Preview – Softball Hosts West Florida

WHO
West Alabama hosts the University of West Florida Argonauts for the 2020 season home opener.

WHERE
The UWA Softball Complex on the campus of the University of West Alabama.

WHEN
Action set to start Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader with first pitch at 2 p.m. and concludes Sunday with a single game at 1 p.m.

HISTORY
The Tigers and Argos have met 87 times before the weekend and UWF holds a 68-19 edge all-time. West Florida swept a close three-game series down in Pensacola, Florida last season and won a matchup on the second day of the GSC Championship Tournament 5-0 against the Tigers also in Pensacola.

LIVE VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/user/UWAAthletics

LIVE STATS
http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=weal

WEST ALABAMA
UWA enters the weekend 4-8 on the season. The team went 1-2 last weekend to open GSC play against Mississippi College.

WEST FLORIDA
The Argos are 7-5 to start the season with a 1-2 mark in the conference after dropping the first conference series of the year to Montevallo. As a result, UWF fell out of the latest NFCA rankings.

COACHES
Carie Dever-Boaz is 75-92. (.449) in her 4th season as head coach of UWA Softball, 315-366-1 (.461) in 26 seasons as a collegiate head coach. Ashliegh McLean is 61-17 (.782) in her 2nd season as a head coach, all at West Florida.

DOWNTON ABBY
Off to a nice start in this piece of the early 2020 schedule, senior infielder Abby McKee has made the most of her 17 at-bats this season by posting a .412 batting average with seven hits, two runs scored, a walk and a stolen base to her credit. She is first among the team in qualifying players with a .444 on base percentage and second with a .444 on base percentage.

SO EXTRA
Kierra Hague leads the Tigers in extra base hits so far with four doubles and a home run. This has also helped the senior outfielder lead her team with 14 total bases and a .483 slugging percentage. The native of Holland, Ohio has also drawn a team leading six walks and has added four runs, three RBIs, two walks and two stolen bases.

SLOW-ISH START
Returning a solid amount of the major pieces from last year's team that reached the NCAA Champion Tournament, one would expect West Florida to be humming to a monstrous start. However, with four of the top six RBI makes from the 2019 squad gone UWF is off to an 8-5 start and 1-2 in conference play while trying to find answers from younger players. So far, Grace Gilbert has stepped up with 18 RBIs which is the best in the GSC entering the weekend. No other Argo is in double digit RBIs.

UWF STATISTICAL LEADERS

Player	Position	G-GS	Avg.	HR	RBIs	K	BB	SB-Att.
Grace Gilbert	P/OF	13-13	.422	1	18	6	2	4-5
Teala Howard	OF	13-13	.413	1	7	1	2	7-8
Jacquelynne Poling	C/1B	13-12	.286	1	6	5	6	0-0

Player	L-R	App-GS	W-L	ERA	IP	K	BB	S
Grace Gilbert	RHP	6-6	3-3	1.77	35.2	19	8	0
Megan Warhurst	LHP	5-2	2-1	2.14	19.2	12	16	2
Kelsey Sweatt	RHP	9-5	3-1	2.81	32.1	32	32	2

UWA STATISTICAL LEADERS

Player	Position	G-GS	Avg.	HR	RBIs	K	BB	SB-Att.
Abby McKee	2B	9-3	.412	0	0	3	1	1-1
Cassie Matlock	OF	12-9	.345	0	5	4	2	1-2
Hayes Fulford	OF/DP	12-11	.314	0	6	7	2	3-3

Player	L-R	App-GS	W-L	ERA	IP	K	BB	S
Kamree Lay	RHP	11-5	1-1	3.03	34.2	21	7	1
Haley Thorpe	RHP	7-3	1-2	3.32	12.2	5	16	0
Caleigh Wallace	RHP	9-4	2-5	5.15	30.0	7	9	0

UP NEXT
UWA will travel to Alabama Huntsville to face the Chargers in Gulf Couth Conference play at Charger Park on Feb. 28-29.

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Players Mentioned

#23 Hayes Fulford: 3B/SS; 5' 6"; Senior; R/R

#2 Kierra Hague: OF/C; 5' 8"; Senior; R/R

#1 Kamree Lay: RHP; 5' 4"; Junior; R/R

#3 Abby McKee: IF; 5' 4"; Senior; L/L

#14 Haley Thorpe: OF; 5' 11"; Redshirt Sophomore; R/R

#24 Caleigh Wallace: P/OF; 5' 8"; Junior; R/R

#7 Cassie Matlock: OF; 5' 9"; Junior; L/R

Players Mentioned

#23 Hayes Fulford
: 5' 6"; Senior; R/R
: 3B/SS

#2 Kierra Hague
: 5' 8"; Senior; R/R
: OF/C

#1 Kamree Lay
: 5' 4"; Junior; R/R
: RHP

#3 Abby McKee
: 5' 4"; Senior; L/L
: IF

#14 Haley Thorpe
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Sophomore; R/R
: OF

#24 Caleigh Wallace
: 5' 8"; Junior; R/R
: P/OF

#7 Cassie Matlock
: 5' 9"; Junior; L/R
: OF