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STATS | VIDEO
 
PENSACOLA, Fla. – West Florida will host No. 7 Valdosta State in a matchup between top-20 teams at the UWF Softball Complex on Saturday and Sunday. With two weeks left in the regular season, West Florida is in third place in the Gulf South Conference standings at 17-6 in the conference and 26-11 overall, while Valdosta State leads the GSC with a 20-3 GSC record and a 28-7 overall mark.
 
The series will consist of a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 pm and a single game on Sunday, also scheduled to start at 1 pm.
 
All games will feature live stats and a live video broadcast. Links for each can be found above or by visiting GoArgos.com.
 
It will be a busy weekend at the UWF Softball Complex. West Florida will host Military Appreciation Day on Saturday, and all military members get into the games free of charge. Sunday will mark Senior Day, as UWF highlights the careers of seniors Angela Agurkis, Teala Howard, Kelsey Sweatt, and Morgan Zettle.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEK
West Florida got back on track last week, going 4-0 against Spring Hill and Delta State. In a week where everything seemed to be clicking, the Argonauts hit .371, slugged .543, and stole 7 bases, and the pitching staff pitched to a 1.25 ERA.
 
The headline of the week was Kelsey Sweatt's no-hitter against Spring Hill on Wednesday, where she struck out eight batters over seven innings. And the two wins against DSU on Friday clinched a spot in the Gulf South Conference Tournament.
 
ABOUT VALDOSTA STATE
The Blazers from Valdosta State currently lead the GSC standings, at 20-3, with a 28-7 overall record this year. VSU most recently dropped a very close series with AUM. Valdosta State took Game 2 with a run-rule victory but fell in Game 1 and Game 3, both in extra innings.
 
Valdosta State ranks third in Division II with 63 home runs and sixth in slugging percentage, at .573. It's a deep lineup, with eight starters hitting .300 or better and seven players with six or more home runs this season.
 
VSU has also been sharp in the circle, led by Samantha Richards. Richards leads the GSC in ERA (1.65), innings pitched (152.2), strikeouts (218), and wins (21).
 
UWF has a 9-7 record in the last 16 matchups with VSU, dating back to 2017, and the Argonauts are an impressive 9-1 against the Lady Blazers at the UWF Softball Complex since 2016.
 
TEALA AND THE WATCH LIST
Senior third baseman Teala Howard has been named to the 2022 Schutt Sports/NFCA DII National Player & Pitcher of the Year Top 50 list, announced by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
 
This season, Howard leads the Gulf South Conference in stolen bases (28), ranks second in hits (59) and triples (4), fourth in batting average (.424), and eighth in runs (35). 
 
In 37 games this year, Howard has 20 multi-hit games, and she has at least one hit in 33 contests. That is just more of the same for Howard, who ranks second in GSC history in career batting average (.451). The Lake Butler, Florida, native also ranks second in UWF history and fifth in GSC history in stolen bases (129), while ranking third in program history in hits and fourth in runs.
 
And keep in mind – Howard has done this about three years, having lost half of her sophomore season due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
 
KELSEY SWEATT IS THE GSC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Kelsey Sweatt threw her second career no-hitter on Wednesday, in Game 1 of the doubleheader with Spring Hill. Sweatt also threw one against Hillsboro in 2021 and was a part of a combined no-hitter for the Argonauts in 2020, making her just the sixth pitcher in program history to play a part in at least three no-hitters in her career.
 
In all last week, Sweatt struck out 16 batters in 14 innings of work, holding opponents to a .152 batting average while going 2-0 in the circle.
 
This year, Sweatt ranks second in the GSC in strikeouts (113), fourth in wins (11), fifth in innings pitched (119.2), and sixth in opponent batting average (.218). She and Montana Young (10 wins) make UWF one of two teams in the conference to have two pitchers with at least 10 victories. Sweatt has had a career full of accolades at West Florida, earning first team All-GSC and All-South Region honors twice and ranking in the top six in UWF history in strikeouts, hits allowed per seven innings, and strikeouts per seven innings. 
 
JESSICA FORD'S OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
Jessica Ford kept up her blistering pace in Gulf South Conference play last week, hitting .500 with three doubles, a home run, and four runs scored. Her work in the series against Delta State went about as well as it could -- Ford went 5-6 with three doubles, a home run, and two walks, as she reached base 7 times in 8 trips to the plate.
 
Ford is now hitting .397 and slugging .795 in GSC play, with six home runs and nine doubles.
 
THIS SENIOR CLASS
West Florida will celebrate Senior Day on Sunday, before the series finale with Valdosta State. This year's class includes Angela Agurkis, Teala Howard, Kelsey Sweatt, and Morgan Zettle.
 
Over the last four seasons, this class has won 130 games and has a .763 winning percentage in GSC action -- both of which are good for second place among teams in the conference. The class also helped lead UWF to a conference championship, a South Region title, and a trip to the NCAA Championship in Denver in 2019.