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April 14, 2016
 
PENSACOLA, Fla. – First place in the Gulf South Conference is up for grabs in this weekend's series between the University of West Florida Argonauts and the Delta State University Statesmen. The series will kick off on Saturday, with a doubleheader beginning at 2:00 p.m., before the series concludes on Sunday with a single game beginning at 1:00 p.m.
 
UWF brings to the table its GSC-best 2.74 team ERA, while Delta State possesses its GSC-high .345 team batting average heading into the series.
 
THE BATTLE FOR FIRST: After both West Florida and Delta State went 2-1 last weekend, the Argos and Statesmen will battle for first place in the Gulf South Conference... After this weekend, it appears both squads will have a mild slate for the remainder of each Gulf South Conference schedule, as UWF's last two conference opponents, Shorter and Lee, have combined for a 19-27 GSC record this season, while DSU's schedule concludes with Valdosta State and Mississippi College, who own a combined 20-25 GSC mark in 2016.
 
VS. NATIONALLY RANKED OPPONENTS: Delta State will be the Argos' fifth nationally ranked opponent faced in 2016... Previous opponents include previously Tampa, Valdosta State, Alabama Huntsville and West Alabama, who were ranked No. 1, No. 18, No. 9 and No. 17, respectively at the time... Kyle Hamner leads the team with a .378 batting average against those opponents... Alex Greene is hitting .326 with a .400 on base percentage... Walker O'Connor leads the rotation against nationally ranked opponents, owning a 1.46 ERA over four starts... Jarrod Petree has made four relief appearances against nationally ranked opponents and over 13.1 innings pitched, Petree has a .213 opponent's batting average and a 1.35 earned run average.
 
KEEPING IT ROLLING: After taking two of three against West Alabama, the Argonauts continued its streak of consecutive conference series wins that now stands at nine consecutive series... UWF has won all eight of its GSC series this year and is the only team in the conference to do accomplish that feat.
 
HISTORY MADE: Kyle Hamner's lengthy hitting streak came to an end on Sunday, capping the streak at an impressive 22 games, the second longest in program history... After Alex Greene's 14-game hitting streak earlier this season, it is only the second time in program history two players have had a hitting streak of at least 14 games in the same season... The 2005 season featured four players who had a streak of at least 14 games.
 
RANKINGS UPDATE: West Florida moved up two spots in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll to No. 23, while falling just one spot in the NCBWA national rankings to No. 17... West Florida maintained its No. 3 ranking in the South Region in the NCBWA regional rankings... Delta State is No. 12 in both national polls, while sitting No. 2 in the South Region... Delta State narrowly topped UWF in the regional rankings, as Delta State received six second-place votes and four third-place votes, while West Florida recorded four second-place votes and six third-place votes.
 
PERFECT DOZEN: UWF saw its 12-game winning streak come to an end after a 3-0 loss against West Alabama... The 12-game streak was tied for the longest UWF has had since a 22-game streak in 2011... Justin Ambrosino led the team with a .471 batting average during that streak... Jean Figueroa led the team with three home runs and 11 RBI during the streak... Robert Lopez led the team in slugging and on base percentage at .700 and .514. respectively... Jarrod Petree led the bullpen with a 0.84 ERA over five appearances and 10.2 innings pitched, while JT Granat led the rotation with a 0.49 ERA over three starts... All three weekend starters, Walker O'Connor, Brandon Nagem and Granat, posted perfect 3-0 records during the streak... West Florida batted .348 as a team while holding opponents to a .231 average... UWF posted a strong 2.29 ERA while its opponents were tagged for a 7.21 ERA during the streak.
 
BALD IS GOOD: In support of the team's fundraiser with the Vs. Cancer Foundation, the UWF baseball team shaved their heads and have raised $2,262 to help kids undergoing cancer treatment... Since the shaving of heads four weeks ago, the team has posted a 12-2 record... Justin Ambrosino has posted a .424 batting average since going bald, while JT Granat owns a 1.14 ERA since shaving his head... Jean Figueroa and Ladeavon Matthews are hitting .345 and .340, respectively since shaving their heads... Ben Emery leads bench players with a .400 average in nine games and seven starts... Four members of the Argonaut bullpen have also stood out since getting a new hairdo, including Jarrod Petree (0.84 ERA), Anthony Mazzurco (1.80 ERA), Sean Kennedy (2.00 ERA) and Gray Dorsey (1.29 ERA).
 
