STATS / VIDEO
 
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida softball team will begin play at home on Wednesday, with a doubleheader against Spring Hill slated for a 2 pm start. West Florida is 8-1 after going 4-1 at the Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida, last weekend.
 
Fans can watch both games through UWF's live streaming portal at GoArgos.com/Live and follow along with live stats at the same link.
 
About Spring Hill
Spring Hill has gotten off to a rough start to the year, standing at 3-8 after the first two weekends of play. Two of those wins, however, have come against GSC competition -- a 3-1 victory over Alabama Huntsville and a 4-3 win over Union, both at the Gulf Coast Invitational.
 
The Badgers have had a handful of strong offensive performances early in the year. Caroline Hart leads qualified hitters with a .375 batting average, and Delaney Thomas is slugging .706 with three home runs. Aly Fowler and Elise Caruso have also stood out, batting .529 across 17 at-bats and .417 over 24 at-bats, respectively.
 
UWF is 11-4 all-time against Spring Hill and the Argonauts have won the last eight games in the series, dating back to 2016.
 
Freshman of the Week Teala Howard
For the second consecutive week, University of West Florida freshman outfielder Teala Howard has been named the Gulf South Conference Softball Freshman of the Week. Howard hit .556 (10-for-18) with 8 runs, 7 RBIs, 4 steals, and a home run at the Leadoff Classic. She was also named to the Leadoff Classic All-Tournament Team.
 
The rookie had multiple hits in three of five games at the Leadoff Classic and scored two runs in the final four games of the weekend. She has multiple hits in six games this year, multiple runs in seven, and has a stolen base in seven. She also leads the GSC in batting (.600).
 
Howard's top highlight of the weekend was the game against No. 18 Palm Beach Atlantic, when she went 4-for-4 with two runs and five RBIs, just one game after she tallied three hits, two RBIs and a walkoff inside-the-park home run against Cal (Pa.). 
 
Howard led UWF in hitting (.667), runs (7), hits (8), slugging (.750), OBP (.714), and steals (4) over the weekend, and she had multiple hits and multiple runs scored in each of UWF's last three games – against Lander, Eckerd, and Tuskegee.
 
A Look at Last Week
UWF had a busy week at the Leadoff Classic, facing three teams from the Sunshine State Conference and two from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference over three days. The Argonauts went 4-1, defeating three ranked opponents during the weekend.
 
UWF fell to Florida Tech in a pitcher's duel on Friday to start the week, but the Argos bounced back with a thrilling 3-2 win over No. 5 Saint Leo – defeating the Lions for the second time in a week.
 
Saturday was even more exciting, as Tori Perkins threw a no-hitter against California (Pa.) before UWF scored nine unanswered runs in a comeback win over No. 18 Palm Beach Atlantic. Perkins was masterful against CUP, striking out seven and walking only two in the complete game win. Howard was also a highlight in the game, as she went 3-4 with two runs, two RBIs, and a walkoff inside-the-park home run.
 
After Palm Beach Atlantic went up 5-2 in the first inning-and-a-half of action on Saturday, West Florida responded with nine unanswered runs from the second through the fifth to win 11-5 over the Sailfish. Kelsey Sweatt earned her first win of the year after throwing 5.2 scoreless innings of relief and tallying 10 strikeouts.
 
UWF capped off the weekend with a dominant 8-3 win against No. 8 West Chester on Sunday. Perkins got the win – her conference-best fourth of the year – with a complete game, four-hit effort. Rhiannon Sassman went 3-for-3 with two triples, a double, and a career-high five RBIs in the win.