GatorCountry.com brings you this week’s Florida Gators softball review as the Gators won four games last week. In this recap we will break down the past week’s games, plus name a player of the week from the past week.
The Gators played a midweek doubleheader before they went to Auburn to open up SEC play this past weekend. Florida lost its first game of the season, but still managed to win the series against Auburn.
Florida outscored its opponents this past weekend by a score of 36- 13 and the Gators are now 26-1 on the year.
Results:
- Florida defeated South Dakota 9-0 – winning pitcher Kelly Barnhill
- Florida defeated South Dakota 9-0- winning pitcher Delanie Gourley
- Florida defeated No. 3 Auburn 6-3- winning pitcher Aleshia Ocasio
- Florida defeated No. 3 Auburn 8-5 – winning pitcher Aleshia Ocasio
- Florida lost to No. 3 Auburn 5-4- losing pitcher Aleshia Ocaiso
Offensive leaders:
Senior Kirsti Merritt entered the week with no home runs but smacked four this week, including two in one game against South Dakota. The senior finished the week with 12 RBIs and eight runs scored from the two spot in the line-up.
Sophomore Kayli Kvistad continued her hot streak after hitting two home runs and driving in eight runs this week. Kvistad now has four home runs and 27 RBI’s this year.
Junior Justine McLean is often overlooked, but this past week she had nine hits and three RBIs while hitting in the eight hole. McLean also scored three runs this week.
Pitching:
Tim Walton and Florida Gators softball pitching coach Jennifer Rocha threw all three of the Gators pitchers again this past weekend.
Junior Delanie Gourley threw a no-hitter in the Gators 9-0 win over South Dakota on Wednesday marking his second career no-hitter. Gourley started games 1 and 3 against Auburn and left Monday’s game with the lead.
Sophomore Aleshia Ocasio picked up two wins against No. 3 Auburn, but picked up the loss on Monday night. Ocasio had some uncommon walks for her standards, but still had a solid series against the Tigers.
Freshman Kelly Barnhill struggled a little bit in her lone appearance against Auburn, as she went just three innings and allowed three home runs and four runs. Barnhill did pick up a win over South Dakota on Wednesday after going five shut out innings and striking out seven batters.
Player of the week:
Kirsti Merritt had four home runs and 12 RBIs this week and was the leader of the Gators’ offensive attack. Merritt continues to get on base and that led to her scoring eight runs this week.
This week’s schedule:
Florida has a mid week game this week before the Gators open up their home SEC schedule on Friday.
- Wednesday against Winthrop starting at 6:00 P.M
- Friday against Tennessee starting at 7:00 P.M
- Saturday against Tennessee starting at 12:00 P.M
- Sunday against Tennessee starting at 4:00 P.M