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STATS | VIDEO
 
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida softball team will host Union on Saturday and Sunday in its home-opener at the UWF Softball Complex. UWF is ranked 14th and holds a 2-3 record in Gulf South Conference play and Union is 1-4 in the GSC after two weekends of conference action.
 
The doubleheader on Saturday and the series finale on Sunday will begin at 1 pm. West Florida will host Little League Night on Sunday, with a meet and greet with student-athletes and an autograph session after the game.
 
About Union
* Union holds a 4-7 record at this point in the season, with a 1-5 record since the Gulf South Conference Opening Festival two weeks ago. The Lady Bulldogs fell twice to Shorter in a rain-shortened series last weekend to give them a 1-4 record in the GSC.
* The Lady Bulldogs batting order has been outstanding this year, with four batters hitting .379 or better and four batters slugging better than .560. Haley Barnett and Gabby Morris are Union's top hitters, slashing .433/.486/633 with four doubles and .432/.463/865 with four home runs, respectively.
* Morris has also been Union's top starter, with 38.1 innings pitched and a 2.92 ERA with 36 strikeouts and 13 walks issued.
* West Florida took a sweep over Union last year, hitting .310 as a team, with a .450 on-base percentage, a .529 slugging percentage and drawing 20 walks against just 4 strikeouts in the three-game set. Rhiannon Sassman hit .455 in the series with 7 RBIs and a .909 slugging percentage, and Tiona Hill hit .400 with an .800 slugging percentage.
* UWF is 13-3 all-time against Union, with the Argos' last loss coming in 2015, when Union took two games out of three despite being outscored 11-8.
 
We're Ranked
* West Florida, now 9-7, moved up to No. 14 in the NFCA poll after its series against North Alabama was pushed to Monday, meaning those two games were not included in the rankings, which only include those played through February 25. UWF is one of three Gulf South Conference teams that is ranked, and one of six South Region teams that is either ranked or receiving votes. North Alabama checked in at No. 11 and Valdosta State is ranked No. 23.
* The Argonauts currently rank second in the GSC with a 1.62 team ERA, and clutch situational hitting and pitching has been the story for the team so far. UWF has hit .290 with runners on base and .306 with runners in scoring position, while the staff has allowed opponents to hit just .224 and .208 in those situations.
* The top six spots in the poll held steady, with reigning national champions Minnesota State staying at No. 1. In addition to UWF, UNA and VSU, No. 8 Saint Leo and No. 17 Palm Beach Atlantic represent the South Region in the poll, and Lee also received votes.
 
Moore at the Plate
* Sophomore right fielder Jibrasha Moore is UWF's leading hitter, among qualified batters. The Pensacola native is hitting .333, ranking second on the team with 14 hits.
* Moore has been particularly good over the last six games, with three multi-hit games and leads the team with eight hits, a .471 batting average, and four RBIs, while raising her batting average from .240 to .333. She totaled five hits and four RBIs at the GSC Festival last weekend.
* The lefty has been outstanding since moving to the No. 9 spot in the lineup against North Georgia on February 4, hitting .387 and leading UWF with 12 hits since that time.
 
Goodness, These Freshmen
* Among Argos with at least 18 at-bats this year, Grace Gilbert, Ally Merrill, and Mika Garcia rank first (.389), fourth (.308) and sixth (.300) on the team, respectively, in batting average. During the team's trip to South Florida last weekend, each batted a team-best .400 (4-10) for the weekend.
* Gilbert had one of UWF's best overall games of the year against West Alabama last weekend, with an 11-inning complete game victory over the Tigers and a pair of hits. The victory in the circle was her team-best fourth of the year, and she ranks eighth in the GSC in ERA (1.21).
* Merrill hit .333 and was second on the team with a .500 on-base percentage at the GSC Festival last weekend, picking up a pair of hits against West Alabama and reaching twice in the loss to Shorter. Her .500 on-base percentage for the season is tied for the team lead.
* In her first career start, against Nova Southeastern on February 9, Garcia went 3-3 with a run scored, an RBI and a stolen base, before adding another RBI and another hit in the doubleheader against Barry the following day. She had a pair of hits and two walks last week at the GSC Festival.
 
That Pitching
* The UWF pitching staff ranks as one of the best in the GSC after the first two weeks of softball action around the league, with a 1.48 ERA that is the second-best in the conference.
* All four UWF pitchers hold an ERA under 2.25, and each have thrown at least 16 innings.
* Sarah Maloney turned in a strong start against Delta State on Sunday afternoon, going five innings and allowing just four hits while striking out four batters in the victory. The senior's best start of the season against Nova Southeastern on February 9. Maloney went the full seven innings, striking out a career-high 15 batters, and walking just one batter while allowing only one unearned run. She has a 1.45 ERA for the season and ranks sixth in UWF history in strikeouts per seven innings (6.26).
* Grace Gilbert leads UWF in wins (4) and appearances (7) through the first three weekends of action. She impressed last Saturday with an 11-inning complete game win over West Alabama, when she struck out six batters and allowed only six hits, and she ranks eighth in the GSC with 1.21 ERA. The rookie threw 3.1 innings of one-hit ball in her collegiate debut against Nova Southeastern and followed that with two hitless innings against Tuskegee in her first college start, earning the win in each of those two games.
* Olivia Printiss, a native of nearby Gulf Breeze, Florida, leads UWF with a 0.88 ERA and a .224 batting average against. She threw six innings of relief against Shorter last weekend and struck out four in the tough-luck loss. She picked up the first win of her career at Barry with a complete game shutout on February 10.
* Junior transfer Tori Perkins was dominant against Nova Southeastern, as she shut out the Sharks for six innings and struck out five batters to earn her first win of the season on February 9. Last weekend, Perkins earned the save against Delta State with two scoreless innings, while allowing only two hits.
 
So Clutch
* UWF's offensive numbers may look a bit underwhelming on the surface, but the Argonauts have thrived on timely hitting en route to their nine wins this year.
* West Florida has hit an impressive .290 with runners on and .306 with runners in scoring position. UWF has also driven in runners on third with less than two outs 62 percent of the time that situation has come up -- nearly 3 times as often as the opposition has this year.
* Jibrasha Moore is second on the team with a .409 average (9-22) with runners on base, which includes her walkoff single against West Alabama last Saturday, and freshman Ally Merrill is hitting .600 (6-10) with runners aboard. Moore and Tori Perkins (9-25; .360) lead the team with 9 hits with runners on base.
* Tori Perkins has been West Florida's biggest run-producer with 10 RBIs, and a big reason for that has been her performance in clutch situations: She leads the team with 8 hits and has a .421 average with runners in scoring position.
* The pitching has been just as good as UWF's offense in these situations. The Argos staff has held the opposition to a .224 with runners on base and .208 with runners in scoring position. Opponents have only scored a runner from third with less than two outs 25 percent of the time this year.