Spring Hill: STATS | VIDEO
Delta State: STATS | VIDEO ($)

GAME NOTES
 
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida softball team will start a five-game road swing on Wednesday that runs through the weekend. The Argonauts will make the trip to Mobile, Alabama, for a nonconference doubleheader with Spring Hill on Wednesday afternoon and will visit Delta State in Cleveland, Mississippi, over the weekend for a conference series.
 
West Florida is 22-11 and 15-6 in the Gulf South Conference, with three weeks of conference play remaining. UWF currently stands in third place in the GSC.
 
Live stats and live video broadcasts will be available for each of the five games during the week. Links for all can be found above or at GoArgos.com.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEK
West Florida fell in two out of three games against Alabama Huntsville over the weekend but maintained its position in the GSC standings. After a shaky Game 1, the Argonauts bounced back in Game 2 with some big, late offense to propel the team to a 7-3 win. A two-run home run from Madilynne Webb kickstarted the offense, which scored five runs in the sixth inning.
 
The series finale was a mixed bag. UWF got a strong start from Kelsey Sweatt, and Jeya Prasad and Montana Young each looked solid in relief. While the Argos led for much of the game, UAH was able to tally a pair of home runs in the seventh and eighth innings to take the series win.
 
Teala Howard led the team with four hits and a .400 batting average in the series, and she added three stolen bases to give her 25 on the season. Freshman Erin Moon continued her torrid pace at the plate, hitting .375 and leading UWF with three RBIs over the weekend.
 
In all, the UWF pitching staff held Alabama Huntsville to a .214 batting average in the series, though home runs would decide two games over the weekend.
 
SCOUTING SPRING HILL
Spring Hill enters the doubleheader at 22-11 overall and 16-3 in the SIAC with some mixed results against UWF's similar opponents. The Badgers dropped a game against West Georgia and Shorter in the season's opening weekend and beat Christian Brothers. SHC later took two games in a three-game set with Montevallo and dropped both ends of a doubleheader against Mississippi College before getting into conference play.
 
The numbers are impressive for Spring Hill. Paityn Desormeaux is hitting .414 with 12 doubles, Lindsey Mecom is batting .361 with some power, and four different Badgers hitters have double-digit stolen bases. Desormeaux also leads the pitching staff with a 1.34 ERA over 53.2 innings, and Alexandra Ballester has thrown to a 2.40 ERA in a team-best 101.1 innings.
 
UWF is 19-5 against Spring Hill since 2014.
 
SCOUTING DELTA STATE
Delta State certainly looks better than its 18-18 record and 8-11 conference mark coming into the week. The Lady Statesmen are hitting .299 as a team and slugging .443, ranking in the top half of the conference in both categories.
 
Outfielder Alana Walker has paced the team at the plate, hitting .405, while returners Taylor Picou and Kailyn Lofton are each hitting well above .300. Jenny Griggers leads the team with eight home runs, and an old face in a new place is Chrissy Tubbs – a transfer from West Alabama who is batting .343 with four home runs for DSU this season.
 
Lacey Coats leads DSU with 94 innings pitched and she holds an 8-8 record. The pitching numbers have not looked great for the Lady Statesmen, though Coats and Olivia Burns have turned in quality seasons before. The ERA for each pitcher has been elevated by a recent start – for Burns, it was her last time out against Mississippi College when she allowed eight earned runs over 5.1 innings, and Coats was charged with 10 earned runs in five innings against West Georgia last month. All of that is to say: Both pitchers are likely quite a bit better than their numbers.
 
West Florida is 29-11 against Delta State since 2006 and has won nine matchups in a row, dating back to 2018.
 
CHECK OUT ERIN MOON
Freshman catcher Erin Moon has turned in a great campaign already, ranking second on the team with a .347 batting average and slugging .442 with seven doubles. The rookie from Jacksonville, Florida, has been even better in conference play, slashing .387/.424/.500 in 19 games.
 
She continued her hot streak over the weekend, batting .375 against UAH with three RBIs and two runs scored.
 
And Moon has been strong behind the plate, as well. She is one of seven players in the GSC to have a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage and has thrown out base-stealers at the third-best rate in the conference, at 25 percent.
 
AROUND THE LEAGUE
West Florida is in good standing with three conference series left to go, holding a 15-6 record in the league. That puts UWF a few games ahead of Montevallo, who is in fourth with a 12-7 GSC mark.
 
The Argos rank near the top of the conference in several categories, and those high rankings come in all three phases of the game. West Florida leads the conference in opponent batting average (.209), is third in ERA (3.07), third in stolen bases (66), fourth in slugging percentage (.466), and fifth in home runs (31). Defensively, UWF ranks third in fielding percentage (.961) and stolen base allowed percentage (.774), and no team has allowed fewer steals than the Argonauts.
 
In the circle, Prasad, Sweatt, and Young make up the only trio in the conference to rank in the top seven in opponent batting average, and Sweatt and Young are one of just two pairs of teammates to each have at least 8 wins this year.
 
Teala Howard ranks second in the conference in several categories, including batting average (.423), hits (52), triples (4), and stolen bases (52), while Madelyn Vasquez is fourth in the league in home runs (9) and sixth in slugging (.688).