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PENSACOLA, Fla. - The University of West Florida baseball team welcomes No. 5 Delta State this weekend for a three-game series beginning Friday at 2:00 p.m. UWF and DSU will conclude the series on Saturday with a single game at 1:00 p.m.
PITCHING AND DEFENSE VS OFFENSE: This weekend's series between West Florida and Delta State features the conference's No. 1 pitching staff against the conference's No. 1 lineup... Delta State leads the conference with a .320 batting average, 293 runs scored, .471 slugging percentage and .417 on base percentage, while West Florida owns a conference-best 3.87 ERA, .963 fielding percentage, and has allowed the fewest extra base hits among GSC clubs.
SUCCESS AT WEST ALABAMA: UWF swept last Saturday's doubleheader against UWA before dropping Sunday's finale... The Argos have now won seven of its last eight regular season series against UWA... Offensively against the Tigers, UWF was led by Robert Lopez who went 4-for-9 with four runs scored, two RBI, three walks, and a .538 on base percentage... Jared Middleton led the pitching staff, posting 3.2 shutout innings with a season-high seven strikeouts in game two to earn his third win of the season.
WOW, THE BULLPEN: Certainly one strength of the Argonauts in 2017 has been its bullpen, as relievers have only allowed 19 of 69 inherited runners to score (27.5%) -- good for the best percentage in program history... In GSC action, UWF relievers have combined for a 1.72 ERA, good for another program best... As relievers in GSC play, freshmen Trace Penton and Jared Middleton have combined for 23.2 innings of not allowing an earned run... Brian Browning leads the team with 18.2 relief innings in GSC play, and the senior southpaw has dominated the competition with a .115 opponent batting average and a 0.48 ERA.
MARCH MADNESS: The Argos posted a 12-4 showing in the month of March, bringing its 8-6 record after February to 20-10... Ladeavon Matthews led the team with a .393 batting average, four home runs, and 16 RBI in March... His .639 slugging percentage was also a team best... The pitching staff posted a 2.98 ERA in the month of March, led by a 3-0 showing from Jared Gonzalez who posted a 1.71 ERA over 21 innings pitched... Brian Browning led the bullpen with 12.1 scoreless innings, only allowing two hits to register an opponent batting average of .051... On the base paths, West Florida stole 32 bases on 43 attempts, while opponents were only able to swipe 13 bags on the month.
HISTORY WITH DELTA STATE: West Florida has won four of its last five meetings with the Statesmen, including winning two of three in Cleveland, Mississippi, last year... The series win for the Argos snapped a streak of 18 consecutive conference home series the Statesmen had won, which dated all the way back to March 2012... Ladeavon Matthews shined in last year's series against Delta State, going 6-for-12 with three RBI to lead the offense... Nick Kerkmann is a career .389 hitter against the Statesmen with four RBI, while Justin Ambrosino hit .357 in last year's series... To clinch last year's series win, JT Granat posted 8.1 innings of one-run ball, striking out six and walking one to pave the way for UWF's 6-1 win... The all-time series between UWF and DSU is currently tied at 26-26... Heading into 2017, UWF and DSU were 12th and 13th, respectively, in best winning percentages among NCAA Division II from 2010-2016... UWF's record over that span is 262-108, a half game better than DSU's mark of 262-109.
VS. NATIONALLY RANKED OPPONENTS: With Delta State being ranked No. 5 by the NCBWA and No. 8 by Collegiate Baseball, UWF is in the midst of a stretch which includes seven nationally ranked opponents in an eight-game span... Despite owning a 2-4 record against nationally ranked opponents this season, UWF has three offensive standouts in those games, including Justin Ambrosino (.375 BA, 1 HR, 3 RBI), Tanner May (.364 BA, .533 OBP) and Ladeavon Matthews (.360 BA).
