NOTES
STATS
 
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The 10th-ranked University of West Florida softball team will visit Auburn Montgomery on Friday and Saturday for the team's second Gulf South Conference series of the year. The three-game series is scheduled to start with a single game at 4 pm on Friday and will wrap up with a doubleheader on Saturday, scheduled to begin at noon.
 
Live stats will be available for each game in the series and can be found by clicking the link above or by visiting the schedule page on GoArgos.com.
 
A Look at Auburn Montgomery
The Warhawks from AUM have gotten off to just as hot a start at West Florida, with a 13-1 record that includes a win over No. 3 North Georgia in the season-opener. The team's first loss of the year came last weekend against West Alabama to open GSC play.
 
Pitching has been the name of the game for AUM so far, with a Division II-best eight shutouts and a 0.78 team ERA that ranks second in the country. Sophomore Michaelyn Foster has led the way with a pair of no-hitters (against NAIA Brewton Parker and GSC foe West Alabama) and a perfect 0.00 ERA over 27.0 innings.
 
The Warhawks haven't slouched at the plate either, batting .373 and averaging more than 8 runs per game. Five AUM starters are batting .400 or better, and another tow are hitting .350 or higher.
 
Oh Yeah, We're Ranked
With a 13-1 record through the first three weeks of the season, the University of West Florida softball team has jumped up to No. 10 in the first regular season NFCA Coaches Poll of the year. UWF had the biggest jump in the poll, starting from unranked position at the beginning of the year.
 
UWF has gotten off to an outstanding start in every facet of the game, ranking 8th in Division II in batting (.392), 17th in ERA (1.49), 12th in fielding percentage (.978), 8th in on-base percentage (.475), and 9th in scoring (8.71 runs per game). The Argonauts also lead the Gulf South Conference in batting, OBP, scoring, opponent batting average, and winning percentage.
 
UWF is one of three GSC teams in the top 25, including No. 7 Valdosta State and No. 20 Alabama Huntsville. UWF has already played three ranked opponents this year and holds a 4-0 record against those teams.
 
Sassman On Fire
After hitting .706 with seven extra-base hits last week, University of West Florida senior third baseman Rhiannon Sassman has been named the Gulf South Conference Softball Player of the Week for the fourth time in her career.
 
Over five games last week, Sassman tallied 12 hits, scored eight runs, and slugged 1.471, while stealing four bases and not striking out. She hit .900 (9-10) with three doubles, two triples, and two home runs in the weekend series against Christian Brothers, leading the team in each of those categories.
 
A two-time All-GSC performer, Sassman leads the GSC this year in batting (.590), slugging (1.077), on-base percentage (.660), and triples (4), while ranking in the top five in the league in runs scored (17), hits (23), RBIs (15), and doubles (5). The senior leads all Division II student-athletes in triples (4) and ranks fourth in total bases (42) and fifth in hits (23).
 
Sassman currently ranks sixth in UWF history with a .372 career batting average, fourth with a .613 career slugging percentage, ninth with 37 career doubles, third with 20 career triples, and is tied for first with 26 times hit by pitch. Her 20 triples also lead all active Division II softball players, ranked second among active players at any NCAA level, and rank second in Gulf South Conference history.
 
This is UWF's third weekly conference honor of the season, including Teala Howard's two Freshman of the Week honors in the first two weeks of the year.
 
About Last Week
UWF got off to a perfect 3-0 start in conference play with a sweep over Christian Brothers, scoring 41 total runs and hitting .488 as a team in the three-game series. It was an all-around dominant performance for the Argonauts to stretch their winning streak to nine games.
 
UWF's 24 runs scored in Game 1 of the series tie the program records for the most runs scored against a four-year school and the biggest margin of victory over a four-year school, matching an identical 24-2 win over Pikeville in 1996. The total is also the most runs UWF has scored in a single game since the game against Pikeville on March 22, 1996.
 
UWF has now scored eight or more eight consecutive games, dating back to February 9, against California (Pa.).
 
No Sweatt
Sophomore Kelsey Sweatt has gotten off to an outstanding start in her UWF career, posting a 0.96 ERA over her first seven appearances in the circle. Sweatt has earned the win in her last four appearances, including starts against No. 5 Saint Leo and No. 18 Palm Beach Atlantic in Clearwater and against Spring Hill at home.
 
Sweatt recorded 10 strikeouts in two consecutive trips to the circle, going 5.2 innings of scoreless, two-hit relief against No. 18 PBA, and starting her first game at the UWF Softball Complex against Spring Hill on Wednesday, with a complete game win. She followed that with a complete game win over Christian Brothers, in which she struck out seven and allowed just three hits.
 
Sweatt ranks in the top 20 in NCAA Division II in hits allowed per seven innings (2.89; 12th) and strikeouts (46; 16th).