NOTES
Columbus State: STATS | VIDEO
Montevallo: STATS | VIDEO
 
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida softball team will start a seven-game road swing on Wednesday, beginning with a doubleheader against Columbus State followed by a weekend series at Montevallo.
 
West Florida is 18-7 overall and stands in second place in the Gulf South Conference with a 12-3 conference record.
 
First pitch for the Wednesday doubleheader at Columbus State is scheduled for 1 pm ET.
 
The Saturday doubleheader at Montevallo will begin at 2 pm, and the series finale on Sunday is scheduled to start at noon.
 
Fans can follow all five games this week through live stats and live video broadcasts. The links for each are above and can be found at GoArgos.com.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEK
It was a rough weekend for UWF against AUM, but the Argonauts still stand in second place in the Gulf South Conference with a 12-3 record in the league. Teala Howard and Erin Moon led the team with a .333 batting average over the weekend, and Howard's four base hits were a team-best.
 
ABOUT COLUMBUS STATE
Columbus State comes into Wednesday's doubleheader with a 16-14 record, having played one of the toughest schedules in the country. Holding a 7-2 record in the Peach Belt Conference, CSU took two out of three games in a series against North Georgia, but has had mixed results outside of conference play.
 
Hannah Rose Corbin has been an outstanding two-way player for the Cougars. She leads the team in batting (.382), doubles (9), slugging (.697), and on-base percentage (.561), and she's added also five home runs. In the circle, she has a 2.77 ERA with 118 strikeouts in 108.2 innings pitched.
 
Morgan Elston leads the team with nine home runs, and Caitlyn Canady ranks second on the team with a .327 batting average.
 
West Florida leads the all-time series 7-3 and has won five matchups in a row. UWF won the last meeting 7-1, in April 2021. The teams had not played each other since 2017 before that game.
 
ABOUT MONTEVALLO
Montevallo started the season around .500 but has heated up lately. Following a tough stretch against Alabama Huntsville and Valdosta State, the Falcons won 10 out of 11 games, against Shorter, Union, Christian Brothers, and Georgia Southwestern. The team ranks fourth in the GSC standings with a 9-4 Gulf South Conference record.
 
Without question, third baseman Sierra Easterwood has been one of the best hitters in the country this year. Through the halfway point of the season, Easterwood leads the GSC in slugging (.904), OPS (1.359), home runs (11), total bases (85), and runs scored (31), while ranking second in the conference in RBIs (30), despite hitting in the leadoff spot.
 
Lauren Hamby leads Montevallo in batting, at .407, and the Falcons have hit 31 home runs -- good for second-most in the conference. Kaylee Hawkins, Mychael McMillan, and Mabry Norris have split time in the circle, combining for a 5.09 ERA.
 
Since Montevallo rejoined the GSC in 2016, UWF leads the series 9-6.
 
IT'S A ROAD TRIP
West Florida will play its next seven games on the road, following a short, three-game homestand that came after eight consecutive road contests.
 
The Argonauts are 7-1 on the road this year, and the stats have been impressive. Kayla Mayo has hit a team-best .429 on the road, and Teala Howard and Madelyn Vasquez have stood out as well. Howard leads the team in hits (14) and steals (8) in road games, and Vasquez has slugged a very impressive 1.167 in eight road games, with three doubles, five home runs, and 12 RBIs.
 
AN OUTSTANDING STAFF
UWF's pitching trio -- Jeya Prasad, Kelsey Sweatt, and Montana Young -- has been arguably the best in the conference this season. Prasad leads the GSC in opponent batting average (.153) and is second in ERA (1.65), and Young is 10th in opponent batting average (.242) and fifth in ERA (2.47). And Kelsey Sweatt has continued an outstanding career, ranking sixth in the conference in opponent batting average (.217), second in strikeouts (80), sixth in wins (8), and 14th in ERA (3.29).
 
Those numbers have helped put Sweatt in the UWF record book. The senior ranks third in UWF history in hits allowed per seven innings and strikeouts per seven innings, and she is seventh in career strikeouts.
 
UWF is the only team in the league to have three pitchers with at least five wins, and one of two teams to have three of the top 10 pitchers in opponent batting average.
 
TEALA AND THE RECORD BOOKS
Teala Howard has continued her climb in the UWF record book. The senior utility player holds the GSC and UWF all-time batting average record, at .457, and she ranks among the top 10 in UWF history in several other categories.
 
Howard is also fifth in career slugging percentage at UWF (.593) and is second in career stolen bases (121). A little farther down the list, Howard ranks fifth in program history in hits (259), seventh in runs (179), and eighth in total bases (336).
 
This season, Howard leads the GSC in batting average, hits, and stolen bases, and she's led the conference in hits and batting average in each of her three seasons.
 
And keep in mind – Howard has done this about three years, having lost half of her sophomore season due to the COVID-19 outbreak.