PENSACOLA, Fla. --- After defeating a previously ranked top-10 Rollins team in a two-game series followed by an 8-3 win against Spring Hill, the University of West Florida baseball team finds themselves in good position to take on their final Sunshine State Conference opponent in regular season.
 
UWF remains home and will take on Florida Tech at Jim Spooner Field on Friday (Feb. 17) at 5 p.m. and Saturday (Feb. 18) for a doubleheader at Noon and 3 p.m.
 
Tickets for chairbacks are $10, general admission is $7 and students, seniors and military are $5.

About the Argonauts
* UWF is on a five-game winning streak and is 5-1 on the season after taking on three opponents in non-conference matchups. UWF swept the doubleheader against Rollins Sunday afternoon in a 6-3 win followed by a 5-4 win that was forced into extra innings.
* The team then faced Spring Hill for their first mid-week season game and finished in an 8-3 takedown against the Badgers.
* UWF went 22-24 in 2022 and finished seventh in the Gulf South Conference at 15-13.
* The Argos return eight starts and have added 12 transfers to the list.   

We're Going Polling
* The first regional and national poll has been announced by NCBWA … UWF is ranked No. 20 nationally and ranked No. 3 in the South Region poll. In the south, Tampa takes the 1-seed with a current 4-2 record followed by GSC opponent Montevallo with the 2-seed on 5-1 record … Out of the GSC in the national top-25 poll, Montevallo ranks No. 12 and Valdosta is receiving votes.
* UWF was picked sixth in the Gulf South Conference Preseason Coaches Poll along with two preseason all-conference selections that was announced Jan. 26.
* The Collegiate Baseball Newspaper released their preseason top-40 and UWF was receiving votes among the list. The poll, voted on by the coaches of each of the eight NCAA Division II regions, features 40 teams during the preseason poll and necks down to 30 during the regular season.

A Look Back in Wins Against Rollins and Spring Hill
Vs. Rollins Game 1 and 2
* The two-game series sweep against Rollins was the first since 2018 and was the Tars first two losses on the season.
* Trent Jeffcoat and Darrien McDowell led the team with three hits each in the doubleheader and McDowell hit a solo home run in each game.
* Preston Moore leads the team with a .357 hitting average. He had a hit in each game along with three total RBI. He hit a double in the fourth inning of game one to send two Argos runners in.
* Jadon Fryman had two hits, three runs, two RBI in six AB and hits .316 … Fryman had the walk-off single that sent Jeffcoat home in game two to take the 5-4 win.
Vs. Spring Hill
* UWF scored in four straight innings … Grabsky, McDowell and Moore had two hits apiece throughout the game.
* Catcher Mike Scordo earned his first RBI of the season after hitting his first double that allowed Moore to score … Five Argo players scored a run with Fryman earing three.   

UWF's Week Rotation
* UWF continues with the weekend rotation that has shown success so far. Expect to see three right-handed sophomores start on the mound for this weekend's matchups. All pitchers set to start are 1-0 on the season.
* On Friday, Dalton Neuschwander will be the starting pitcher. After a strong opening season performance against Florida Southern (Feb. 4), he received a no decision in the 3-2 loss but was named GSC and NCBWA South Region Pitcher of the Week. Neuschwander earned his first win after a 7-inning performance to uplift the team in a 6-3 win over Rollins. He tallied six strikeouts and allowed two runs on four hits. The transfer from Coastal Alabama South had 15 appearances with nine starts. He went 4-2 with two saves and a 5.84 ERA over 37 innings pitched.
* Kade Manderscheid will open game one on Saturday. In two starts, he pitched 5.1 innings in each game. He earned the win after a close 2-1 score in opening weekend against Florida Southern (Feb. 5). The following weekend against Rollins (Feb. 12), he finished with six strikeouts and has a current ERA of 3.37. With Polk State last year, Mandersheid had 19 appearances last year and ended 5-3. In 44 innings pitched, he had 49 strikeouts and had a 3.27 ERA.
* Starting pitcher for game two on Saturday will be Major Posey. Posey had a no-hitter in his intentional 2.0 IP against Spring Hill (Feb. 14). He had two strikeouts and was awarded his first win on the season. He has pitched a total of 7.0 innings and holds his opponents to a .280 batting average. He began his career at UCF then played at Polk State last year. With them, he went 5-5 in 16 appearances and 12 starts. He ended the season with 56 strikeouts in 59.1 innings pitched. He received a no decision last week in the 7-6 win over FSC to take the series. Adding a strikeout to his name, he pitched 4.0 innings and faced 19 batters.

About Florida Tech
* Florida Tech was chosen to finish seventh in the SSC Preseason Poll.
* Panthers are 5-3 on the season. They opened the season with a 4-1 loss to Rollins (Feb. 1) followed by a three game series against Wingate that occurred Feb. 2-Feb. 4. The Panthers won the series 2-1. They won game one, 10-4, and game three, 4-3, with a loss 3-7 loss in game two.
* They have played GSC opponent Valdosta State twice and split 1-1. They are on a three-game winning streak with their last game being an 11-8 win over Flagler after a walk-off home run.
* Shortstop Gabe Garrett is hitting a .389 average and leads with 14 hits a double, and five RBI on 36 at bats. Garrett has scored 13 runs in eight game starts.
* Sophomores Jason Blackstone and Austin Sewell have earned five runs and two RBI apiece along with hitting .333 average. They combine for a total of 17 runs … Sewell leads the Panthers will three doubles on the season so far.
* Pitchers Dylan Cleveland, Sean Means and Mitch Harding have recorded 10 IP. In two starts and two appearances, Cleveland is 1-1, Harding is 0-1 and Means is 0-0. Harding and Means combine for 14 strikeouts and each pitch a 3.60 ERA.

UWF vs. Florida Tech History
* Since being under head coach Mike Jeffcoat in 2005, UWF and Florida Tech have competed against each other twice and are 1-1 in history.
* Florida Tech took the first win 13-4 against the in the 2010 season. UWF won round two in 2013, 9-3.
* The teams were set to play a three-games series in 2020 but was cancelled due to COVID-19.
 
 
For more information about the team, visit GoArgos.com or follow the program @UWF_Baseball on Instagram and Twitter.