Florida Gators: Softball preparing for tough weekend slate

The undefeated No. 1 ranked Florida Gators softball team will take its 17-0 record on the road to California this weekend for a huge tournament in San Diego that will pit the Gators against several top-notch teams.

No. 2 ranked Oregon, Cal. Poly, San Diego and San Diego State will participate in this weekend’s tournament with hopes of knocking off the undefeated Florida Gators.

Here’s this weekend’s schedule of games:

No. 1 Florida vs. No. 2 Oregon on Friday at 2:30 eastern

No. 1 Florida vs. Cal Poly on Friday at 5:00

No. 1 Florida vs. UC Davis on Saturday at noon

No. 1 Florida vs. San Diego on Saturday at 5

No. 1 Florida vs. San Diego State on Sunday at 2:30

 

That’s a look at this weekend’s game but let’s dig a little deeper into this weekend’s opponents in our scouting report.

 

Scouting the Oregon Ducks:

Oregon comes into this weekend as the No. 2 ranked team in America with a 14-1 record on the year. No. 7 ranked Baylor were the Ducks only loss on the season as Oregon fell 2-1 to Baylor last Sunday. Oregon comes into this weekend’s action hitting .378 as a team and has already hit 18 home runs and stolen 36 bases.

In the circle Oregon is led by left hander Cheridan Hawkins who has given up just two earned runs through 34.2 innings pitched this year.

Florida owns a 7-2 all-time record against Oregon and the Gators defeated the Ducks in last year’s WCWS 4-0.

 

Scouting the San Diego State Aztecs:

The Aztecs will bring a 8-6 record into this weekend’s play but they have lost close games against No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 9 Kentucky and against No. 14 LSU, so tough competition is something the Aztecs aren’t scared of.

San Diego state is led by Lorena Bauer at the plate who is hitting .270 on the year with 12 RBI’s and two home runs. As a team SDSU is hitting .280 on the year.

In the circle SDSU will be led by Erica Romero who brings in an ERA of 3.91 on the year and has pitched 62.2 innings already this year and has struck out 37 batters but has given up 28 walks on the year.

 

Scouting San Diego Toreros:

San Diego who is hosting this tournament with San Diego State will start this weekend’s action with an 8-7 record but they are coming off a walk-off win against Cal-State Fullerton on Wednesday.

At the plate the Toreros are led by Kaley Hill who is hitting .333 on the year with 3 home runs and 11 RBI’s while striking out just 6 times in 33 plate appearances.

Danielle Mayridis leads San Diego with a .453 on base percentage while hitting .310 at the plate with a home run and 5 RBI’s on the season.

In the circle San Diego will rely on Paige Von Sprecken who is 7-1 on the year with six complete games and a 2.03 ERA while striking out 44 hitters to just 16 walks.

Grace Hernandez is the number 2 pitcher for San Diego but she has a high 3.78 ERA and is just 1-3 on the year.

 

Scouting Cal Poly Mustangs:

Cal Poly enters the weekend with a 7-8 record and has never faced the Gators. The Mustangs will face the Gators with seven freshmen who see playing time.

The Mustangs are led at the plate by sophomore Courtney Tyler, who is hitting .417 on the season with a .569 on base percentage, and has hit safely in 11 of the 15 games she has played in this season.

Amanda Sandoval is the Mustange best power hitter with a .478 slugging percentage and four home runs this season and has scored 10 times, while putting up a team 22 total bases so far.

In the circle Sierra Hyland is coming off of being named Big West pitcher of the week with a 6-4 record in 69.1 innings pitched and has just a 1.92 ERA so far this season.

 

Scouting UC Davis Aggies:

With a 4-8 record UC Davis will come into this weekend’s tournament as a major underdog against most everyone they will face but they faced some stiff competition this year.

Speed has been the key for UC Davis and Christian Guidry and Alexis Carney are leading the charge as both have five stolen bases this year and as a team UC Davis has 17.

On the year the Aggies are hitting .257 with 8 home runs 39 RBI’s and just 37 strikeouts through 12 games.

In the circle UC Davis is led by Justine Vela who has a 2.86 ERA and is allowing a 2.55 batting average against her so far this season.

 

Leaders for the Gators:

Freshman Kayli Kvistad who was the SEC freshman of the week last week is hitting .423 with 4 home runs and 17 RBI’s.

Senior Lauren Haeger is getting it done in the circle and at the plate. At the plate Haeger is hitting a cool .400 with 6 home runs and 24 RBI’s. In the circle she is 8-0 with a 0.34 ERA and has struck out 61 batters so far.

Freshman Aleshia Ocasio has been the surprise for the Gators so far in the circle with her 5-0 record and four complete games so far this season. Ocasio has a 0.79 ERA on the year and has been very calm in pressure situations.

 

Stay tuned to GatorCountry.com all weekend for updates on the Gators softball team.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.

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