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PENSACOLA, Fla. – No. 12 West Florida will host Gulf South Conference opponent Lee at the UWF Softball Complex for the final regular-season series of the year on Saturday and Sunday. The doubleheader on Saturday is slated for a 2 pm start, and Sunday's series finale will begin at 1 pm.
 
Sunday will serve as Senior Day, when the team will honor seniors Jacey Castro, Caitlin Steel and Becca Taylor after the game.
 
There will be a naming ceremony for the UWF hitting facility at 1:45 pm on Saturday afternoon, following a $100,000 gift from Members First Credit Union of Florida. The series will also mark Members First Credit Union Educators Appreciation Weekend. All area educators will be granted free admission if they present a name badge or a pay stub at the ticket gate for any game during the weekend.
 
All three games in the series will feature a live video broadcast and live stats, all of which can be found at GoArgos.com/Live.
 
Our Seniors

• West Florida will see three seniors play their final regular-season home games this weekend, in Jacey Castro, Caitlin Steel and Becca Taylor. Each member of the trio has been a key cog in the UWF softball machine, particularly over these last two seasons in which UWF has won 78 games and has reached as high as No. 12 in the NFCA Top 25 poll. Should UWF pick up two more wins this year, it will be the first time since 2009-10 that the program has won 80 games over a two-year span.
• Jacey Castro has become one of the top offensive threats in the Gulf South Conference this year. She leads UWF with 60 hits, 12 doubles and 6 home runs this year, and she ranks second on the team in batting average, runs scored, on base percentage, slugging percentage and RBIs. She has 29 multi-hit games in the last two years and has 101 career hits at UWF.
• Caitlin Steel has established herself as the top defensive catcher in the Gulf South Conference over the last two years. Since coming to UWF as a junior, Caitlin leads the GSC in runners caught stealing and has thrown out nearly a third of all runners who have tried to steal against her. She is also a career .321 hitter, with 12 career doubles, 2 triples, a home run, 20 stolen bases and 50 runs scored.
• Becca Taylor is a four-year member of the UWF softball program and has already entered the UWF record books in several categories. She ranks third in school history in walks per 7 innings, and is in the top 10 in wins, games started and innings pitched. This year, she leads the GSC with 21 wins and has set career bests in wins, ERA, strikeouts, complete games and opponent batting average.

 
About Lee

• Lee has been climbing up the Gulf South Conference standings pretty steadily all year, going 14-6 in the league since March 11. That run includes a sweep over North Alabama in Florence, as well as a loss to Union, a loss at West Alabama and dropping two of three to Shorter at home. The team's 19-10 GSC record puts them in a tie for fourth place with Mississippi College in the conference.
• Like UWF, Lee has a handful of offensive threats it can count on, including Stevie Baird, who ranks fifth in the league in doubles and sixth in on-base percentage, and Katherine Lee, who is second in stolen bases and in the top 10 in batting and hits.
• The Lady Flames also boast a solid pitching duo in Leigh Beatenbough and GSC ERA leader Taylor Moran. Beatenbough is fifth in the conference in innings pitched (140.1), fifth in strikeouts (99), and second in wins (16), while Moran holds a 1.21 ERA, 11 wins and 6 saves.

 
We Are Still Ranked

• For the first time since 2010, the University of West Florida softball team jumped inside the top 15 spots in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll, checking in at No. 12 on Wednesday. This is West Florida's highest ranking since the team hit No. 3 in 2005.
• UWF is the highest-ranked South Region team in the poll, standing ahead of No. 14 Saint Leo and No. 18 Alabama Huntsville, while Tampa and North Alabama are receiving votes.
• UWF is 5-6 this year against teams in the Top 25.

 
Hitting the Century Mark

• Head coach Melissa Paul is approaching her 100th win at UWF, with 97 career victories at the university entering the final weekend of the regular season.
• After a tough first half of her first season with West Florida in 2015, Paul's Argonauts went 18-17 to wrap up the year, before going 42-17 in 2016. That 18-game turnaround from 2015 to 2016 is the 13th-biggest in Division II history.
• Paul's current career winning percentage at UWF (.623) would put her in the top 40 among active DII coaches, and in the top 60 all time in DII.

 
At The Fork

• West Florida has won 14 of its last 15 home games, dating back to a March 7 doubleheader against Barry.  The Argonauts have been outstanding in that time, hitting .311 as a team with 27 extra-base hits and holding opponents to a .202 average with just nine extra-base hits.
• Jacey Castro, Caitlin Steel, and Tiona Hill have truly made The Fork feel like home this year, as each of them have hit .354 or higher at home. Castro's 23 hits, and Hill's 14 runs scored are all team highs.
• The pitching has been lights-out at home, with a 1.98 ERA and a .232 opponent batting average. The Argoanuts have also tallied five shutouts and struck out 127 batters in 145 innings of work in their home circle.
• Sarah Maloney has struck out an astonishing 62 batters in 53.1 innings, Becca Taylor has a 2.00 ERA to go with her nine home wins, and Taylor Rolison has allowed just a .235 opponents batting average over 18 innings.
• 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.

 
In the GSC

• After splitting a rain-shortened series with Shorter last weekend, West Florida's 20-9 Gulf South Conference record is good for second in the league, just a half-game behind Alabama Huntsville's 21-9. After the series against West Alabama, UWF made the move into first place in the Gulf South Conference for the first time since March 3, 2013.
• The conference is tightly-bunched at the top, as five teams -- UAH, UWF, Lee, North Alabama, and Mississippi College -- have either 9 or 10 losses with just one regular-season weekend remaining. Those five teams and Valdosta State have locked up spots in the eight-team Gulf South Conference Tournament, which will be hosted by the regular season champions from May 4-7.
• UWF leads the conference in winning percentage (.750) and shutouts (12), while ranking second in scoring (6.0 runs per game), ERA (2.48) and batting (.320).
• 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 .295 or higher, seven have had an on-base percentage of at least .370, six have had a slugging percentage over .500, and five have recorded more walks than strikeouts.
• The Argonauts have been doing everything well in conference play, as well, with a .301 batting average and 73 extra-base hits in just 29 games. The pitching staff has posted a 2.89 ERA against conference foes, recorded three shutouts and held GSC offenses to just a .239 batting average.
• 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.

 
In the South Region Rankings

• UWF held steady at No. 2 in the South Region poll, which came out on Wednesday afternoon. The Argonauts are one of seven Gulf South Conference teams in the poll, ahead of No. 3 UAH, No. 4 Lee, No. 5 North Alabama, No. 6 Valdosta State, No. 8 Mississippi College and No. 9 Shorter. Saint Leo from the Sunshine State Conference leads the poll, Palm Beach Atlantic is in seventh and Tampa is 10th.
• The South Region is made up of the Gulf South, Sunshine State and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic conferences, with eight total teams reaching the South Region Tournament. Each of the three conferences earns an automatic qualifier, leaving five at-large bids for the remaining spots.
• The GSC has sent the region's representative to the Division II Softball Championship every year since 2009, with a GSC team making an appearance in the national championship in six of those eight seasons. Valdosta State (2013) and North Alabama (2016) have won national championships.
• UWF ranks third in GSC history with 22 wins in the NCAA Tournament, averaging two per trip.
• West Florida ranks seventh or better among South Region teams in winning percentage (.761, 3rd), slugging percentage (.466, fifth), ERA (2.49, sixth), and batting average (.326, sixth).