PENSACOLA, Fla. – UWF baseball (2-4) will host the Argo Invitational this weekend at Jim Spooner Field. The round-robin event will feature West Florida, No. 2/5 Tampa (4-2), Palm Beach Atlantic (4-4), and Spring Hill. The teams will play two games per day Friday through Sunday.
The Invitational begins Friday, Feb. 16. The day will open with a 2:00 p.m. contest between Spring Hill and Palm Beach Atlantic. The Argos will take on No. 2/5 Tampa at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday will feature a 1:00 p.m. game between Tampa and Spring Hill. The Argos will battle Palm Beach Atlantic at 5:00 p.m.
The Invitational will wrap Sunday with Palm Beach Atlantic and Tampa tangling at 11:00 a.m. UWF will take on Spring Hill at 3:00 p.m.
ARGOS RACK UP 12 HITS BUT CAN'T OVERCOME EARLY DEFICIT AT CSU
* UWF baseball (2-4) piled up a season-high 12 hits but could not overcome an early 7-1 deficit at Burger King Stadium Tuesday, falling to the host Columbus State Cougars 8-6. Nick Kerkmann equaled his UWF career-high with four hits. He also added 2 RBIs. The Argos stranded 10 baserunners as a furious comeback effort fell just short.
ARGOS SWEEP ROLLINS DOUBLEHEADER
* UWF baseball opened its 2018 home schedule with a doubleheader sweep vs. Rollins at Jim Spooner Field Feb. 9, defeating the Tars by finals of 5-1 and 5-3. Tony Kucera and Alex Knight each picked up their first Argo wins, and Joey Bend starred at the plate for UWF, piling up three hits, two runs scored and three RBIs over the two games.
* UWF got its most effective start of the season so far from lefty Tony Kucera (1-0), who twirled six innings of four-hit, shutout baseball to earn his first win. Kucera struck out three and issued no walks or extra-base hits to key the victory.
* Joey Bend got the scoring started in the first, singling home Mason Dinesen and Nic Strasser, who boarded with a hit-by-pitch and double respectively. Dinesen picked up an RBI in the sixth on a groundout to score Jacob Silverstein to run the lead to 3-0. Robert Lopezscored later in the sixth on a wild pitch to make it 4-0.
* Avery Geyer picked up his first save by retiring all six he faced in the eighth and ninth innings, four via strikeout. Rollins starter Brad Case (1-1), who was tagged for four runs (two earned) over 5.2 innings suffered the loss. Argo pitching allowed just two Tars to reach scoring position.
* LHP Kirk Maddox got the start for the Argos in Game 2. He pitched into the fifth, allowing just one run (one earned) while striking out three and allowing two walks. The Argo bats built him the lead in the second on an RBI single by Bryant Harris Jr. and then added to the early advantage in the fourth. Bend doubled to start that frame and eventually scored on a balk by Rollins starter Cameron Enck.
* Argo pitching allowed nine walks but also stranded a season-high 14 baserunners. The Tars outhit the Argos 6-5. Each team finished the game with two errors.
SCOUTING NO. 2/5 TAMPA
* Tampa topped the preseason Sunshine State Conference coaches' poll after winning the SSC last year.
* The Spartans checked into the National Collegiate Baseball preseason at No. 2 on Dec. 20. Tampa checked in at No. 5 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association poll Feb. 1. Tampa is coming off a 39-14 season last year. Tampa qualified for last year's NCAA Regional Tournament and had a total of seven players selected by the 30 organizations in MLB Draft, as well as two signees.
* Tampa is 4-2 overall. All of their games so far have been at home this season.
* Among key returners are David Lebron, who posted a 7-1 record, 103 strikeouts and a 2.66 ERA in 2017. Cheyne Bickel also returns to the hill for the Spartans. The senior put together a solid 2017 season that featured a 7-4 record and a 3.71 ERA.
* UWF is 5-17 vs. Tampa since 1991. The Argos last took on the Spartans Feb. 12-14, 2016. At the time, Tampa was the national No. 1. The Spartans took the first two games of the close series at The Spoon 5-3 and 5-4. The Argos won a phenomenal matchup in Game 3 1-0.
SCOUTING PALM BEACH ATLANTIC
* Palm Beach Atlantic baseball was selected to finish seventh in the Sunshine State Conference Preseason poll of conference coaches.
* 2018 is the first year that PBA is competing as full members of the Sunshine State Conference. This will be the first year that they will be eligible to win the conference championship and conference awards.
* The Sailfish finished 27-23 overall in 2017. PBA is 4-4 on the 2018 season, 1-2 at home, 2-2 away and 1-0 on neutral fields. The team has won three of its last four. The Sailfish took two of three from No. 18 Catawba Feb. 9-10.
SCOUTING SPRING HILL
* This is the final year of the Badgers' Provisional Membership in transition to NCAA Division II status. Spring Hill is 2-4 overall this season. Last year, the squad finished 17-4 in the SIAC last season and 29-20 overall.
* Last year's team was just 12-12 at home but 17-8 on the road. In 2016, Spring Hill finished 29-16 and 18-3 in conference play.
* Spring Hill is 2-4 overall this season. The team is 2-3 at home and 0-1 away. Brennan Fontenot is leading the team with a .476 batting average. Austin Barrios has made two appearances (both starts) for the team and put together a 1.50 ERA.
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