The No. 2 ranked Florida Gators softball team didn’t have a midweek game this week after starting SEC play last weekend.
The Gators take their 22-1 record into their first road SEC series of the year after they swept Kentucky last weekend at home to start SEC play.
This weekend the Gators will take on the 10th ranked Georgia Bulldogs who enter with a 24-1record on the year.
Entering this weekend the SEC has 11 teams ranked in the top 25 out of the 13 teams that compete in softball.
How the teams have fared in conference play:
Both teams opened conference play last weekend with weekend sweeps. Florida opened up with a sweep of #23 Kentucky at home. Georgia opened by sweeping Arkansas at home last weekend.
In the batter’s box:
Junior Amanda Lorenz continues to lead the Gators at the plate with her .471 batting average this year. Lorenz has four home runs and a team leading 28 RBI’s on the year.
Senior Nicole DeWitt leads the Gators with her five home runs on the year and has driven in 18 runs this year. DeWitt is hitting .350 and scored 25 runs on the year.
Freshman Jordan Matthews has a solid first year in the Orange and Blue with her .345 batting average. Matthews has also hit three home runs and driven in 20runs on the year.
In the circle:
The Gators four man pitching staff supports a 0.59 ERA on the year including the nation’s second best ERA.
Junior Kelly Barnhill is third in the nation with her 0.20 ERA that has led her to a perfect 11-0 record. Barnhill has struck out 117 batters in 70.2 innings pitched. Barnhill also has four no-hitters under her belt this year including a perfect game.
Senior Aleshia Ocasio supports a 0.96 ERA on the year and is 9-1 on the year. Ocasio also has a save in her 51 innings pitched this year. The senior has struck out 61 batters this year and only walked three hitters.
Georgia scouting report:
Georgia has been led this year by good hitting and a .381 batting average on the year and that leads the SEC. Georgia also has the second best ERA in the SEC with 0.70 ERA
Cortni Emanuel leads Georgia with a .458 batting average and has scored 33 runs and has 38 hits on the year.
Justice Milz leads the Bulldogs with seven home runs on the year and 25 runs batted in while batting .441 on the year.
In the circle Kentucky mainly use a two man rotation and are led by Brittany Gray who is 11-0 on the year with seven complete games. Gray leads the nation with a 0.00 ERA on the year and has only given up one unearned run on the year.
Kylie Bass has appeared in 11 games and is 9-0 on the year in 48 innings and has struck out 53 batters while walking just 11.
Player to watch:
For Florida: The Gators will need both Kelly Barnhill and Aleshia Ocasio to be on their A games this weekend with a good hitting Georgia team lurking. Barnhill and Ocasio will need to hold Georgia down as the Bulldogs also have a solid pitching staff.
Here’s the schedule for this weekend’s game.
- #2 Florida vs. #10 Georgia on Friday at 6:00 P.M. on ESPN3
- #2 Florida vs. #10 Georgia on Saturday at 2:00 P.M on ESPN3
- #2 Florida vs. #10 Georgia on Sunday at 2:00 P.M on ESPN3