2020 NCBWA PRESEASON RANKINGS
STATS
VIDEO

PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida baseball team will begin their 2019-2020 season on Friday, January 31^st at 6pm ET in Lakeland, Florida as they take on the Florida Southern Mocs at historic Henley Field. The Argos are coming off a 37-18 2019 campaign that featured an NCAA Tournament appearance.

The entire weekend series will feature live video and live stats, which can be found at GoArgos.com or by clicking on the links above.

PRESEASON ACCOLADES
UWF baseball was picked to finish second in the GSC in a preseason poll of conference coaches. West Florida was also ranked tied for third in the south region poll released by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association this week.

2019 GSC champion Delta State topped the preseason conference poll with 130 total points and four first-place votes. The Argos came in second with 127 total points and received five first place votes in the poll. Mississippi College finished third with 123 points and three first place votes. Valdosta State and Alabama Huntsville rounded out the top five, with the Blazers picking up one first place vote.

Senior pitcher Daniel Floyd was named to the NCBWA Preseason All-South Region First Team, and junior outfielder Matthew Estrada earned Second Team honors. Both players were also selected to the All-GSC Preseason Team.

UWF was ranked No. 22 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Preseason Poll released in December and were No.19 in the NCBWA preseason top 25 poll released this week.

THIS YEAR'S TEAM
This year's team will feature six returning position players, two returning starting pitchers, and 22 newcomers. The staff will also feature three returning relief pitchers.

Among the previously before mentioned preseason award winners, this year's key returners will be Trevor Payne and Dylan Menhennett. Payne reached base in a program-record 49 straight games, hit .306 and drove in 39 runs in 2019. Menhennett hit .263 with 4 home runs and 31 RBIs across 51 appearances last season. He struck out just 25 times in 156 at-bats and had 9 multi-hit games.

The team's top newcomers include right handed pitcher Ryan Brewer and infielder Miller Hancock. A transfer from Pensacola State, the righty made eight starts and posted an ERA of 3.12 in 52 innings pitched, finishing the year with 42 strikeouts. Hancock hit .364 last season, with three home runs and 25 RBIs at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. He also scored 45 runs and had 15 stolen bases last year.

The 2020 UWF team will feature 23 players from the state of Florida, four from Alabama, three from Mississippi, two from Georgia, and one from New York.

This year's team will feature 10 seniors. UWF will have 21 juniors and seniors this season.

SCOUTING FLORIDA SOUTHERN
UWF will face Florida Southern in their regular season opener for an eighth consecutive year. West Florida is 16-20 overall against the Mocs and 7-14 when playing them on the road.
 
Florida Southern was ranked No. 30 in the nation by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll Dec. 19. The team also received votes in the national preseason top 25 ranking from the NCBWA in a poll released this week.

The Mocs are coming off a 23-27 season, going 9-21 in sunshine conference play leading to a tenth-place finish in the conference.

FSC is under the leadership of Lance Niekro, a former San Francisco Giant who is 210-142-1 since taking the helm of the program in 2012.

For the latest information on UWF baseball, follow the team on Twitter @UWF_Baseball.