ROAD WARRIORS: After a season where UWF went just 5-13 on the road, the Argonauts have posted impressive numbers when traveling in 2016 with a 14-5 record in away games...  14 road wins for the Argonauts is the most for the Argos since 2013 and UWF will have ample time to best that mark with seven road games remaining on the 2016 schedule... The Argonauts are hitting .326 as a team in road games, while holding opponents to a .264 batting average... Five Argonauts have batting averages above .350 in road games this year, including Alex Greene (.410), Jean Figueroa (.383), Jimmy Redovian (.356), Justin Ambrosino (.351) and Kyle Hamner (.350)... Figueroa posts a team-best .642 slugging percentage in road games... Jarrod Petree and Steve McClellan lead the bullpen in road contests, having 0.73 and 0.90 ERAs, respectively.
 
SOUTH REGION STAT LEADERS: West Florida's 2.74 team ERA is the best in the South Region by more than 0.60 of a run... UWF's .966 fielding percentage is the fifth best in the region... UWF's 35 sacrifice bunts is the third highest total in the South Region... UWF's six shutouts is the highest total in the region... The Argos' 3.93 strikeout-to-walk ratio is the best ratio in the region... UWF's 1.20 WHIP is the best in the South Region... West Florida's 2.05 walks allowed per nine innings is the best in the region... JT Granat's 2.79 ERA is the fifth best in the region... Steve McClellan's five saves is the fifth most in the South Region... Walker O'Connor's 1.44 walks allowed per nine innings is the best in the South Region.
 
NATIONAL STAT LEADERS: West Florida's 2.74 team earned run average is the eighth best in NCAA Division II... UWF's 35 sacrifice bunts is the 13th most in DII... West Florida's six shutouts is the sixth most in the nation... UWF's 3.93 strikeout-to-walk ratio is the third best in the country... UWF's 1.20 team WHIP is the 10th best in DII... UWF's 2.05 walks allowed per nine innings is the third best in the nation... At one strikeout per 60.5 at bats, Kyle Hamner is the toughest player to strikeout in DII... Walker O'Connor's seven victories is the 13th most in Division II.
 
SCOUTING DELTA STATE: The Statesmen have won seven of its last eight games and stand at 27-11 on the season... DSU and UWF are currently tied atop the GSC standings with identical 18-6 GSC records... DSU is 16-5 at home this season... The Statesmen lineup is fueled by Will Robertson, who leads the GSC with a .446 batting average, 54 RBI, 23 doubles and 66 hits... Robertson is fourth in the league with a .703 slugging percentage and second with a .514 on base percentage... Brandon Cummins is leading the league with 50 runs scored and six triples... Delta State leads the GSC with a .345 team batting average, 298 RBI, .533 slugging percentage and .434 on base percentage... Delta State is third in the conference with a 3.72 team ERA... Delta State's 1-2 punch of Dalton Moats and Tre Hobbs have combined for five GSC Pitcher of the Week awards.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Delta State owns a razor-thin 26-25 advantage in the all-time series... West Florida swept the 2015 season series, winning a pair of games by scores of 2-0 and 6-5... In 2014, Delta State took all four contests against UWF... In 2013, the Argos and Statesmen squared off six times and split the season series... UWF eliminated DSU from the 2013 NCAA South Regional with a 3-1 win in Tampa, Florida.
 
LAST TIME OUT: In a doubleheader on April 26, 2015, UWF won Game 1 2-0 before taking the second game 6-5... In Game 1, Brandon Nagem tossed five innings of shutout baseball with a career-high 10 strikeouts while allowing just two hits... Walker O'Connor came in relief of Nagem and tossed three innings of scoreless relief...Nick Kerkmann went 2-for-4 with an RBI in Game 1... In Game 2, Kerkmann and Alex Greene each posted a multi-hit performance as Kerkmann went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI and Greene went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
 
Projected Starting Pitcher Matchups
Saturday Game 1
DSU: LHP Justin Vincent -- 4-2, 4.99 ERA, 52.1 IP, 55 H, 29 ER, 19 BB, 48 K, .274 B/AVG
UWF: RHP Walker O'Connor – 7-2, 2.88 ERA, 56.1 IP, 60 H, 18 ER, 9 BB, 41 K, .270 B/AVG
Saturday Game 2                         
DSU: LHP Tre Hobbs -- 9-1, 2.43 ERA, 66.2 IP, 62 H, 18 ER, 19 BB, 56 K, .249 B/AVG
UWF: LHP Brandon Nagem – 5-1, 4.11 ERA, 50.1 IP, 52 H, 23 ER, 13 BB, 54 K, .261 B/AVG
Sunday
DSU: LHP Dalton Moats -- 6-2, 3.03 ERA, 65.1 IP, 63 H, 22 ER, 13 BB, 77 K, .252 B/AVG
UWF: RHP JT Granat – 6-3, 2.69 ERA, 51.2 IP, 48 H, 16 ER, 13 BB, 39 K, .253 B/AVG
 
 
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