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PENSACOLA, Fla. – After 11 weeks of play, the eighth-ranked UWF Baseball Team wraps up their 2021 regular season with their toughest test of the season, as they host fourth ranked and Gulf South Conference Regular Season Champion, Lee, on Friday and Saturday at Jim Spooner Field.
 
First pitch on Friday's night single-game is set for 6 p.m. with a double-header on Saturday slated for 1 p.m.
 
It will also be the first time in two seasons the West Florida will host a top-five team in the national polls as they began the 2019 season by hosting Florida Southern.
 
In 2021, the Argonauts have relied on an elite offense to carry them to the second spot in the conference standings.  UWF is among the top teams in the GSC in nearly every offensive category as they rank first in team batting average (.316), third in runs scored (261), second in hits (380), third in runs batted in (231), fourth in slugging (.450) and second in on-base percentage.  Additionally, the team holds a run differential of +110, which is second in the league behind only Lee.
 
On the mound, West Florida has used a balanced pitching staff to be ranked third in earned run average as a staff (4.07), fourth in hits allowed, first in runs allowed, first in walks allowed, first in home runs given up and third in opponent batting average.  Furthermore, the Argonauts have a fielding percentage of .974, the highest in the GSC this season and 10^th highest in all of Division II in 2021.  That mark would also be the highest in a single-season by a team in school history.
 
The Dylan Menhennett Experience: Through 34 games played, tied for the most on the team, center-fielder Dylan Menhennett has been the table-setter for the blue and green all season long.  Menhennett leads the team in batting average (.394), on-base percentage plus slugging (1.119), at-bats (137), runs scored (35), hits (54), home runs (8), RBI's (34) and total bases (90).  A GSC Player of The Year Candidate, Dylan also is among the top 10 players in the conference in almost every offensive category as the redshirt senior is sixth in batting average, fourth in slugging percentage (.657), seventh in hits, 10^th in RBI's and is tied for ninth in homers.  Dylan is also currently on a 23 game-hitting streak, which is tied for the longest in the GSC this season.  It is also the second longest in school history, trailing only Stephen Jackson who hit safely in 29 straight games during the 1998 season.
 
O'Shea Cleaning Up: This past weekend, Cullan O'Shea was dominant at the plate as the first baseman collected six total hits in the three-game set at West Georgia.  O'Shea, a native of Mobile, Alabama, went 2-4 with a walk and run scored in game one, while he had his best game of the year in game three as he hit two home runs in successive innings with four RBI's.  Adding two runs scored in the contest, Cullan tied Menhennett for the team lead in runs scored (35), while the two home runs boosted his total to six on the season, second most on the squad.  The first baseman paces the team with 11 doubles, tied for eighth most in the conference.
 
Middle Infield Providing Pop: The middle infield duo of Miller Hancock and Adam Imwalle have been great at the plate for the Argos this season.  Hancock, a redshirt junior from Maben, Mississippi has been heating up as the shortstop now ranks second on the team in batting average (.355), second in runs (32) as well as being third in hits (43), doubles (7) and slugging percentage.  Hancock launched his first home run of the year this past weekend in the Argonauts' 10-3 series clinching victory.  Miller also is first on the blue and green with 11 steals.
 
Imwalle, a redshirt senior, has been raking as well since being inserted into the starting line-up on March 5^th with a .387 batting average, 29 hits, 16 runs scored, four doubles, three home runs, 16 RBI's and a .560 slugging percentage.  Adam has also been solid defensively with 32 putouts and 33 assists.
 
The Best Catcher In The GSC: In 2021, UWF catcher Sam Clement has simply been the best backstop in the entire league.  First among all qualified batters in the GSC in batting average (.455) and on-base percentage (.516), Clement has been a force behind the plate this season.  Additionally, the backstop has an OPS of 1.007 with 11 runs scored, 25 hits, two doubles and 13 RBI's this year.  Clement is second among all Argonauts in putouts with 121 in his 15 starts.
 
Bullpen Giving Relief: The Argos received plenty of relief in their series victory over West Georgia as the UWF Bullpen threw 8.1 innings, allowing one run on four hits with eight strikeouts.  Five different pitchers combined to come out of the 'pen in the three-game set, with three of them having scoreless outings over multiple innings.
 
In game one, Alex Knight and Josh Pahlad tallied four innings of scoreless relief to help the Argos come from behind to take a 10-6 victory.  In his longest outing of the season, Knight went three perfect innings, without allowing a hit or walk while striking out five Wolves in the process.  Pahlad closed the game in the ninth by facing the minimum amount of batters, inducing a groundball double-play in the process.  Brendon Case, the primary closer for West Florida, threw 2.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, while Sean Means added two scoreless innings of his own in game three to secure the series win.
 