ABOUT DELTA STATE: Delta State enters the series having won seven in a row, good for the longest active streak in the GSC... The DSU lineup is led by Zack Shannon, who leads the conference with a .436 batting average, .744 slugging percentage, .509 on-base percentage, 57 RBI, and 10 home runs... As a team, DSU is hitting .320, however, the pitching staff has struggled with a team ERA of 4.75 ERA that is seventh-best in the conference... Closer Zach Osbon owns a 1.00 ERA over 27 innings pitched, while Seth Birdsong leads the rotation with a 6-1 record and 3.59 ERA.
PRO ARGOS: West Florida had a pair of players start professional seasons last week, including Brian Ellington (2012, New Orleans Baby Cakes - AAA Miami Marlins) and Ledarious Clark (2015, Down East Wood Ducks - High-A Texas Rangers)... Clark, UWF's most recent draftee, hit .242 with a team-high 12 home runs and 34 RBI for the Hickory Crawdads (Texas Rangers - A)... Clark also finished third on the team with 25 stolen bases... Ellington, who has jumped between AAA and the majors with the Miami Marlins over the past two seasons, owns a 2.64 ERA in the big leagues over 58 innings pitched in his career.
10-GAME WIN STREAK IN REVIEW: West Florida had a 10-game winning streak snapped in a 6-0 setback against Union in the series opener on April 1... It is UWF's seventh winning streak of at least 10 games since 2011... West Florida had five players hitting north of .350 during the streak, including Brandon Harmon (.432), Ladeavon Matthews (.415), Nic Strasser (.414), Nick Kerkmann (.391) and Justin Ambrosino (.350)... The Argos hit .326 as a team and owned a 2.73 ERA over the stretch... UWF opponents were limited to a .238 batting average and were tagged for a 6.75 ERA over the run... UWF outscored its opponents 86-34 during the win streak, for an average margin of victory of over six runs per game... During the win streak, UWF's three primary bullpen arms, Brian Browning (.065 opp. avg.), Jared Middleton (.125) and JT Granat (.067) combined for 22.1 scoreless innings.
LONGEST WINNING STREAKS SINCE 2010
1. 22 games - 2011 (March 6 - April 16)
T2. 12 games - 2014 (February 9 - March 9)
T2. 12 games - 2016 (March 19 - April 9)
4. 11 games - 2013 (March 3 - March 19)
5. 10 games - 2017 (March 12 - April 1)
CHASE KIEFER STOLE A RECORD: Redshirt senior Chase Kiefer stole his program-best 78th stolen base in the series opener against Union on April 1, solidifying his spot atop the UWF career stolen base leaders... Kiefer enters the Delta State series with 82 career stolen bases and has only been thrown out 11 times in his career... His .892 stolen base percentage is fourth best on the UWF career leaders... Kiefer is now one stolen base away from being tied for 10th in the GSC leaders... Kiefer is currently second in the GSC and fifth in the country with 25 stolen bases in 2017.
GSC CAREER STOLEN BASES
150-Cedric Landrum, North Alabama 1982-85
109-James Barksdale, North Alabama 2004-06
103-Skyler Stromsmoe, Southern Arkansas 2005-07
98-Churchill Moore, Tennessee-Martin 1986-87
95-Justin Durmon, Southern Arkansas 1998-01
92-Blake Lockwood, Ouachita Baptist 2006-09
88-Denny Paganelli, North Alabama 1997-00
87-Rob Dahlberg, West Alabama 2006-09
83-Billy Terrell, North Alabama 1986-89
83-Eric Moore, Montevallo 2007-08
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82-Chase Kiefer, West Florida 2013-present
AMONG THE GSC'S BEST: West Florida currently owns the best fielding percentage (.963) and ERA (3.87)... UWF has also allowed the fewest extra-base hits allowed in the conference... The team is also third in the GSC and ninth in the nation with 74 stolen bases on the year... Justin Ambrosino and Ladeavon Matthews are seventh and eighth, respectively, with 52 and 51 hits on the year... Ambrosino is second in the league and 20th in the nation with 44 RBI... Ambrosino is also eighth in the league with seven home runs.
