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Friday @ Rollins - 7:00 p.m. ET
Saturday @ Rollins - 1:00 p.m. ET
Sunday @ Rollins - 12:00 p.m. ET
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February 10, 2017
WINTER PARK, Fla. – The UWF baseball team will begin its second weekend of the season on Friday Night against the Sunshine State Conference's Rollins. JT Granat, Jackson Smith and Brian Browning are expected to start on the mound for UWF.
NOT JUST A SINGLES HITTER
- After hitting a team-high 67 singles last year, Justin Ambrosino has emerged as a power threat in the Argonauts lineup, hitting three home runs and slugging 1.000 in the team's first four games.
- Ambrosino, who hit one home run as a junior last season, hit a pair of long balls against Spring HIll on Wednesday and set a new career-high with 10 total bases - beating his previous career-high of five.
- The senior first baseman leads the GSC in home runs and slugging percentage.
MIDDLETON SHINES DEBUT
- Jared Middleton made his first collegiate start on Wednesday against the Badgers and pitched well, going five innings and allowing just one earned run with six strikeouts. His six strikeouts this season are the most for any individual outing by any Argonaut this season.
BATS GOT GOING
- The bats were quiet in the first weekend of the season with UWF hitting just .196 against Florida Southern, but the Argos increased its team batting average by .061 by going off for 13 runs and 16 hits.
- 11 different Argonauts tallied hits against Spring HIll, including all nine players in the starting lineup.
CONTINUED DOMINANCE AGAINST SPRING HILL
- UWF has now won seven in a row against Spring Hill and is 48-17 all-time against its counterparts from Mobile.
- The Argonauts won the season series last season and coincidentally outscored the Badgers 13-8 in 2016 -- the same score as Wednesday night's contest.
AGAINST ROLLINS
- UWF is 15-9 against Rollins and will play the Tars for the first time since beating RC 7-5 on Feb. 6, 2015 in Pensacola.
- Dating back to the 2011 season, UWF has won 11 of its last 12 meetings against Rollins.
SCOUTING ROLLINS
- Rollins is gunning for its first 4-0 start since 2003 on Friday night after sweeping Young Harris last weekend.
- Rollins posted a 2.33 team ERA last weekend and hit .281 as a team. Rollins beat YHC by scores of 7-6, 4-1 and 3-2, respectively.
- The Tars are led by Mike Purcell, a NCBWA Preseason All-American Honorable Mention, who went 6-for-12 against Young Harris last week.
TOUGH FIRST WEEKEND
- West Florida had a tough go of it in its opening weekend, being swept by Florida Southern at home last weekend.
- It was the first time UWF was swept at home since 2012, when the Argos ran into Delta State who eventually advanced to the NCAA Division II National Championship game.
- It was the first time UWF has been swept in its home opening series since falling to Florida Southern in three straight games in 2007.
PRESEASON FAVORITES
- West Florida was voted as favorites to win the Gulf South Conference by league coaches for the 2016 season.
- UWF also had five players (Robert Lopez, Nic Strasser, JT Granat, Walker O'Connor and Jarrod Petree) named to the Preseason All-GSC team -- the most selections of any team in the GSC.
- Transfers Brian Browning and Jackson Smith were named UWF's top newcomers.
KIEFER'S BACK
- UWF suffered a tough blow in its season opener last year, as Chase Kiefer went down with a season-ending thumb injury after an acrobatic catch in centerfield at Florida Southern.
- Kiefer is expected to be UWF's opening day leadoff hitter and centerfielder. The Pensacola Catholic HS product and fifth-year senior enters 2017 20 stolen bases shy of tying the program's all-time record of 77, set by Greg Pron in 2011.
- A 2015 All-GSC Second Team selection, Kiefer hit .328 with three home runs and 19 RBI and stole 23 bases in 28 attempts... His 60 hits as a junior in 2015 led UWF that season.
PITCHING AND DEFENSE
- West Florida is known as a program that focuses on pitching and defense, and the Argos lived up to that reputation by leading NCAA Division II in walks allowed per nine innings (1.83) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.10). UWF was also eighth in the nation with a 3.08 team ERA and a 1.20 team WHIP.
- UWF's .970 fielding percentage was tops in the GSC, 21st in the nation and was the best of any 2016 NCAA South Regional opponent.
COMING FROM THE DI RANKS
- Of UWF's 15 newcomers, five have experience being a part of NCAA Division I programs.
- Brian Browning, a LHP who is expected to be in the weekend rotation, played at Ole Miss last season but saw limited action. Browning went 8-3 with a 2.90 ERA as a member of Northwest Florida State's 2015 NJCCA National Championship squad.
