, allowing just one base runner in the 10th inning to record his first win and help set up Tyler's walk-off opportunity.
 
NAGEM RETURNS: After moving to the bullpen for his last three appearances, the 2015 NCBWA South Region Pitcher of the Year is expected to start the second game of Saturday's doubleheader... Since leaving the weekend rotation, Nagem has allowed just two earned runs in 10.2 innings pitched for a 1.69 ERA... Over those three appearances, Nagem has struck out 17 batters, which is good for a 14.34 K's per nine average... Nagem currently leads all UWF pitchers with 30 strikeouts, which is also the sixth highest total in the GSC.
 
QUICK STARTS: UWF has started strong in nearly all of its games so far in 2016, as UWF owns a 17-3 advantage in runs scored in the first inning... For the season, UWF is outscoring its opponents 105-63... Through the first three innings of games this season, UWF is outscoring the opposition 45-16.
 
COUPLE OF FIRSTS: Wednesday's contest against Spring Hill featured a pair of firsts for a couple of members of the UWF baseball team, as freshman catcher Matt Sullivan recorded his first career hit while senior catcher Ben Emery recorded his first hit of the season in his first at bat of the season on Wednesday... Sullivan's single snapped an 0-14 skid to start his career, however the freshman has showed an ability in getting on base with a .300 on base percentage over eight games played this season.
 
"BUT DOES HE GET ON BASE?": Both Alex Greene and Jean Figueroa have reached base safely in 15 consecutive games... While Greene's 14-game hitting streak was snapped on Wednesday after going 0-1, a pair of walks helped preserve Greene's on base streak... Greene's 14-game hitting streak was the highest for UWF in nearly five years, as Greg Pron's 16-game streak in 2011 is the longest for the past six seasons... Greene has reached base in all 15 games he has played in this season, while Figueroa has reached base in 18 of 19 games this season.
 
NATIONAL STAT LEADERS: UWF has the ninth best ERA in the country at 2.51 as a team... West Florida's four shutouts is the second most in the country... The pitching staff's 3.98 strikeout-to-walk ratio is the 10th best in the nation... UWF's 1.23 WHIP is the 24th best in DII... West Florida's 2.34 BB/9 is the 11th best in the country... Steven McClellan's three save is the 18th highest total in the country... Walker O'Connor's four victories is the third most in the nation.
SOUTH REGION RANKINGS: West Florida posts the best ERA in the South Region at 2.51... UWF has the fourth highest sacrafice bunt total at 18... UWF's shutout total of four is the highest in the region... UWF's 3.98 strikeouts-to-walk ratio is good for best in the region... West Florida's 9.3 K/9 is sixth best in the region... The pitching staff's 1.23 team WHIP is the fifth best in the South Region... UWF's 2.34 BB/9 is the best in the region... Walker O'Connor has the fifth best ERA in the region at 1.44... Steven McClellan's three saves is the most in the South Region... Brandon Nagem's 11.41 K/9 is the seventh best ratio in the region... O'Connor's four victories is the second most in the region.
 
SCOUTING ALABAMA HUNTSVILLE: Alabama Huntsville is currently ranked No. 9 in the NCBWA poll while being ranked No. 18 by Collegiate Baseball... Winners of their last six games, Alabama Huntsville has a 16-5 record including a 11-3 home record and 8-1 GSC mark... Alabama Huntsville started the season off 0-3, however has gone 16-2 since that point... Last weekend, the Chargers did not allow a run against GSC foe Christian Brothers, as UAH outscored the Bucs 30-0 for the series... UAH came out on top of a midweek contest against Montevallo on Wednesday, winning 7-5... UAH owns a GSC-high .354 team batting average, being led by Trey Mathis and AJ Walden who are hitting .423 and .391, respectively... Alabama Huntsville owns a team 3.87 earned run average.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. ALABAMA HUNTSVILLE: UWF is 30-20 all-time against the Chargers... UWF eliminated Alabama Hunstville from the 2013 GSC Tournament, beating the Chargers 4-1 in 11 innings... UAH has taken at least two-of-three in the past four series, as UWF looks for its first series win against the Chargers since 2012.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Last year, the No. 10-ranked Chargers handed UWF two of just five home losses the Argonauts suffered all of last season... After being swept in the Saturday doubleheader, with both games having a 2-0 score, UWF responded with a 4-2 Sunday win... Alex Greene went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Nic Strasser also recorded an RBI... Jarrod Petree got the start in that 4-2 win, going six innings and surrendering two runs on nine hits while striking out five... The Chargers struggled defensively in the contest, committing five errors.
 
Projected Starting Pitcher Matchups
Saturday G1:
UWF: Walker O'Connor – 4-0, 1.44 ERA, 31.1 IP, 28 H, 24 K, 5 BB, .230 B/AVG
UAH: Wilson Adams -- 3-1, 1.95 ERA, 32.1 IP, 20 H, 36 K, 14 BB, .175 B/AVG
Saturday G2:
UWF: Brandon Nagem – 1-1, 4.56 ERA, 23.2 IP, 26 H, 30 K, 8 BB, .280 B/AVG
UAH: Will Myers -- 4-1, 2.52 ERA, 25.0 IP, 19 H, 29 K, 13 BB, .209 B/AVG
Sunday:
UWF: JT Granat – 2-2, 2.86 ERA, 22 IP, 22 H, 21 K, 5 BB, .268 B/AVG
UAH: Heath McRae -- 3-0, 4.74 ERA, 24.2 IP, 24 H, 20 K, 10 BB, .247 B/AVG