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PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida softball team will head to Dahlonega, Georgia, over the weekend for its first road trip of the 2021 season. The Argonauts will play No. 2 North Georgia in a doubleheader on Friday beginning at noon ET, before facing Hillsdale College at noon ET on Saturday.
 
Live stats will be available for all four games and a live video broadcast will be available for Friday's doubleheader. Links for each can be found above, or at GoArgos.com/SB_Schedule.
 
THAT'S A GOOD START
West Florida kicked off the 2021 campaign the right way at the end of January, taking a pair of wins against No. 19 Lubbock Christian at the UWF Softball Complex. It took a nail-biting, walkoff win in Game 1 and a much less stressful win in Game 2 to put UWF at 2-0 to begin the season.
 
Six Argonauts finished the day with a .500 batting average. Courtney McLellan, Kara Wilson, and Teala Howard each had three hits to lead the way, while McLellan's three RBIs and Howard's four stolen bases each led the team, as well.
 
The Argonauts used their full pitching staff on Saturday, getting strong performances from Kelsey Sweatt in Game 1 and Grace Gilbert and Montana Young in Game 2. The staff combined for 13 strikeouts and a .146 opponent batting average over LCU in the doubleheader.
 
The win in Game 1 also gave UWF head coach Ashliegh McLean a career 3-0 record in season-openers. She has defeated ranked teams in all three of those games, by a combined score of 22-5.
 
SO MANY AWARDS
UWF swept the first edition of the 2021 Gulf South Conference weekly awards, the league announced on February 2. Courtney McLellan was named the GSC Player of the Week, Kelsey Sweatt was named the GSC Pitcher of the Week, and Montana Young took home GSC Freshman of the Week honors.
 
A senior outfielder, McLellan hit .500 (3-6) in the Saturday doubleheader, with a double, a triple, and 3 RBIs. She also had the game-winning RBI in Game 1.
 
Sweatt earned her fourth career GSC Pitcher of the Week honor, after throwing a complete game against Lubbock Christian in the season-opener. The senior from Jacksonville, Florida, struck out four batters, walking only two, and allowing just one unearned run.
 
Freshman Montana Young made a major impact on Saturday afternoon, throwing four innings of nearly perfect relief in her collegiate debut. She earned her first career win after striking out four and allowing only one hit in relief, retiring the first 10 batters she faced against LCU.
 
SCOUTING NORTH GEORGIA
West Florida will visit a bit of a familiar foe in No. 2 North Georgia this week in Dahlonega, as the teams have played each other four times since 2017. The Argonauts have an 0-4 all-time record against UNG.
 
The Nighthawks took a pair of 4-0 wins over Montevallo on February 7, with impressive performances from pitchers Kylee Smith and Tybee Denton. Smith, the 2-time NFCA National Player of the Year, was 12-2 with a 0.30 ERA in 2020 before the season came to a halt. Smith led Division II in ERA (0.73) in 2019 and had 30 wins that season as a junior.
 
Offensively, UNG is led by Shelby Hammontree and Kaylyn Anthony, who have each earned All-Peach Belt Conference honors in their careers.
 
SCOUTING HILLSDALE
Hailing from Hillsdale, Michigan, the Chargers will open their season with UWF on Saturday. This will be the first time the teams have played each other.
 
HC was 4-16 to start the 2020 season but made the Midwest Regional in 2019. The Chargers will return Dana Weidinger in the circle, who has been one of the top pitchers in Hillsdale history, holds a 2.91 career ERA and 32 career wins. Offensively, All-GMAC shortstop Sam Catron, third baseman Elaine Townley, and outfielder Renee Bielawa will lead the way.
 
IT'S A STREAK
Teala Howard enters the weekend on a 16-game hitting streak, which dates back to February 19 of last year and is tied for the sixth-longest hitting streak in UWF history, which Howard put together in 2019. With a 3-for-6 start to the season against Lubbock Christian in the season-opener, Howard is now batting .571 (32-for-56) in this current 16-game hitting streak, with multiple hits in 13 of those 16 games. The junior is also slugging .821 with 5 doubles, 3 triples, a home run, 19 runs scored, and 17 stolen bases during her hitting streak.
 
 
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.