Sluggers Aplenty: With seven players slugging over .470 on the season, the Argonauts have relied on the extra-base hits to give them big innings at the plate this season.  As evidenced by their seven-run inning in Monday's game three where UWF had three extra-base hits, the blue and green can put runs up in a hurry and quickly overwhelm an opponent.  On the year, West Florida has recorded 60 doubles, with 10 the offense having three or more two-baggers in 10 different contests this season.  Eight players have produced at least four doubles on the year with O'Shea, Menhennett, Hancock and Jason Roberts tallying over 50 percent of that production.
 
In addition, the Argos have eight triples on the year and 28 home runs.  12 different Argonauts have rocketed at least one four-bagger while the team has hit more than one homer in six contests.  On March 26^th at Valdosta State, UWF slugged five homers in a 11-8 victory.  It was the first time that the team hit five home runs in a contest since February 1^st, 2009.
 
Argos In The Rankings: West Florida checks in at their highest ranking of the season, coming in at the number eight spot in the latest Collegiate Baseball National Poll.  Colorado Mesa, Tampa, West Texas A&M, Lee and Central Missouri make up the top five of the poll.  Looking at the south region specifically, Lee holds the pole position, with Tampa, Valdosta State and Shorter rounding out the top five.
 
Weekend Extras: The regular weekend rotation of Evan Floyd, Ryan Brewer and Tyler Dowdy will start on the mound for the Argos as they make their 12^th, ninth and 11^th starts of the year.  All three starters have ERA's under 3.93 with Dowdy owning the lowest ERA among all freshmen pitchers in the conference.
 
Multiple Argos have chances to break in the school's record book this weekend. Outfielder Matthew Estrada needs two runs scored to break into the top 10 in runs scored for a career, with Estrada seeking his way to climb up the standings in hits in a career as he is already in the top nine in school history with 179.   Meanwhile, Menhennett will look for a chance to keep his spot in the top 10 in school history in both batting average and slugging percentage.  With an additional homer, the centerfielder can move into a tie for 10^th place in school history for home runs in a single season.
 
Prior to first pitch, West Florida will recognize the contributions of 11 seniors; Brewer, Hancock, Justin Dunnam, Jared Hatch, Josh Pahlad, Riley White, Hunter Lucas, Estrada, Imwalle, Menhennett and Knight.  As a group, the 11 players have been apart of 106 wins, a 2019 GSC Regular Season Title, two GSC Tournament appearances, and a 2019 NCAA South Regional appearance.
 
Scouting Lee: The fourth ranked and GSC regular season champion, Lee, come into the weekend at 32-4 overall, fresh off a sweep over Mississippi College.  Led by head coach, Mark Brew, the Flames are at the top of the conference in nearly every offensive statistic as they are fourth in batting average (.299), first in runs scored (284), doubles (78), total bases (626), slugging (.484) and hits (387), second in home runs (49) and fourth in on-base percentage.  Additionally, Lee ranks 24^th in the nation in runs scored, 15^th in hits and 22^nd in home runs as a squad.
 
Individually, Ryan Beamish is in contention for GSC Player of the Year, as the graduate student is first in the conference and second in the country in home runs (18).  Beamish also is tied for the team lead in hits (55) with Alan Smith.  Smith, hitting a team-best .404 on the season, paces the squad with 14 doubles while Beamish is tops on the team in RBI's with 61.  Smith and Beamish both occupy spots in the top 10 in the league in runs scored and slugging.  Landon Silver also has hit 10 dingers for the Flames.
 
Not to be outdone, LU's pitching staff has also been one of the best in the nation.  Coming into the weekend with a league low, 3.64 staff ERA, the Flames are also first in the conference in shutouts (6), saves (15), innings pitched (321), hits allowed, opponent batting average (.217) and are second in strikeouts (379).  Logan Workman, a junior from Soddy Daisy, Tennessee, has been the ace of the staff as he is first in the league in ERA (1.66), opponent batting average (.154) and runs allowed (11).  He is also third in strikeouts (92) and second in hits allowed (32). 
 
Four other pitchers on the Flames' staff have an ERA under 1.66 with another standout, Andy Rivera, having nine saves which are the most in the conference and the second most in Division II.
 
Series History: Dating back to the 2014 season, UWF is 12-6 all-time against the Flames which includes a 6-4 mark at Jim Spooner Field.  West Florida last won the series in 2018 when the Argos took two of three in Cleveland, Tennessee. 

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