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PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida will host Delta State at the UWF Softball Complex this weekend for a Gulf South Conference series on Friday and Saturday. The Argonauts have won 15 consecutive GSC matchups and are standing in first place in the league with just nine games to go in the regular season.
 
UWF is tied with No. 16 Alabama Huntsville at the top of the standings at 17-7, and West Florida leads all GSC teams with 33 overall wins this season. UWF leads the all-time series with Delta State at 18-7, and the Argonauts have been victorious in the last four games.
 
UWF will be hosting Strike Out Cancer Weekend at the Complex as well. The first 250 fans in attendance on Friday can receive a free cancer awareness t-shirt and there will be free skin cancer screenings at the park on Saturday.
 
Saturday will also serve as Scout Day at the UWF Softball Complex, and all scouts in uniform at the game will receive a free UWF Argonaut Scout Badge. And there will be a bounce house, cornhole games, and a postgame autograph session after Saturday's action.
 
Friday's doubleheader will begin at 4 pm at the UWF Softball Complex, and the series will wrap up with a noon first pitch on Saturday.
 
Back on Top (of the GSC)

• With a sweep at West Alabama last weekend, West Florida made the move into first place in the Gulf South Conference for the first time since March 3, 2013. At 17-7, UWF holds a tie with No. 16 Alabama Huntsville, which the Argonauts swept in March at The Fork. West Florida was sitting in 10th place at 2-7 in league play prior to that series.UWF leads the conference in winning percentage (.767) and shutouts (12), while ranking second in scoring (6.3 runs per game), slugging (.480), ERA (2.17) and batting (.332).
• UWF has had the luxury of not having to rely on one player to get things done since the start of the UAH series. Eight players have hit better than .300, eight have had an on-base percentage above .400, eight have had a slugging percentage over .500, five have had more walks than strikeouts and all three pitchers have posted an ERA well below 3.00.
• The Argonauts have been doing everything well in conference play, as well, with a .313 batting average and 64 extra-base hits in just 24 games. The pitching staff has held GSC offenses to just a 2.74 ERA, a .236 batting average and four shutouts.
• West Florida also leads the league in weekly conference awards, with six. Becca Taylor has been named the GSC Pitcher of the Week three times, which leads the league, Sarah Maloney was named Pitcher of the Week once, and Jacey Castro and Rhiannon Sassman have also each earned one GSC Player of the Week honor.

 
About Delta State

• Delta State enters the weekend on a bit of a hot streak, having taken five of its last six from Gulf South Conference foes Christian Brothers and Shorter. A tough stretch came just before that, as DSU visited Alabama Huntsville and hosted North Alabama, suffering back-to-back sweeps.
• The Lady Statesmen have one of the more talented players in the conference, in freshman Mari Alex Sandridge. Sandridge leads the team in batting (.357), on-base percentage (.427), slugging (.582), runs (22), home runs (6), RBI (22), ERA (2.05), opponent batting average (.221) and strikeouts (42).
• Delta State's offense has struggled, but the pitching has been closer to the middle of the pack in the GSC this year. DSU ranks near the bottom of the league in average (.271), slugging (.363) and on-base percentage (.352), but the Lady Statesmen are fourth in the conference in opponent batting average (.257) and seventh in ERA (3.72).

 
We Had Some Players of the Week

• UWF's Jacey Castro and Becca Taylor were named the Gulf South Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday, marking the first time this season that one team has had two award winners in the same week. The honor was the first of Castro's career and the third of the season for Taylor.
• Castro led UWF with seven hits during the week and slugged .867, with a home run in each game of Saturday's doubleheader at UWA. She had a three-hit game in Game 2 of the series, adding three RBI, a home run and a stolen base. Castro leads UWF this year with 18 multi-hit games, and she is currently riding a 16-game on-base streak and a nine-game hitting streak.
• Taylor held Spring Hill and UWA to a 0.39 ERA over 18 innings, striking out 16 and keeping batters to a .069 batting average. Her series against West Alabama was one of her best of the season, as she threw six innings of one-hit ball while striking out six on Sunday, and she struck out nine Tigers in a complete game on Sunday. She allowed just three hits to UWA on the weekend.

 
The Streak

• West Florida's 23-game winning streak came to a close with losses at Auburn Montgomery on Tuesday. The streak was UWF's longest since 2005, when the Argonauts set a program record with 27 wins in a row during their 60-win season. UWF's 23 consecutive wins mark the third-longest winning streak in program history and the fifth-longest in Gulf South Conference history.
• The UWF offense was at its best during the streak, with a .339 batting average, a .406 on-base percentage and a .514 slugging percentage. UWF also averaged more than 7 runs per game during the stretch. Jacey Castro hit .463 and slugged .750 over the 23 games, leading the team in runs (23), hits (37), doubles (8), home runs (5) and total bases (60), and drawing nine walks with just one strikeout. In all, nine Argonauts hit .300 or higher and 11 recorded an extra-base hit during the winning streak.
• The Argonauts work in the circle was nothing short of incredible during the streak, as Becca Taylor, Sarah Maloney and Taylor Rolison put together a 1.13 ERA in 155 innings. Taylor threw a team-high 86 innings and struck out 65 batters while holding opponents to a .172 batting average and playing a part in six shutouts. She totaled a 0.90 ERA and had a perfect 14-0 record in 15 games. Maloney struck out 47 batters in 44.2 innings, putting up a 1.57 ERA to go with her 7-0 record, and Rolison made 11 relief appearances with a 1.15 ERA, a .159 opponent batting average and 19 strikeouts in 24.1 innings.

 
At The Fork

• West Florida has won 12 consecutive home games, dating back to a March 7 doubleheader against Barry.  The Argonauts have been outstanding in that time, hitting .319 as a team with 22 extra-base hits and holding opponents to a .187 average with just five XBHs.
• Jacey Castro, Caitlin Steel, Tiona Hill, Rhiannon Sassman, and Meghan Toney have truly made The Fork feel like home this year, as each of them have hit .347 or higher at home. Castro's 21 hits, Hill's 10 runs scored, Toney's 11 stolen bases, and Sassman's 7 doubles and .460 on-base percentage are all team highs.
• The pitching has been lights-out at home, with a 1.64 ERA and a .228 opponent batting average. The Argoanuts have also tallied five shutouts and struck out 108 batters in 124 innings of work in their home circle.
• Taylor Rolison has led all pitchers with a 1.37 ERA at home, Sarah Maloney has struck out an astonishing 52 batters in 43 innings, and Becca Taylor has a 1.71 ERA to go with her eight home wins.
• The pitching stood out for West Florida in Pensacola's friendly confines last year, as Argonauts posted a 1.51 ERA and allowed opponents to bat just .195.