Florida Gators softball preview for the Citrus Classic

The No. 3 ranked Florida Gators softball team suffered their first loss of the season last weekend but still won the Aquafina Invitational Tournament.

The Gators take their 10-1 record into another weekend tournament this time it’s the Citrus Classic in Orlando, Florida at Disney’s Wide World of Sports.

This weekend the Gators will play five games in three days against five different teams in Gainesville. Despite none of them being ranked, the Gators competition will still be tough.

Joining Florida in Orlando will be Syracuse, Fordham, Liberty, Elon and Lehigh and the Gators take on all five of them.

Here’s the schedule for this weekend’s game.

  • #3 Florida vs. Syracuse on Friday at 1:15 P.M
  • #3 Florida vs. Fordham on Friday at 3:30 P.M
  • #3 Florida vs. Liberty on Saturday at 11:00 A.M
  • #3 Florida vs. Elon on Saturday at 1:15 P.M
  • #3 Florida vs. Lehigh on Sunday at 9:30 A.M.

That’s a look at this weekend’s games, but let’s dig a little deeper into this weekend’s opponents in our scouting report. Here’s a quick scouting report on the Florida Gators softball team as well.

 

Scouting the Florida Gators:

Florida struggled a little bit in last weekend’s tournament not only at the plate but in the circle. The Gators are looking for some players to step up in the bottom half of the line-up as well as the Gators veteran pitchers in the circle.

At the plate Florida is being led by Kayli Kvistad who is hitting .500 on the year and has also drawn 14 walks. Kvistad has nine RBI’s, one home run and three doubles.

Freshman Jaimie Hoover is leading the charge to be the five-hole hitter this year and she’s hitting .333 on the year. Hoover has two grand slams already on the year and has added a triple to her stat line.

In the circle sophomore Kelly Barnhill is the reigning SEC pitcher of the week and she’s a perfect 4-0 on the year heading into this weekend. Barnhill has a 0.25 ERA and two complete games. The Gators are looking for Delanie Gourley and Aleshia Ocasio to rebound from a bad weekend last weekend. Ocasio has a uncharacteristic 1.62 ERA after spending much of later year under the 1.00 ERA number.

 

Scouting the Syracuse Orangemen:

Syracuse enters the weekend with a 6-3 record on the year and two of those losses came at the hands of no.12 ranked Georgia on the road in Athens.

Leading Syracuse at the plate is Bryce Holmgren who is hitting .500 on the year with three doubles. Holmgreen has added one home run and seven RBI’s on the year.

Sydney O’Hara is also having a good year and is hitting .360 on the year with two triples. O’Hara has added two doubles to her stat line and has six walks on the year.

In the circle Alexa Romero is 3-1 on the year with a 1.70 ERA in 24.2 innings pitched. O’Hara not only hits for the Orangemen but she has appeared in all five games this year. O’Hara has struck out 23 hitters in 13.2 innings pitched.

Florida leads the all-time series 2-0 against Syracuse.

Scouting the Fordham Rams:

Fordham enters the weekend with a 7-3 record including a win over no. 21 Baylor but they lost to no. 10 Arizona on the road as well.

Leading the Rams at the plate is Madison Shaw who was named Atlantic 10 player of the week this week. Shaw is hitting .444 on the year with one home run and six RBI’s.

Jessica Hughes is providing the power for the Rams as she has four home runs and eight RBI’s on the year. Hughes is hitting .391 this year.

Much like Shaw, pitcher Lauren Quense picked up a weekly honor this week as she was named pitcher of the week for the Atlantic 10. Quense threw a no-hitter last week and is now 6-0 on the year with a 1.11 ERA.

Florida leads the all-time series 2-0 against Fordham.

 

Scouting the Liberty Flames:

Liberty enters this weekend’s tournament with a 5-4 record after starting the year 5-0 the opening weekend.

At the plate Liberty is led by Amber Bishop who is hitting .483 on the year with two doubles. Bishop has also added two home runs and 12 RBI’s so far this year.

In the circle Chase Cassady is part of the Liberty duo that carries the load for them this year. Cassady is 2-3 in six appearances with a 3.41 ERA and two completes games.

Elizabeth Engler has appeared in five gams this year and has a 4.20 ERA this year. Engler has one complete game but has walked 11 batters in 18.1 innings pitched.

Florida beat Liberty in the only meeting between the two schools.

Scouting the Elon Phoenix:

Elon enters the year with a 7-2 record with its only loss being to a good North Carolina team on the road.

At the plate Elon is led by Carey Milton who is hitting .409 on the year in eight starts. Milton has two home runs and 10 RBI’s and struck out just once.

Erica Serafini is hitting .385 on the year and she has totaled 16 total bases on the year. Serafini has one home run and nine RBI’s on the year.

In the circle Kenna Quinn is leading the team with a 3-0 record in six appearances. Quinn has a 1.36 ERA and has struck out 14 hitters in 25.2 innings pitched.

Florida beat Elon in the only meeting between the two schools.

 

Scouting the Lehigh Mountain Hawks:

Lehigh will begin its season this weekend in Orlando when they play five games in the Citrus Classic.

Florida leads Lehigh 1-0 in the only meeting between the two schools.

 

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.