MONTEVALLO, Ala. — The University of Montevallo baseball team is wasting no time trying to make noise in the Gulf South Conference this season as the Falcons are set to host 19th-ranked University of West Florida Argonauts for a three-game, two-day series to begin conference play.
The series will begin on Friday, Feb. 14 at 2 p.m. CT after both schools agreed to move the start time up three hours because of a cold front expected to come through the area Friday night. The series will conclude on Saturday, Feb. 15 with a doubleheader that is slated to start at 12 p.m. CT.
QUICK HITTERS
- Khalid Collymore picked up his first Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Week honor as the Mississauga, Ontario, Canada native slashed .500/.571/1.104 in three games against Trevecca Nazarene University. He totaled eight bases on seven hits, scored five runs and recorded a 1.000 fielding percentage. In all three games against the Trojans, Collymore recorded 2-or-more hits.
- Montevallo enters the weekend conference series with two players having already driven in double-digit runs. Davis Lott heads into the weekend as the team's leader in home runs with two and runs batted in with 11. Ben Teel is on the second team with 10 runs batted in. Reed Latimer is knocking on the door with nine.
- In terms of GSC teams, Montevallo is one of only two teams with a team batting average of .300 or better. The Falcons, through six games, is hitting .312 (63-202), while Delta State, which has also played six games, is leading the league with a .359 (70-195) clip.
- Jake Morris (.667), Collymore (.529) and Asa Awbrey (.500) are 1-2-3 in batting average among GSC batters.
SCOUTING THE ARGONAUTS
- West Florida opened the season by dropping its first three games of the season to Florida Southern (5-0, 6-5, 15-6). The Argonauts turned it around the following weekend by taking two of three against Rollins (3-0, 0-2, 8-2).
- Trevor Payne and Matthew Estrada lead West Florida in the hit column as both players have seven hits each through UWF's six games this season. Brooks Mitchell paces the team with a .455 (5-11) batting average, though.
- Cullan O'Shea is the only Argonaut with a home run this season with Estrada leading the clubhouse with four runs batted in.
SERIES HISTORY
- Dating back to 2016, Montevallo has only beaten West Florida in Montevallo on two occasions when the Falcons took a doubleheader on April 21, 2018.
- The largest margin of victory for Montevallo since 2016 came in the second game of the 2018 doubleheader when UM won 13-5.
- West Florida is currently riding a three-game winning streak.
