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STATS | VIDEO
 
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The 21st-ranked University of West Florida softball team gets back home on Friday and Saturday for a weekend series with Montevallo at the UWF Softball Complex. UWF is 21-10 overall and 15-6 in the Gulf South Conference, while Montevallo is 11-16 and 6-11 in the GSC.  
 
UWF will play a doubleheader starting at 1 pm on Friday, and will wrap the series with a single game on Saturday, also at 1 pm. Fans can follow along with live stats and a live video broadcast, which can be found at the links above or by visiting GoArgos.com.
 
West Florida will be hosting its annual Strike Out Cancer game on Friday. Tickets for this game will start at $5 as usual, and donations for the Emerald Coast Ovarian Cancer Research Fund will also be taken at the gate.
 
UWF will also be running the Go Blue, Think Green canned food drive presented by Publix on Friday and Saturday. Fans are encouraged to donate canned goods at the gate, which will go to the Argo Food Pantry. Anyone who donates 10 or more cans will be entered in a raffle for a $50 Publix gift card.
 
University of West Florida athletics has increased attendance to 25 percent capacity for all softball home games at the UWF Softball Complex. Each game is first come, first serve to the general public. A set number of tickets will be held aside for Argonaut Athletic Club Booster members. AAC members can collect their tickets at the ticket window on gameday with their booster club card. Tickets are $7 for general admission, $5 for seniors, military members, and visiting students, and free for UWF students, UWF faculty and staff, and children under 6 years old.
 
Gates will open 60 minutes prior to first pitch. Tailgating in the parking lot is not allowed, and, as a reminder, pets are not allowed. Face coverings and at least six feet of social distancing will be required by spectators and staff at the UWF Softball Complex. All other COVID-19 visitor compliance guidelines must be followed.  
 
SCOUTING MONTEVALLO
The Falcons from Montevallo enter the series at 11-16, after dropping 2 of 3 games against West Alabama last weekend. It's been an up-and-down season so far for Montevallo -- the team has taken a game in series against Alabama Huntsville and Valdosta State, but has also fallen in two of three to UWA, dropped one against Christian Brothers and was swept by Lee.
 
As is usually the case, Montevallo has a handful of very strong bats in its lineup. Kinley Adams and Brooke Ingram are hitting .397 and .396, respectively, and Adams has stolen 12 bases this year. In the middle of the order, Sierra Easterwood has put up solid numbers with five doubles, five home runs, and a team-best 21 RBIs.
 
UM has struggled a bit to find consistency in the circle this season, pitching to a 5.39 ERA. No. 1 starter Mychael McMillan has shutout Union and Valdosta State and has struck out 10 in 5 innings against Miles, but she has spun a 4.39 ERA over 59.0 innings, with opponents hitting .291 against her.
 
UWF has a 6-5 all-time record against Montevallo, which started its program in 2014.
 
A LOOK AT LAST WEEK
UWF took a sweep over Union in Jackson, Tennessee, last weekend, finishing up a 3-3 road swing. The Argonauts got two outstanding pitching performances on Friday from Grace Gilbert and Kelsey Sweatt, as the duo combined for a 1.50 ERA over 14 innings with 18 strikeouts and a .180 opponent batting average.
 
The offense came through when it was needed on Friday, as well. Courtney McLellan hit a bases-clearing triple in Game 1 to give UWF a 3-0 lead and take the win, and RBIs from Jacquelynne Poling, Kayla Mayo, and Kara Wilson in Game 2 gave UWF an 8-2 win.
 
Sweatt threw six strong innings of relief on Saturday in the series finale, and Poling capped off a big comeback win for the Argonauts. Sweatt struck out eight batters, and UWF rallied from being down 5-0 late in the game.
 
With a run in the fifth, three in the sixth, and three in the seventh -- including a game-winning homer from Poling -- UWF earned its fourth GSC sweep of the season.
 
WE ARE RANKED
UWF jumped up to No. 21 in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll, released by the organization on Wednesday. The Argonauts are 21-10 after sweeping Union on the road last weekend.
 
Previously No. 22, West Florida made the jump up 1 spot in the poll, and UWF's 21 wins are the third-most in the country this season.
 
West Florida is joined in the poll by fellow Gulf South Conference teams Valdosta State at No. 3 and by Alabama Huntsville at No. 15, while Auburn Montgomery is receiving votes.
 
Augustana took over the top spot in the rankings and is followed by North Georgia, Valdosta State, Texas A&M-Commerce and UT Tyler.
 
THREE-TIME PITCHER OF THE WEEK KELSEY SWEATT
After a dominant weekend against Union in the circle, Kelsey Sweatt has been named the GSC Pitcher of the Week. This is the third time this season Sweatt has earned the weekly conference honor, having also done so on February 2 and February 16. 
 
The Jacksonville, Florida, native posted a 1.62 ERA over 13 innings against the Lady Bulldogs on the road. She struck out 20 batters and held opponents to a .191 batting average in the series. Sweatt earned the win in both Game 2 and Game 3 of the series, striking out 12 on Friday in the second half of a doubleheader.
 
Those 12 strikeouts were the second-most in her career, nearly matching the 13 she had against West Georgia in March 2020, and it was the fifth time in her UWF career that she has had double-digit strikeouts in a game.
 
Sweatt pushed her way near the top of the GSC leaderboards in several categories with her big weekend. She is now third in wins (9), fourth in strikeouts (74), sixth in innings pitched (77.0), and eighth in opponent batting average (.213).
 
JACQUELYNNE POLING, SO CLUTCH
Senior catcher Jacquelynne Poling has been on a tear since mid-March, hitting .342 and slugging .868 with team highs in home runs (6) and RBIs (16) over the last 14 games. She has also raised her batting average by 53 points in that time.
 
A few of those six home runs, especially, have been critical for UWF. Her first, against Spring Hill on March 9, gave UWF an important insurance run in a 2-0 win, and her next ended up being the game-winner against Auburn Montgomery on March 12. Her latest round-tripper was the game-winner against Union last Saturday, capping off a comeback win where UWF was down 5-0 after an inning.
 
EVERYTHING SCHOOL
As it often is, this spring is a great time to be an Argonaut -- all six teams in action for UWF are ranked in their respective national polls. Joining the softball program at No. 21 nationally are the UWF Baseball team at No. 14, Men's Golf at No. 2, Women's Golf at No. 13, Men's Tennis at No. 4, and Women's Tennis at No. 6.
 
Not surprisingly, UWF is the only school in the country with all six of those spring sports teams ranked in their respective national polls.