Florida Gators softball preview for Texas A&M series

The No. 6 ranked Florida Gators softball team had an impressive mid week game to rebound from a tough weekend last weekend.

The Gators take their 24-3 record into a key home SEC series after they lost their first series last weekend.

This weekend the Gators will take on the 8th ranked Georgia Bulldogs who enter with a 29-4 record on the year.

Entering this weekend the SEC has 10 teams ranked in the top 25 out of the 13 teams that compete in softball.

How the teams have fared in conference play:

Florida has played two conference series’ already and Texas A&M has only played on conference series.

The Gators enter with a 4-2 conference record while the Aggies have a 3-0 record in SEC play.

In the batter’s box:

Junior Amanda Lorenz continues to lead the Gators at the plate with her .446 batting average this year. Lorenz has five home runs and a team leading 33 RBI’s on the year.

Senior Nicole DeWitt leads the Gators with her six home runs on the year and has driven in 21 runs this year. DeWitt is hitting .347 and scored 26 runs on the year.

Senior Kayli Kvistad has improved her play as of late and is hitting .339 on the year and lead the Gators with 23 walks on the year. Kvistad has hit two home runs and driven in 23 runs on the year.

In the circle:

The Gators four man pitching staff supports a 1.10 ERA on the year including the nation’s fourth best ERA.

Junior Kelly Barnhill is fourth in the nation with her 0.53 ERA that has led her to a 12-1 record. Barnhill has struck out 132 batters in 79.2 innings pitched. Barnhill also has five no-hitters under her belt this year including a perfect game.

Senior Aleshia Ocasio supports a 1.01 ERA on the year and is 10-2 on the year. Ocasio also has a save in her 62.1 innings pitched this year. The senior has struck out 74 batters this year and only walked four hitters.

Texas A&M scouting report

Texas A&M has been led this year by good hitting and a .322 batting average on the year and has a team ERA of 1.65 on the year.

Keeli Milligan leads the Aggies with her .383 batting average on the year and a team best 27 runs scored.

Riley Sartain leads Texas A&M with eight home runs on the year and has driven in 26 runs with a .333 batting average this year.

In the circle Texas A&M mainly use a three man rotation and are led by Trinity Harrington who is 9-1 on the year with seven complete games. Harrington has a 1.36 ERA and has 51 strikeouts on the year.

Samantha Show has appeared in 12 games and is 8-2 on the year in 70 innings and has struck out 48 batters while walking 24..

Player to watch:

For Florida: The Gators will need both Kelly Barnhill to be back to her A game this weekend after struggling on the road. Barnhill will need to fix her issues of illegal pitches that cost her in the Georgia series.

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

  • #6 Florida vs. #8 Texas A&M on Saturday at 5:00 P.M. on ESPN2
  • #6 Florida vs. #8 Texas A&M on Sunday at 7:00 P.M on ESPN2
  • #6 Florida vs. #8 Texas A&M on Monday at 7:00 P.M on SEC Network
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.