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April 29, 2016
 
CLEVELAND, Tenn. -  The University of West Florida and Lee University baseball teams will square off for a three-game series beginning Friday at 5:00 p.m. CT. UWF aims to lock up the Gulf South Conference Regular Season Championship, while Lee hopes to clinch a spot in the GSC Tournament. Friday night's single game is followed up with a doubleheader on Saturday scheduled for 12:00 p.m. CT start time.
 
WRAPPING UP: UWF wraps up its 34th regular season of baseball this weekend against Lee... In the last 10 seasons, UWF is 15-13 in the last series of the regular season... UWF ended the 2015 regular season with a two-game sweep of Delta State.
 
MAGIC NUMBER 1: The Argos need just one win in this weekend's three-game series against Lee to secure its first GSC Regular Season Championship since 2011... It would be the first GSC championship for UWF since the conference got rid of seperating the conference into East Division and West Division, which happened after the 2011 season... With a win, the Argos would host the GSC Tournament that begins next weekend, from May 7-10.
 
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 17-6 record in away games... The 17 road wins is the most by UWF in a single season in over 10 years... Kyle Hamner and Alex Greene lead the team in batting on the road, owning averages of .377 and .368, respectively... UWF as a team is hitting .324 on the road with a .398 on base percentage and .448 slugging percentage... Nic Strasser leads the team with five home runs and 26 RBI on the road... JT Granat owns a rotation-best 2.72 ERA in away contests, while Jarrod Petree and Steve McClellan lead the bullpen with 0.57 and 0.75 ERAs, respectively, on the road.
 
RANKINGS UPDATE: In the first regional rankings from the NCAA of the 2016 season, UWF saw itself third in the South Region, only trailing No. 3 Tampa and No. 15 Nova Southeastern... The South Regional will be played from May 19-23, with the winner of the regional moving on to the College World Series in Cary, N.C.... UWF dropped one spot to No. 12 in the weekly NCBWA national rankings... UWF jumped up five spots in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper rankings... West Florida maintained its No. 10 ranking by perfect game, while also maintaining its No. 26 spot by D2 Baseball News.
 
QUITE THE STRETCH: UWF has won 18 of its last 20 games for its best 20-game stretch since the 2011 National Championship team won 22 games in a row... During this span, Justin Ambrosino leads the team with a .424 batting average... Robert Lopez leads the team with a .714 slugging percentage and .462 on base percentage... UWF has posted a solid .981 fielding percentage during the run... JT Granat has posted a 1.22 ERA in his last six starts... Jarrod Petree (0.51), Gray Dorsey (0.75) , and Sean Kennedy (0.93) all have ERAs under 1.00 during the team's last 20 games.
 
RIGHT OUT THE GATE: UWF and its opponents typically waste little time in getting the scoring started, as UWF's 42 first-inning runs is the most of any inning, while its 30 conceeded runs in the first inning is by far the most of any inning... UWF is 15-4 this season when scoring in the first inning... UWF owns a .344/.404/.510 slash line in the first inning as a team... UWF arms own an uncharacteristic 5.20 ERA in the first inning, but in the second inning and beyond, the pitching staff has posted a 2.56 ERA collectively.
 
LOPEZ NAMED NCBWA SOUTH REGION HITTER OF THE WEEK (4/28): Robert Lopez went 6-for-10 with three home runs and nine RBI to earn GSC Player of the Week and NCBWA South Region Hitter of the Week honors... Lopez became the second player in UWF history and the first since 2013 to earn South Region Hitter of the Week honors... No freshman has won GSC Player of the Week since the conference merged the two conference divisions after the 2011 season... Lopez leads all GSC freshmen in home runs (6), RBI (26) and slugging percentage (.535)... In Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader vs. Shorter, Lopez hit a go-ahead solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning... Lopez would come back for an encore in Game 2, hitting a game tying three-run homer in the third inning before hitting another long ball the very next inning to give UWF a 9-6 lead.
 
THE VOLUNTEER STATE: The series against Lee will be the team's third trip to Tennessee in 2016, having played Christian Brothers (Memphis) and Union (Jackson) earlier this year... UWF is a perfect 6-0 in those games, having swept both teams... Justin Ambrosino is 14-for-28 while playing in Tennessee, while Jean Figueroa leads the team with three home runs, 10 RBI and a .929 slugging percentage in those six contests... Colby Brown is hitting .417 when playing in Tennessee this year... JT Granat owns a 0.69 ERA in the Volunteer State, while Brandon Nagem owns a 2.45 ERA in his two starts during those series... Three members of the Argonauts bullpen have not allowed an earned run in Tennessee, including Jarrod Petree, Sean Kennedy and Anthony Mazzurco... UWF is batting .382 as a team in Tennessee while the pitching staff owns a 2.39 ERA.
 
