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PENSACOLA, Fla. – After 328 days since its last game, the University of West Florida softball team will open its 2021 season at home against No. 19 Lubbock Christian on Saturday at 1 pm with a doubleheader.
 
Attendance will be limited, but fans can follow along with live stats or a live video stream of the game. Links for each are above, and can be found at GoArgos.com/SB_Schedule.
 
PROTOCOLS AT HOME
In an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, University of West Florida Athletics will limit attendance for the 2021 home baseball and softball seasons to immediate family members of UWF student-athletes and coaches. Visiting teams will be permitted a pre-approved guest pass list.
 
Face coverings and at least six feet of social distancing will be required by spectators and staff at both the UWF Softball Complex and Jim Spooner Field. All other COVID-19 Visitor Compliance guidelines must be followed.
 
There will not be any concessions available for sale during the first two weekends of baseball and softball.
 
ABOUT LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN
Saturday will mark the first time in program history that UWF and Lubbock Christian have matched up. The Lady Chaparrals rank 19th in the country, as announced by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association earlier this week, and they were picked to finish sixth in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll.
 
LCU got off to a strong start in 2020 -- the Lady Chaps were 20-6 last season, with a 13-1 home record and an 8-0 mark against ranked opponents. Lubbock Christian will return starters at every position other than third base.
 
Taylor Franco was the top pitcher for LCU in 2020, with an 11-3 record and a 1.91 ERA over 84.1 innings. The Lady Chaps bring back their top four hitters from last season, each of whom hit .352 or better. Athena Muniz hit a blistering .396, Skylar Herrera stole 21 bases with a .353 average and four home runs, Savannah Wysocki led the team with a .625 slugging percentage, and Brooke Makemson led LCU with a .471 on-base percentage, with her .352 average.
 
THE GSC PRESEASON POLL
The Argonauts were picked fourth in the annual Gulf South Conference preseason poll, the league announced Thursday. Additionally, Grace Gilbert, Teala Howard, and Kelsey Sweatt were named preseason all-conference picks by coaches around the GSC.
 
UWF got two first-place votes and finished just behind Alabama Huntsville in first, Valdosta State in second, and Auburn Montgomery in third. Mississippi College, Montevallo, West Georgia, and Union were picked fifth through eighth, and West Alabama, Lee, Delta State, Christian Brothers, and Shorter rounded out the poll.
 
Madilynne Webb and Montana Young were picked as UWF's top newcomers to the conference. Webb is an infielder from Chipley, Florida, who earned Female Athlete of the Year honors from Chipley HS after after hitting .760 (19-for-25) with 2 home runs, 19 walks, and no strikeouts through 10 games in the shortened 2020 season. Young put together an impressive career at Northshore HS in Slidell, Louisiana, with a career 40-10 record with a 0.91 ERA and all-state honors in 2018 and 2019.
 
YEAR THREE FOR MCLEAN
Ashliegh McLean enters her third year as the head coach of the University of West Florida softball team. Her first two years have been noteworthy, to say the least -- she led the team to the NCAA Championship and 54 wins in 2019, before going 17-9 in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
 
THE SCHEDULE AHEAD
It will be a busy, challenging slate in February for the Argonauts. After Saturday's home-opener, UWF will travel to Dahlonega, Georgia, for doubleheaders against No. 2 North Georgia and Hillsdale on February 12-13.
 
Gulf South Conference play begins on Friday, February 19, with a series against West Alabama at the UWF Softball Complex, followed by a home doubleheader against Spring Hill on February 24. That will be the first of five GSC home series for the Argonaut this season, with Mississippi College (March 5-6), Christian Brothers (March 20-21), Montevallo (April 9-10), and Lee (May 1-2) all making the trip to Pensacola.
 
The Argonauts will hit the road for conference series against No. 20 Alabama Huntsville (February 27-28), Auburn Montgomery (March 12-13), No. 12 Valdosta State (March 27-28), Union (April 2-3), and West Georgia (April 24-25), as well.
 
UWF will see limited non-conference action after the home doubleheader against Spring Hill in February. UWF will visit SHC in Mobile on March 9, host Columbus State on March 16, and visit Flagler in St. Augustine, Florida, on April 15 for a doubleheader.
 
Postseason play begins on May 6 with the Gulf South Conference Tournament.
 
WHO'S BACK?
The Argonauts will return nearly all of their starting lineup and their top two starting pitchers, along with plenty of bench depth from the 2020 squad.
 
Pitchers Grace Gilbert and Kelsey Sweatt return to the circle after leading UWF last year with a combined 2.04 ERA over 137.0 innings pitched. The duo also held opponents to a .193 batting average in the shortened 2020 campaign.
 
Gilbert will also find herself in the lineup as one of nine Argonauts who started at least half of UWF's games last year. She hit .381 with 28 RBIs, which ranked second in the Gulf South Conference. She will be joined by returning starters Teala Howard, Mika Garcia, Angela Agurkis, Mallory Vining, Ally Merrill, Courtney McLellan, Jacquelynne Poling, and Kayla Mayo.
 
Most notably, Howard hit .500 in 2020, leading Division II with 46 hits, and leading the GSC in batting, runs scored, hits, triples, and steals. She ended the season on a 14-game hitting streak, during which time she raised her batting average 95 points and hit .580 (29-for-50) with multiple hits in 12 of those 14 games.
Howard is UWF's all-time leading hitter, with a .475 batting average over two seasons, and her .587 career slugging percentage ranks fifth in UWF history.
 
Returners to UWF's lineup hit a collective .316 with a .372 on-base percentage and a .471 slugging percentage.
 
 
For the latest information on the UWF Softball team, fans can visit GoArgos.com/Softball or follow the team @UWFSoftball on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.