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PENSACOLA, Fla. – UWF baseball (18-9, 8-3 GSC) welcomes the Alabama Huntsville Chargers (14-10, 8-4 GSC) to town this weekend for a three-game series beginning with a 2:00 p.m. Saturday doubleheader. The teams are scheduled to close the series with a 1:00 p.m. game Sunday.
UWF baseball most recently rallied from a first-inning deficit to blow past Albany State (9-11, 1-1 SIAC) and sweep the two-game series Wednesday at ASU. The Argos fell behind 3-0 in the first only to score the next 15 of the next 17 runs and win going away 15-5 in eight innings.
"From what we see stat-wise, we know it's going to be very competitive," said Jeffcoat of UAH. "Stat-wise, they're one of the top fielding teams, so they're going to catch what you hit to them. I think they're going to pitch it enough to keep us challenged. The good thing is we're going to be playing at home. We need to take advantage of playing at home at The Spoon."
The Argos will have to overcome the loss of Nic Strasser, who suffered an injury after being hit by a pitch in Wednesday's game at Albany State that will keep him out an extended period of time. Strasser leads UWF in hits (35) and home runs (7). Strasser is fourth in the GSC in slugging percentage at .683 and tied for second in the conference with 30 runs scored.
ARGOS SWEEP DOUBLEHEADER IN ALBANY
* UWF baseball took two from Albany State earlier in the week by finals of 15-10 and 15-5.
* UWF baseball (17-9, 8-3 GSC) made it 12 wins in the last 13 games with a 15-10 slugfest victory at Albany State (9-10, 1-1 SIAC) Tuesday. The Argos got a combined nine RBIs from Nic Strasser and Nick Kerkmann and hung on after building a large early lead in support of starter Hunter Lucas.
* Lucas allowed two runs in the third, two runs in the fourth and two two-out runs in the fifth before exiting the game. The freshman southpaw scattered eight hits and struck out four in moving to 2-1 on the season.
* UWF Baseball has continued its excellent offensive production. The Argos have now posted at least 10 hits in 13 of the last 15 games. The runaway win in Game 2, which was called due to the 10-run rule after eight innings, was the was the sixth in the last eight games in which the Argos have scored at least ten runs.
* Bryant Harris Jr. came off the bench late to lead UWF with three RBIs in Game 2. Brandon Harmon, Joey Bend, Silverstein, Sullivan and Jones all finished the day with two RBIs.The Argos outhit the Golden Rams 17-6. Trevor Payne finished with two hits and four runs scored. Every spot in the order reached and eight of the nine spots finished with at least one run.
BEND REACHES IN 14TH STRAIGHT
* Joey Bend joined Strasser and Harmon as the three Argos who have reached base in 14 straight games this season. Bend picked up two hits, three RBIs and three runs scored in the two-game series at ASU.
* Bend has 23 RBIs in 19 games this season. Nick Kerkmann and Matthew Jones have each reached base in nine straight games. Kerkmann currently owns a nine-game hit streak.
GSC LEADERS
* West Florida currently leads the GSC in batting average (.329) and hits (303). The Argos are currently second in the conference in ERA (3.74) and have held opponents to the third-lowest batting average in the conference (.244).
* Matthew Jones, Brandon Harmon and Joey Bend remain near the top of the conference in batting average. Jones is 10th at .380, Harmon 11th at .377 and Bend 12th at .375. Bend is tied for the conference lead with five sacrifice flies.
* Matt Sullivan leads the conference with 12 doubles. Nick Kerkmann is fifth in the GSC with 31 RBIs.
* Josh Pahlad is currently seventh among qualified pitchers in the conference with a 0.55 ERA. Alex Knight is ninth with a 0.61 ERA.
SCOUTING ALABAMA HUNTSVILLE
* UAH is 14-10 overall this season and 8-4 in conference play. The Chargers are 7-6 at home and 5-4 away. The team is 2-0 on neutral fields.
* Alabama Huntsville most recently dropped both in a two-game series vs. Spring Hill, falling 20-4 and 10-9 Wednesday. The losses snapped a five-game win streak that included a sweep of Christian Brothers.
* UAH is second in the GSC in team fielding percentage at .966. The team is fifth with a .305 batting average but owns the third-highest ERA at 5.67.
* The Chargers have three players in the GSC's Top 10 in batting average. Brady Bedingfield is third (.433), Ben Rhodes is fourth (.416), and AJ Walden is ninth (.389). Bedingfield leads the conference in OBP at .558. Nolan Ramsey leads the conference in triples with four.
* Dylan Murphy has proven to be one of the most effective closers in the conference with six saves, the top number in the GSC.
* The Argos are 33-23 vs. Alabama Huntsville since 1991.
For the latest news on the Argos, follow the team on Twitter @UWF_Baseball.
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