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PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida softball team will open up home and conference play at the UWF Softball Complex this weekend, hosting Gulf South Conference opponent Mississippi College. UWF stands at 8-1 on the year after a two-day sweep over Lander and Columbus State and the Cougar Classic in Columbus, Georgia, last weekend.
 
The doubleheader on Saturday will begin at 1 pm, as will the series finale on Sunday. All three games will feature a live video broadcast and live stats, and links for those can be found at GoArgos.com.
 
#GuardTheFork

• The Argonauts will return to the UWF Softball Complex for their home opener against Mississippi College this weekend, a year after putting together one of the best home records in the GSC. UWF finished the year 15-4 at "The Fork," good for a .789 winning percentage. Since 2009, UWF is 172-90 (.656) at home.
• The pitching stood out for West Florida in Pensacola's friendly confines last year, as Argonauts put together a 1.51 ERA and allowed opponents to bat just .195.

 
A Look at Mississippi College

• UWF is 5-1 all-time against Mississippi College,  outscoring the Choctaws 14-5 in a sweep in Clinton last year.
• Mississippi College stands at 6-5 on the year, after splitting a doubleheader against Spring Hill on Wednesday. Three of those wins have come against Miles, which UWF opened the season with at the Gulf Coast Invitational.
• A couple of Choctaws to watch will be Lauren Mulligan, who is hitting .393 with two home runs, and Haley Thompson, who is hitting .317 and has a league-best 15 stolen bases in 15 tries.

 
Wow, We Are Good at Hitting

• Through two weekends of play, West Florida leads the GSC in batting average (.385), on-base percentage (.436) and slugging (.508). The Argonauts also rank third in total bases (132), despite playing two fewer games than league leader Valdosta State (144).

 
Conference Play Begins

• West Florida will begin its run through the conference schedule with Mississippi College this weekend, and the Argonauts went 23-10 in league play last season.
• 2016 marked UWF's highest winning percentage in conference play (.697) since 2006, when the team went 22-9 (.710).
• The Argonauts have historically been one of the strongest teams in the conference, holding the third-most wins in GSC history (383) and the fourth-best winning percentage (.668) in conference play, out of 21 current and former member institutions.
• Kathleen Smiley tore up GSC pitching as a freshman last season. The Pensacola native led the team in batting (.367), OBP (.451), slugging (.561), home runs (4), RBI (32), and total bases (55), while totaling 14 walks and just 8 strikeouts.

 
#AwardWatch

• University of West Florida sophomore Rhiannon Sassman has been selected for the 2017 NFCA DII Player of the Year Watchlist, the organization announced on Wednesday.
• Sassman led UWF with 65 hits, 14 doubles, 6 triples and 103 total bases in 2016, becoming the first Argonaut to tally 100 total bases since 2010. She also ranked second on the team with 47 runs scored, 50 RBI and a .542 slugging percentage.
• In all, 50 total student-athletes took spots on the list, and the Orlando, Florida, native joins fellow Gulf South Conference members Hillary Carpenter and Reagan Tittle of North Alabama and Kaitlyn Bannister of Alabama Huntsville.

 
This is a Walk-Free Zone

• UWF senior Becca Taylor ranks third in program history in fewest walks per seven innings (1.02), following last year when she walked less than a batter per game and ranked fifth in single-season UWF history last year with 0.83 walks per seven. That mark was the second-best in the Gulf South Conference and the 15th-best in Division II.

 
Fewest Walks per 7 Innings (UWF Career)
1.         Joann Tobin (1988-89)               0.84
2.         Jordan Ratliff (2012-13)              0.87
3.         Becca Taylor (2014-present)       1.02
4.         Jillian Lafrance (2008-10)           1.08
5.         Krissy Styrna (1999-2002)           1.15
 
Fewest Walks per 7 Innings (GSC, 2016)
1.         Taylor Johnson, Delta St.           0.61
2.         Becca Taylor, West Florida        0.83
3.         Kimberly Jack, Ala.-Huntsville    1.16
4.         Tyler Harrison, Ala.-Huntsville    1.20
5.         Taylor Tucker, Delta St.             1.37
 
Oh Dang, Meghan Toney

• Meghan Toney continued her hot streak at the Cougar Classic last weekend, going 10-16 (.625) with four runs scored and four stolen bases. After two weeks of play, she leads the Gulf South Conference in batting average (.655), hits (19) and on-base percentage (.688).
• In addition to her efforts with the bat, Toney also moved into the UWF record books by being hit by a pitch for the 10th time in her career. That ranks her 10th in program history in times hit by pitch.

 
Sass, Man

• 2016 NFCA first team All-American Rhiannon Sassman took no time getting into a groove offensively this year, hitting .563 after a weekend of play. She leads the team in runs (12), slugging (.719), walks (5), total (23) and home runs (2).
• She put together a strong weekend at the Cougar Classic, going 5-16 at the plate with four runs scored.

 
These Newcomers

• It was another strong weekend for UWF's newcomers at the Cougar Classic. Like during the opening weekend in Gulf Shores, everyone on the UWF roster saw some playing time in Columbus, Georgia.
• Tiona Hill has started at third base in all nine games this season, hitting .360 and slugging better than .600 across 25 at-bats. The junior wrapped up the weekend with a 3-for-5 day against Lander and Columbus State with two doubles in the afternoon contest against CSU. She scored at least one run in all five games at the Gulf Coast Invitational to open the season.
• Freshman and Navarre, Florida, native Callan Taylor has started and served as the DP in all nine of UWF's games. The rookie went a combined 3-6 with a double and a run scored in two games against Columbus State last weekend.
• The season's opening weekend was a little rocky for Taylor Rolison, but the freshman was sharp in the Cougar Classic. Rolison threw a complete game shutout against Lander on Saturday, striking out three and allowing just two hits in the 5-0 win. It was her second shutout of the year, following a win over Tuskegee in the Gulf Coast Invitational.
• Baleigh Boltz made the most of her starting spot against Tuskegee in the GCI, going 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. She began that game with a single and soon came around to score on a wild pitch as a result of some heads-up baserunning. She tacked on an RBI with a single in the 3rd inning, and she scored the walkoff run in the 8-0, five-inning win after a single in the bottom of the fifth.