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PENSACOLA, Fla. – Gulf South Conference action starts on Saturday, when the 21st-ranked University of West Florida softball team welcomes West Georgia to the UWF Softball Complex. The series starts with a 1 pm doubleheader on Saturday, before the 1 pm series finale on Sunday.
 
Fans can follow along with a live broadcasts of all games and live stats, which can be found at the links above or at GoArgos.com/Softball.
 
For all information on the team, follow @UWFSoftball on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEK
It was a good weekend in Cocoa for UWF, as the team went 3-1 with wings over Bentley and South Region opponents Barry and Florida Tech.
 
Teala Howard and Madelyn Vasquez led UWF with five hits apiece over the weekend, while Kelsey Hodges led the team with six RBIs. Additionally, Vasquez and Jessica Ford hit the first two home runs of the season for West Florida on Sunday.
 
Jeya Prasad and Kelsey Sweatt combined for a 2.00 ERA over the weekend, holding opponents to a .180 batting average.
 
ABOUT WEST GEORGIA
West Georgia has become one of West Florida's biggest rivals over the last few seasons. UWF holds a 75-19 all-time record against the Wolves but is 9-4 since 2017. The last time the teams met up, West Georgia took a 5-3 extra-innings win in the first round of the 2021 GSC Championship. West Florida beat UWG in the 2019 conference tournament to win the GSC Championship that season.
 
At 4-5 on the year, West Georgia will bring a good mix of new faces and veterans to the UWF Softball Complex this weekend. Hannah Scarbrough, Alley Taylor, and 2021 All-GSC selection Kristyn Nix return to the lineup, but no pitchers who have thrown for UWG have ever faced West Florida.
The Wolves rank fourth in the GSC in batting average (.274), third in hits and home runs, fourth in slugging, and second in total stolen bases this year.
 
A MADELYN VASQUEZ BREAKOUT
Sophomore Madelyn Vasquez broke out over the weekend, hitting .385 at the Florida Tech Invitational. She led the team in slugging at .769, doubles (2), hits (5), runs (3), and total bases (10) on Saturday and Sunday.
 
The Milton, Florida, native had at least one hit in each of the team's four games last weekend and had multiple RBIs against Bentley and Barry. She doubled in each game against Bentley and No. 8 Saint Anselm and hit her first career home run -- a first-inning, two-run shot to center field -- against Barry on Sunday.
 
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK JEYA PRASAD
Jeya Prasad was named the Gulf South Conference Softball Freshman of the Week, announced by the league on Tuesday.
 
The Pensacola native posted a 1.68 ERA over 16.2 innings of work, with 13 strikeouts at the Florida Tech Invitational. She held opponents to a .123 batting average and went 2-0 over the weekend, with a dominant start against Bentley on Saturday, and a near-perfect relief outing against Florida Tech on Sunday afternoon.
 
Prasad ranks third in the GSC in strikeouts (24), second in opponent batting average (.158), and seventh in ERA (2.13).
 
THE CLASS OF THE GSC
With a 54-16 conference record since 2019, West Florida holds the best winning percentage (.771) in league play among all Gulf South Conference teams. The team's 54 conference wins -- as well as their 109 total wins -- since 2019 are the most in the GSC.
 
Teala Howard is a .449 career hitter in GSC play, and Kelsey Sweatt holds a 25-3 career record with a 2.48 ERA against the conference.
 
ARGOS AT HOME
Put simply, UWF likes playing at home. The Argonauts are 92-18 (.836 winning percentage) at the UWF Softball Complex since 2017.
 
Teala Howard is a career .502 hitter at The Fork, with 112 hits at home, and Kelsey Sweatt and Montana Young have been excellent in their home circle. Young posted a 1.32 ERA over 53.0 innings at home last season, striking out 54 batters against just 5 walks, and Sweatt has a 22-4 all-time record at the UWF Softball Complex, with a 2.18 ERA and 164 strikeouts.