SUSTAINABLE SUCCESS: In last weekend's sweep of Shorter, UWF extended its streak of 30-win seasons to eight, which the longest active streak in the GSC... West Florida eyes its fifth NCAA South Regional appearance in the last seven years in 2016.
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT: Four underclassmen hitters and four underclassmen pitchers have seen regular action in 2016... Freshman or sophomore bats for the Argos include Nic Strasser, Robert Lopez, Nick Kerkmann and Matt Sullivan... Those four players have combined for a .285 average this year and account for 50% of the team's home runs (15 of 30)... Strasser and Lopez are first and second, respectively, in slugging percentage and home runs... freshmen Gray Dorsey, Garrett Peek, Cole Crowder and Troy Brown have combined for a 2.75 ERA and have struck out 65 batters in 68.2 innings.
 
KEEPING IT ROLLING: UWF has now won 12 consecutive GSC series and has won all 11 of its GSC series in 2016... It ties the longest streak in the conference since 2010, when Delta State won 12-straght GSC series from 2012-2013.
 
SOUTH REGION STAT LEADERS: West Florida's 2.92 team ERA is the best in the South Region... UWF's .969 fielding percentage is the second best in the region... UWF's 8.79 hits allowed per nine innings is the fifth best in the region... West Florida's 36 sacrifice bunts is the fifth most in the South Region... UWF's six shutouts is tied for the most in the South Region... West Florida's 4.04 strikeout-to-walk ratio is the best in the region... UWF's 1.19 WHIP is the best in the South Region... West Florida's 1.93 walks allowed per nine innings is the best ratio in the region... JT Granat's 2.49 ERA is the fifth best in the South Region... Steve McClellan's eight saves is the most in the South Region... JT Granat's 1.12 WHIP is the fifth best in the region... Walker O'Connor's 1.44 walks allowed per nine innings is the best ratio in the South Region.
 
NATIONAL STAT LEADERS: West Florida's 2.92 team ERA is the eighth best in NCAA Division II... UWF's six shutouts is tied for the ninth most in DII... UWF's 4.04 strikeout-to-walk ratio is the best in the nation... UWF's 1.19 WHIP is the ninth best in DII... West Florida's 1.93 walks allowed per nine innings is the best ratio in the country... Kyle Hamner's one strikeout per 72 at bats is the best average in the country... JT Granat and Walker O'Connor's eight victories sits inside of the nation's top 15.
 
SCOUTING LEE: Lee enters the series needing a win and a Valdosta State loss to clinch a GSC Tournament berth... Last weekend, the Flames took two out of three against Mississippi College... Prior to the setback against MC, the Flames had a stretch of 10-straight GSC wins... The Flames are led by Ben Holland, who is second in the conference with a .427 batting average, first in home runs with 17, fourth with 49 RBI, and first with a .878 slugging percentage... Luke Toms has 15 home runs and 50 RBI for the Flames... LU is hitting .305 as a team, while posting a 4.54 team ERA.
 
SERIES HISTORY: UWF is 5-1 in the all-time series against the Flames... UWF began the all-time series winning five straight, but lost last year's series finale 7-4... UWF has shutout the Flames twice... The Argos have outscored the Flames 27-13 in its six bouts.
 
LAST TIME OUT: In last year's series, the Argos took two of three from the Flames in Pensacola... Brandon Nagem started game one and allowed just one run over seven innings of work, while striking out five and walking one en route to UWF's 2-1 win... Nic Strasser posted a 2-for-5 performance in that game... Nick Kerkmann has a 3-for-4 showing in Game 2 and Jimmy Redovain went 2-for-3 in UWF's 5-4 win.
 
Projected Starting Pitchers (based on previous weekend rotation)
 
Friday
Lee: LHP Art Vidrio -- 6-3, 2.97 ERA, 72.2 IP, 62 H, 24 ER, 17 BB, 68 K, .235 B/AVG
UWF: RHP Walker O'Connor – 8-2, 3.41 ERA, 68.2 IP, 75 H, 26 ER, 11 BB, 50 K, .280 B/AVG
Saturday G1
Lee: RHP Justin Alleman --6-4, 4.91 ERA, 62.1 IP, 34 ER, 12 BB, 69 K, .274 B/AVG
UWF: RHP JT Granat – 8-3, 2.49 ERA, 65 IP, 58 H, 18 ER, 15 BB, 47 K, .246 B/AVG
Saturday G2
Lee: LHP Trenton Hill -- 6-2, 2.83 ERA, 54 IP, 17 ER, 34 BB, 55 K, .189 B/AVG
UWF: LHP Brandon Nagem – 5-2, 4.58 ERA, 55 IP, 58 H, 28 ER, 13 BB, 58 K, .265 B/AVG