NOTES
STATS
 
PENSACOLA, Fla. – For the third consecutive year, the University of West Florida softball team will open its season in Gulf Shores, Alabama, with the Gulf Coast Invitational hosted by the University of Mobile.
 
The team opens the year with Nova Southeastern on Friday at 12:15 pm at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex, and will play No. 23 Saint Leo in the back end of that doubleheader at 2:30 pm. UWF will then face Tuskegee and Eckerd on Saturday at 1:30 pm and 3:45 pm, and the final game of the weekend will be against No. 7 North Georgia at 1:30 pm on Sunday.
 
All games will have live stats available. Direct links to each game can be found at GoArgos.com/Live or by visiting GoArgos.com and clicking on the appropriate game.
 
The Gulf Coast Invitational
* 2017 marks the third consecutive year that West Florida will start its season at the Gulf Coast Invitational in Gulf Shores, Alabama. UWF has an 8-2 record at the GCI over the last two seasons, averaging 7.8 runs per game.
* The tournament provides another strong slate this year, with the Argonauts facing Nova Southeastern, Tuskegee, Eckerd, and North Georgia and Saint Leo, both of which hosted an NCAA Regional last year. UWF holds a 22-15 all-time record against those five teams, with a 4-1 record against the competition over the last two years.
 
Playing the Best
* UWF's Sunday afternoon game against No. 7 North Georgia will be one of just two matchups between two top-10 teams in the country over the opening weekend. No. 2 Angelo State and No. 8 Colorado Mesa will also face off.
* Additionally, West Florida is one of just four top 25 teams in DII that will play multiple ranked teams this weekend, facing UNG and No. 23 Saint Leo.
* The Argonauts went 5-3 in the regular season against ranked teams in 2017, with a 1-1 record at the Gulf Coast Invitational to open the season.
* North Georgia handed UWF its only loss at the GCI in 2017, with the Nighthawks picking up a 5-1 win.
 
Familiar Faces
* West Florida played a total of four games against its GCI opponents last year, meeting Tuskegee and North Georgia in the tournament and hosting Nova Southeastern in a mid-year matchup.
* UWF went 3-1 in those games, hitting .301 and holding opponents to a .187 average while posting a 1.68 ERA. Meghan Toney was the team's leading hitter for those games with a .500 average (5-10), and she added a walk to record a .545 on-base percentage. Kathleen Smiley went 4-10, and Tiona Hill hit .333 (4-12) with a team-high five runs scored, a triple and a home run.
* Sarah Maloney, UWF's lone returner in the circle, was absolutely dominant in those games. She went 5.1 innings, struck out 11, and allowed just two hits.
 
2017: Pretty Good
* The 2017 season was one of the best in West Florida softball history. The team won 46 games, had 23 Gulf South Conference wins, and posted a .754 winning percentage -- all program-bests since 2005 -- and UWF won its first South Region Championship since 2003.
* Six Argonauts earned all-region honors from either the NFCA or the D2CCA, which is the most in a single season in program history.
 
Who's Back?
* UWF returns about 70 percent of its offensive firepower from last year's South Region champions. Roughly 68 percent of all runs scored, 70 percent of all hits, 66 percent of all extra-base hits, and 71 percent of all RBI will be back in the lineup in 2018.
* West Florida's returning position players hit .305 as a group last season and had a .386 on-base percentage. Those marks would have ranked fifth and third among Gulf South Conference teams.
* Second team D2CCA All-South Region selection Sarah Maloney will be UWF's only returner in the circle, a year after she went 15-4 and let the Gulf South Conference in opponent batting average (.210) and hits allowed per seven innings (5.3).