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PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida baseball team will serve host to Columbus State, the defending Peach Belt Conference champions, for a two-game midweek series beginning on Tuesday, April 17 at 6:00 p.m. The series wraps up with a single game on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m.
The Argos are looking to break a cold stretch after suffering a sweep to No. 5 Delta State – the program's first home GSC sweep since 2012.
West Florida (23-18, 15-12 GSC) stands in sixth place in the Gulf South Conference. Columbus State (24-16, 12-9 PBC) is fifth place in the PBC and most recently dropped 2-of-3 against No. 1 North Georgia.
The Argos currently rank second in the GSC with a 3.88 team ERA. On the base paths, UWF is ninth in the country with 76 stolen bases, led by
Chase Kiefer's 25 that is sixth most in Division II.
Offensively,
Ladeavon Matthews leads the team with a .349 average, while
Brandon Harmon's .434 on-base percentage is tops for the Argonauts.
Justin Ambrosino leads the squad with seven home runs and his 44 RBI is tied for second most in the league.
The midweek series will feature a family reunion, with UWF relief pitcher
Steve McClellan's younger brother Patrick McClellan being a junior infielder for the Cougars. Steve and Patrick's cousin, Mason, is also a junior infielder who for CSU who leads the team with a .404 average, 15 home runs, and 52 RBI. Mason's 15 long balls are tied for second most in the PBC.
West Florida is 9-10 all-time against Columbus State and the teams most recently met in 2015 where the Cougars took both decisions by scores of 6-5 and 12-8. UWF's last win against the Cougars came on March 26, 2014 in Pensacola by a score of 8-6.
In five career games against CSU,
Chase Kiefer is a career .400 hitter against the Cougars. In addition, UWF assistant coach
Justin Bennett hit .428 in his career against CSU from 2009-2012.
After the pair of meetings with the Cougars, UWF will head to Shorter to continue GSC action beginning on Saturday at 12:00 ET.
To stay updated on all things UWF baseball, follow the team on Twitter @UWF_Baseball.
