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LIVINGSTON, Ala. - The University of West Florida baseball team awaits a road series against Gulf South Conference foe West Alabama that is slated to start on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. The Argos and Tigers will play a doubleheader on Saturday and conclude the series on Sunday with a single 1:00 p.m. contest.
MAJOR LEAGUE HIGH: With the start of the 2017 Major League Baseball season, several UWF players come from high schools with an MLB presence.
HIGH SCHOOL: UWF Player(s) - MLB Player(s)
LAKELAND HS: Colby Brown - Chris Sale (LHP, Boston Red Sox, 5x All-Star)
DR. PHILLIPS HS: Tanner May, Matt Sullivan, Nic Strasser - Johnny Damon (2004 World Series Champion - Red Sox) and AJ Pierzynski - (2005 World Series Champion - White Sox)
HAGERTY HS: Michael Savas, Casey Crawford, Nick Kerkmann - Zach Eflin (RHP, 2012 1st Round Pick - Phillies)
GEORGE JENKINS HS: Robert Lopez, Jared Middleton - Lance Niekro (SF Giants 2003-2007)
OLYMPIA HS: Steve McClellan - Brad Miller (SS/3B/OF, Tampa Bay Rays)
APOPKA HS: Jarrod Petree, Julian Nunez - Zack Grienke (RHP, Diamondbacks, 3x All-Star)
MALDEN CATHOLIC HS: Walker O'Connor - Joe Coleman (1948 All-Star)
PRO ARGOS: West Florida had a pair of players start professional seasons last night, 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... Jordan DeLorenzo, who starts the 2017 professional season in extended spring training, posted a 2.90 ERA for the State College Spikes (St. Louis Cardinals - Short-Season A) in 2016... DeLorenzo collected 38 strikeouts in 31 innings last year... 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 last weekend.. 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)
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: UWF is 11-5 in road games this year, good for the third best road winning percentage in the conference... Nick Kerkmann leads the team with a .405 batting average on the road... Nic Strasser (.364) and Chase Kiefer (.328) have also performed well away from Pensacola... Steve McClellan leads the bullpen with a 1.42 ERA in road games, while Brian Browning (seven appearances, one start) has the best ERA on the team with 2.16 (minimum 15 IP)... The Argos are hitting .297 as a team on the road.
CHASE KIEFER STOLE A RECORD: Redshirt senior Chase Kiefer stole his program-best 78th stolen base in the series opener against Union last week, solidifying his spot atop the UWF career stolen base leaders... Kiefer enters the West Alabama series with 80 career stolen bases and has only been thrown out 10 times in his career... His .889 stolen base percentage is fourth best on the UWF career leaders... Kiefer is now three stolen bases away from being tied for 10th in the GSC leaders... Kiefer is currently second in the GSC and sixth in the country with 23 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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80-Chase Kiefer, West Florida 2013-present
AMONG THE GSC'S BEST: West Florida currently owns the best fielding percentage (.965), ERA (3.60) and opponent batting average (.249) in the conference... UWF has also allowed the fewest walks and extra-base hits in the conference... Ladeavon Matthews is 10th in the league with a .357 batting average... Brandon Harmon is 10th in the conference with a .447 on base percentage... Justin Ambrosino and Ladeavon Matthews are sixth and seventh, respectively, in total hits with 46 and 45... Justin Ambrosino is second in the league with 42 RBI and seventh with seven home runs... Chase Kiefer is second in the conference with 23 stolen bases... On the mound, Jarrod Petree is seventh in ERA (3.00), fourth in opponent batting average (.207) and eighth in innings pitched (51)... Jared Gonzalez is ninth with a 3.18 ERA and first in fewest walks allowed.
