The No. 2 ranked Florida Gators softball team went 3-1 last week and run ruled Bethune-Cookman on Wednesday night to start this week off on a high note.
The Gators take their 30-2 record on a long road trip to take number 24 ranked Arkansas.
This weekend the Gators will take on an Arkansas team that has improved tremendously and have a record of 22-9 this year.
Entering this weekend the SEC has 8 teams ranked in the top 25 with Ole Miss and Missouri are just outside of the top 25 this weekend.
How the teams have fared in conference play:
Florida comes in with 7-1 conference record after dropping the final game to a good Auburn team on Monday.
Arkansas enters this weekend with a 2-7 conference record but they have faced three top 25 ranked teams to start conference play.
In the batter’s box:
Junior Kayli Kvistad continues to pace the Gators at the plate and currently leads the nation with her 41 walks this year. Kvistad supports a .627 on base percentage and is hitting a cool .411 on the plate. Despite all the walks, Kvistad still has 26 RBI’s and three home runs.
Sophomore Amanda Lorenz has reached base in every game this year and in 50 straight games which has given her a .614 on base percentage. Lorenz is hitting .386 and has four home runs and 21 RBI’s this year.
Junior Nicole DeWitt is on fire right now and raised her batting average to .308 on the year and now has five home runs.
In the circle:
The Gators four man pitching staff supports a 0.78 ERA on the year including the nation’s leader in that category.
Sophomore Kelly Barnhill leads the nation with 0.20 ERA and is 11-0 on the year with two saves. Barnhill has struck out 138 batters in her 69.2 innings pitched this year.
Senior Delanie Gourley has been the ace this year and supports a 0.89 ERA and an 11-2 record. Gourley has eight complete games that include six shutouts.
Arkansas scouting report
Arkansas has been led this year by good hitting and a .320 batting average on the year. The Razorbacks have also hits the most home runs in the SEC this year with 37 on the year.
Nicole Schroeder is the team leader at the plate with her 12 home runs and 40 RBI’s on the year. Schroeder is hitting .407 on the year, which is also the best on the team.
Closely behind Schroeder in the power department is Tori Cooper who has six home runs and 26 RBI’s on the year. Cooper is hitting .333 on the year but has also struck out 20 times.
In the circle Arkansas mainly use a two man rotation and are led by Autumn Storms who has a 10-6 record on the year. Storms has a 1.53 ERA and has thrown eight complete games that includes one shutout.
Grace Moll is the second pitcher in the rotation and has a 3.07 ERA on the year that includes a 8-2 record and three complete games.
Player to watch:
For Florida: The Gators will need both Kelly Barnhill and Delanie Gourley to be on their game this weekend to keep Arkansas’ bats in check. Gourley has struggled with her command lately but did have a really good game against Auburn on Monday despite taking the loss after giving up just one run.
Here’s the schedule for this weekend’s game.
- #2 Florida vs. Arkansas on Friday at 7:00 P.M. on ESPN3
- #2 Florida vs. Arkansas on Saturday at 2:00 P.M on ESPN3
- #2 Florida vs. Arkansas on Sunday at 2:00 P.M on ESPN3