Three Gators earn SEC weekly awards

Special to GC

Birmingham, Ala. - After a 4-0 week when the Gators completed a season sweep of No. 10 Florida State and won all three games of a series against No. 25 Texas A&M, three members of the top-ranked University of Florida softball team received recognition from the Southeastern Conference on Monday. Junior Kelsey Stewart<http://www.gatorzone.com/softball/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=61> earned the Player of the Week award, senior Lauren Haeger<http://www.gatorzone.com/softball/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=57> was named Co-Pitcher of the Week, and infielder Nicole DeWitt<http://www.gatorzone.com/softball/bios.php?year=2015&player_id=72> garnered Co-Freshman of the Week honors.



Stewart receives her third career SEC Player of the Week selection and her first since April 2013 after she batted .600 (9x15) with six runs scored, two doubles, a triple, two RBI and a stolen base. This marks Florida's first conference Player of the Week honor since Stephanie Tofft received the accolade in Week 11 of the 2014 campaign.



Haeger collects her third league pitching award this season (also: Weeks 2 and 10) following a week in which she earned three wins and pitched two complete games, compiling a 1.65 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 17.0 innings pitched. In addition, the Arizona native hit her 67th career home run on Saturday to extend her school and SEC records and posted two three-RBI games.



DeWitt hauls in her second SEC Freshman of the Week accolade (also: Week 10) to mark Florida's fourth such selection in 2015 (also: Kayli Kvistad, Week 3; Aleshia Ocasio, Week 4). The Garden Grove, Calif., native batted .636 (7x11) during the Gators' four games, scoring and driving in four runs while knocking a double and stealing a base.



Stewart's Highlights
*Tied her career high (accomplished five other times) when she recorded her second four-hit game of the year on Friday. Stewart has both of the Gators' four-hit games this year.
*Posted her fourth three-hit game of the year on Sunday to tie for the team lead.
*Extended her school record with her 24th career triple on Sunday.
*Stole a base to extend her school career record to 93.
*Leads the SEC with 79 hits and eight triples this season.

*In conference games only, paces the league with a .548 batting average (64 points ahead of the No. 2 hitter), 40 hits and five triples.



Haeger's Highlights
*Ran her record to 23-0, setting a school record for the longest winning streak to begin a season.
*Haeger's 23-decision win streak is believed to be the second-longest season-opening run in SEC history (Traina-UA, 26-0, 2012).
*Earned three wins over ranked opponents, giving her nine such victories on the season.
*In 11 appearances (eight starts) against ranked teams, has compiled a 1.91 ERA with 46 strikeouts.
*Won Game 1 of the series against the Aggies, representing her (and the Gators') seventh consecutive win to open a series. UF has not lost a Game 1 this season.
*Ranks among league leaders in ERA (first), opposing batting average (fourth, .184), innings pitched (T-8th), strikeouts (fourth) and wins (third).
*Is tied for second in the SEC with nine wins in conference play.

DeWitt's Highlights
*Has six multi-hit games in her last 11 contests, including a trio of three-hit games during that span.
*Is tied for the team lead with four three-hit games on the season.
*Holds a .391 average with five doubles, a home run, 11 RBI, nine runs scored and a stolen base in 20 games against ranked teams.
*Only two Gator freshmen have finished a season with a higher average (min. 100 at-bats) than her .347 clip.


No. 1 Florida will conclude the regular season with a three-game series at No. 15 Missouri beginning Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Gators-Tigers opener will be streamed live on SEC Network+ via WatchESPN through participating television providers only, while Florida Sports Talk will have the radio broadcast.
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.