- LHP J.A. Harville and catcher Tanner Halstead both make the one-hour move from South Alabama to Pensacola. Halstead was also a member of that Northwest Florida State national championship squad, hitting .301 with 2 HR and 34 RBI that year, while Harville led the Jaguars bullpen with a 2.57 ERA and .182 opponent's batting average as a freshman in 2014.
- Jared Middleton redshirted last season at Florida State, but turned a lot of heads as a senior at George Jenkins HS in Lakeland. He hurled 44.2 innings as a senior in 2015 and finished with 74 strikeouts and a 0.94 ERA, leading him to Polk County Pitcher of the Year honors.
- Jackson Smith, who redshirted at South Carolina before pitching the previous two seasons at Pensacola State, led the Pirates with 70.1 innings pitched last year. He went 9-8 in his two seasons at PSC and recorded a 4.56 ERA in his junior college career.
THREE ALL-SOUTH REGION ARMS RETURN
- After leading the South Region in ERA last year, UWF will be the only program to return multiple All-South Region pitchers in 2016. Weekend starters JT Granat and Walker O'Connor are expected to return to the rotation, while Jarrod Petree begins his second season in the bullpen in a "Andrew Miller"-type role in 2017.
- Petree was a Brett Tomko Award (Division II Pitcher of the Year) semifinalist and led UWF in ERA (1.53), WHIP (0.77), appearances (23). The redshirt senior thrived in getting UWF out jams and stranded 17 of a possible 22 inherited runners. Petree was a unanimous All-South Region selection and a All-GSC First Team member in 2016.
- Granat went 8-3 in his first year as an Argonaut and recorded the fourth best ERA in the South Region at 2.49 to go along with a South Region-best 1.14 WHIP. Granat earned NCBWA, ABCA and D2CCA All-Region honors in addition to a All-GSC First Team nod.
- O'Connor led the team with 87 innings pitched last year and posted the best walks allowed per nine innings average at 1.34. He earned NCBWA South Region Pitcher of the week honors after eight innings of shutout ball against No. 1 Tampa, and he currently sits fifth in program history with 20 career wins.
TARGET ON THE BACK
- After a successful 2016 season, it is no secret that UWF is one of the top programs in the conference, South Region, and country. UWF made its fifth regional appearance in the last seven years, and is one of just five South Region programs to be able to say that (Tampa, Nova Southeastern, Lynn, Delta State, UWF)
- West Florida won every single regular season conference series en route to a 24-7 record in GSC play. UWF's 24 conference wins are the third most in GSC history.
- UWF went 3-4 in postseason play last year and its first NCAA South Regional setback came against Nova Southeastern, the eventual 2016 DII National Champions by a score of 6-4.
- UWF has won 12 consecutive GSC regular series and won all 11 of its conference series last season... That stretch ties the longest streak in the GSC since 2010, when Delta State wno 12-straight GSC series from 2012-13.
RETURN IN PRODUCTION
- The Argos have four pitchers from last year back in action this year with JT Granat, Walker O'Connor, Jarrod Petree and Steve McClellan. Those four combined for a 2.81 ERA and pitched 237.1 out of the team's 453 innings (52.4%) last year.
- UWF has 10 position players returning, and those 10 players combined for a .304 batting average last season. The returners combined for 295 hits last season, accounting for 52% of last year's offensive production.
- Returning players hit 25 of UWF's 40 home runs last year, good for 62.5% of 2016's long ball production.
A LOOK AT THE SCHEDULE
- UWF has 28 home games and 22 road games after playing a grueling road schedule in 2016. UWF played seven of its 11 conference series away from Jim Spooner Field and recorded a 15-4 record during those series.
- After a rigorous 2016 schedule, UWF will face another tough test in 2017. Eight of UWF's 18 2017 opponents are either ranked or receiving votes in Collegiate Baseball's national rankings. (No. 20 Florida Southern, No. 26 West Georgia, No. 27 North Georgia, No. 34 West Alabama, RV Delta State, RV Columbus State, RV Valdosta State and RV Alabama Huntsville)
- UWF starts the year with its highest preseason ranked opponent with No. 20 Florida Southern.
- West Florida will welcome a pair of Peach Belt Conference opponents for April midweek series, including defending PBC Regular Season and Tournament champion Columbus State.
For information on all UWF athletics, visit GoArgos.com. To stay updated on UWF baseball, follow the team on Twitter @UWF_Baseball.
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