LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The 11th-ranked University of West Alabama baseball team returns to Gulf South Conference action, as UWA (23-9, 8-0) travels to Pensacola, Fla. on Saturday, Apr. 4 to face West Florida. The three-game series commences with a doubleheader beginning at 2:00 p.m. and concludes on Sunday with a single game, scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m.

The twinbill Saturday will be aired on WZNJ 106.5-FM and at athletics.uwa.edu with Sunday’s finale located on the internet. Access the series finale by clicking the UWA Baseball logo at www.MyWin98.com.

The Tigers head into the series looking to recover from a 7-6, 11 inning loss at Auburn Montgomery on Wednesday. UWA jumped out to a 5-2 lead through five innings, but three unanswered runs from the Senators sent the game into extra frames. AUM plated two runs on a double in the bottom of the 11th, after the Tigers took a 6-5 lead in the top of the inning, for the win. The loss snapped a 12-game win streak for UWA. The Tigers have swept each of its first three GSC East opponents, including three wins against Valdosta State and at Montevallo along with two wins in the weather shortened series versus UAH.

UWA seniors Rob Dahlberg and Nick Wheeler lead the offensive attack heading into the weekend. Dahlberg, a Gilbertown, Ala.-native, has posted a .441 batting average for the season and leads the team with 20 stolen bases. Wheeler, a product of Hokes Bluff, Ala., paces the Red and White with 41 RBI and 49 hits, while hitting at a .389 clip. Sophomore Kevin Deese is ranked second in the nation in homeruns with 14, three behind the nation leader Keith Towne of Angelo State. Mike Schmitt and Matt Hill are the catalyst on the bump for the Tigers. Schmitt, a Cheyenne, Wyo.-product, has pitched a team-leading 54 1/3 innings while compiling a 7-1 record with a 2.65 ERA. Hill holds a 5-2 record on the mound with a 3.83 ERA. The D’Iberville, Miss.-native has fanned a team-leading 43 opposing batters this season.

UWF is coming off a two-game sweep at North Georgia in a mid-week series. The Argonauts have won two of their three GSC series this year, taking two of three each from Montevallo and West Georgia at home and falling in two of three to North Alabama on the road.

As of the beginning of the week, Kevin Johnson and the UWF pitching staff have posted the best team ERA in the GSC East at 3.84.  Johnson, Kyle Ramsey, and Jon Sintes have combined for five of the seven GSC East Division Pitcher of the Week awards this season.  Reliever John Church leads the GSC in ERA at 1.41 and has struck out a team-high 65 batters in 51 innings, including a nine strikeout performance out of the bullpen on Wednesday.