NOTES
STATS | VIDEO
 
PENSACOLA, Fla. – For the third consecutive year, the University of West Florida has earned a berth into the NCAA Tournament, and the Argonauts will head to Florence, Alabama, for this year's regional tournament. West Florida's first opponent for the week will be 2-seed and regional host North Alabama, and UWF and Lions will be joined by 3-seed Saint Leo and 6-seed Embry-Riddle out of the Sunshine State Conference.
 
First pitch for the UWF-North Alabama game will be at 5:30 pm Thursday at the UNA Softball Complex, with games to follow on Friday and Saturday in the double-elimination tournament. Tickets can be purchased at the gate. Daily pass prices for each day of the Tournament shall be $12 for adults, $8 for students and $8 for ages 6-18. Children 5 and under are free. All Tournament passes can also be purchased for $20 for adults and $15 for students. Parking is free.
 
All games can be followed with a live video broadcast and live stats, and links for each game can be found at GoArgos.com.
 
In the NCAA Tournament
* West Florida will be making its 13th NCAA Tournament appearance, and the Argonauts have been one of the best teams in the Gulf South Conference in NCAA Tournament play. UWF has 28 wins all-time in the NCAA Tournament, third-most among GSC teams, and the Argos hold a .528 winning percentage in the Tournament.
* UWF's eight wins in the NCAA Tournament over the last two years are the second-most in the GSC, behind only North Alabama.
* This week's regional action will feature four teams and will be a double-elimination tournament, with the winner of the South 2 Region Tournament will advance to a Super Regional to face the South 1 Region Tournament winner for a chance to go to the NCAA Championship.
 
30 Wins Again
* West Florida's comeback, walkoff win over Delta State on Friday gave the Argonauts their 30th win of the season, a mark that UWF has hit 27 times in its 32-year history.
 
Our South Region Opponents
* West Florida will be joined in Florence by a pair of familiar teams -- North Alabama and Saint Leo -- as well as a new opponent, in Embry-Riddle. UWF is a combined 0-3 against UNA and SLU this year, but two of those losses have been by just one run in extra innings, and all three games were played in February. The Argonauts are a combined 28-33 against North Alabama and Saint Leo since 2006 and have never faced Embry-Riddle.
* North Alabama was crowned the Gulf South Conference Co-Champion after last week's conference tournament was rained out, and the Lions have done more than enough to earn the 2-seed in the South Region. UNA ranks second nationally in batting average (.364), fourth in fielding percentage (.976) and 11th in scoring (7.3 runs per game), and 13th in ERA (1.87).
* Game 1 of UWF's regular-season series against North Alabama was a classic pitcher's duel, with Sarah Maloney and Olivia Printiss allowing just a single run until the 8th inning when UNA took a 2-1 win.
* The Lions bring a 32-15 record into the NCAA Tournament but have lost five of their last six games, facing Tampa and Palm Beach Atlantic. Alison Mitts and Auria Mounts have led SLU in the circle, where the team has a 1.99 ERA that ranks fifth in the Sunshine State Conference. Second baseman Kacie Kelly was a first team all-conference selection after hitting .384 with 14 doubles and 40 runs scored.
* Saint Leo spoiled a strong start from Tori Perkins on the first day of the season, taking an extra-inning, walkoff win after international tiebreaker rules were put in effect. Perkins allowed only two earned runs over 7.2 innings in her UWF debut.
* At 33-13, Embry-Riddle is making its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in its first season as a full member of NCAA Division II. ERAU had five All-Sunshine State Conference honorees, including Maggie Scott, who led the SSC in runs (43), hits (63) and triples (6), and was second in the league in steals (31). Embry-Riddle leads the SSC in batting with a .310 team average and scoring (4.9 runs per game).
* Ilona Andringa was a second team All-SSC selection and ranks in the top five in the conference in ERA (1.42), opponent batting average (.208), innings pitched (207.2), strikeouts (212) and wins (21). She and Lisa Hop -- both of whom are from the Netherlands -- have helped ERAU to a team ERA of 1.97, which is fourth in the league.
 
Jibrasha at the Plate
* The month of April belonged to sophomore right fielder Jibrasha Moore, who led UWF in batting (.404), hits (19), and stolen bases (13). She rode a eight-game hit streak dating back to the series opener at Montevallo, and batted .483 (14-29) with nine steals and four multi-hit games in that time.
* Moore is second on the team with 13 multi-hit games this year, and she has come through in the clutch as often as anyone. The Pensacola native is hitting .385 with runners on, .341 with runners in scoring position, and her 25 hits with runners on base are the second-most on the team. She is also hitting .529 (9-17) against left-handed pitchers.
* She has also become an elite base-stealer in the conference, swiping 28 bags this year. That puts her seventh in the league in steals, and she has not been caught stealing since March 24, going 20-for-20 in that time.
 
You Can't Be Wrong If You're...
* Rachel Wright has hit .337 since the start of March, leading UWF in runs scored (24) and doubles (13) since then. The Cantonment, Florida, native made the All-GSC Tournament team for the second time in her career last weekend, after earning the honor as a freshman in 2016.
* Wright went 2-3 with a pair of RBIs on Thursday against Alabama Huntsville in UWF's opening round game of the GSC Tournament before bringing in Tiona Hill with a sacrifice fly late in Friday's comeback win over Delta State. She led the team with three RBIs for the weekend, a total that was the third-most in the entire tournament.
* She is hitting .462 (6-13) in her last five games, which date back to the start of the series against Valdosta State on April 28. In that time, Wright has six RBIs, three doubles and a stolen base. Her multi-hit game against UAH on Thursday was her 10th of the season.