CLEVELAND, Miss. – UWF baseball (30-18, 19-10 GSC) will open play at the Gulf South Conference Championships Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. vs. West Georgia (31-16, 17-13 GSC).
"The key for us is getting pitching and defense going the first three, four, five innings, giving our offense a chance to work and get going," said UWF head coach Mike Jeffcoat. "I believe we are going to swing the bats. We've proven that throughout the year. That's been our strength, but we've got to sharpen up pitching and defense to have a chance to win."
Jeffcoat expects to start lefty Tony Kucera vs. West Georgia Saturday and Dylan Mills-Derouen Sunday vs. 7-seed Lee. The starter for Game 3 is to-be-determined.
"We're going to start Tony Kucera, he's been our number one starter all year," Jeffcoat said of tomorrow's pitching plan. Kucera allowed just one earned run over eight innings vs. West Georgia on Mar. 30. "In tournament play, it's obviously very important to start the tournament with a win… We need to put ourselves in a position to hopefully go 2-0 so that the third day [vs. 2-seed Montevallo] means something to get to the championship game."
AGAINST THE POOL THIS SEASON
* UWF has earned the 3-seed in the tournament after finishing the conference regular season 19-10. 2018 was the sixth straight season that the team has won at least 17 games in conference play and the seventh time the program has achieved the feat under Jeffcoat. The full schedule for pool play and the tournament championship is available HERE.
* The Argos will open the Championships May 5 at 1:30 vs. West Georgia. The team will take on 7-seed Lee May 6 at 10 a.m. and then close pool play May 7 vs. 2-seed Montevallo. Time for Monday's game is currently TBD. The GSC Tournament championship game will be held Tuesday. Time in that game is also still TBD.
* UWF took two out of three games in a hard-fought home series vs. West Georgia (31-16, 17-13 GSC) Mar. 30-31. The Argos won Game 3 in walkoff fashion, scoring once in the eighth and three times in the ninth to overcome a late 7-4 deficit.
* UWF also took two out of three this year vs. Lee (25-24, 16-13 GSC). The Argos took the first two of a three-game set in Cleveland, Tenn. Apr. 7-8 by finals of 5-3 and 7-2. The team closed the series with a 10-2 loss.
* UWF fell to Montevallo (30-14, 20-9 GSC) Apr. 20-21. The Argos run-ruled the Falcons 12-2 Apr. 20 before dropping the final two games of the set 8-7 and 13-5.
* Jeffcoat on the pool: "Everybody you play in the tournament, you've already played. So there's a very good familiarity with each other. It's just a matter of who comes and executes. It's not making extraordinary plays. It's making ordinary plays that's going to win."
ARGOS COME IN AT NO. 8 IN NCAA SOUTH REGION POLL
* UWF baseball moved up one spot in the second NCAA South Region rankings of 2018, coming in at No. 8.
* The Argos are currently No. 7 in the NCBWA South Region Top 10 and have been in that poll for eight straight weeks. The final NCAA South Region rankings will be released May 9, leading up to the NCAA Division II Selection Show May 13.
ESTRADA WINS FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR, FOUR NAMED ALL-GSC
* Matthew Estrada earned the GSC Freshman of the Year award. Estrada has enjoyed an excellent first season of collegiate baseball. The Pensacola Catholic alum has hit .343 with an on-base percentage of .449. He has piled up 22 walks, 34 runs, and 21 RBIs in 44 games and 40 starts.
* The Gulf South Freshman of the Year award is the sixth in UWF program history and the first since Walker O'Connor earned the honor in 2014. Estrada has pitched and played outfield for the Argos this year. In addition to his Freshman of the Year honors, he also earned a place on the All-GSC Second Team.
* Infielders Nic Strasser and Matthew Jones and pitcher Dylan Mills-Derouen made the All-Gulf South First Team, while Estrada earned a place on the All-GSC Second Team.
SULLIVAN LOOKING TO CONTINUE TOURNEY SUCCESS
* Matt Sullivan earned a spot on last year's All-GSC Tournament team after an excellent performance at the 2017 Championships. The catcher/outfielder hit two home runs in three games last year and finished the Championships with four hits, three runs and five RBIs.
GSC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
* UWF is seeking its first GSC Tournament championship since 2007. The Argos are 24-23 all-time at the GSC Tournament.
* The 10th straight GSC Tournament appearance is the second-longest active streak in the GSC. Host Delta State has made the GSC Tournament 25 straight seasons. Alabama Huntsville's streak of nine straight GSC Tournament appearances was snapped this year.
* Last year, the Argos went 2-1 at the Championships, falling in the postseason opener 5-4 vs. North Alabama before defeating West Alabama and Mississippi College 3-2 and 9-6.
GSC LEADERS
* Dylan Mills-Derouen led the GSC this regular season with an opponent batting average of just .184. Mills-Derouen also allowed the fewest hits (34) among all qualified conference pitchers. His 2.72 ERA was fifth-best in the conference. Tony Kucera's 3.13 ERA was the seventh-best number in the GSC.
* Matt Sullivan finished with 18 doubles this season, tied for the most in the GSC. Trevor Payne led all qualified batters in fewest strikeouts this season with just five.
* The Argos finished the regular season with the second-highest team batting average (.319) in the GSC and the fourth-lowest team ERA (4.28). The Argos tied for the third-best fielding percentage in the conference at .964.
For the latest information on the Argos, follow the team on Twitter @UWF_Baseball.
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