The No. 1 ranked Florida Gators softball team bring its 42-3 (12-3 conference) record into a home SEC series this weekend after taking a weekend off from conference play.
Florida will play host to Mississippi State this weekend, as the Gators look to build off of a SEC sweep two weekends ago against Ole Miss.
Florida sits at atop of the SEC and has the top spot in the NCAA RPI rankings as well as the two major softball polls.
Here’s the schedule for this weekend’s game and all games will be broadcasted.
- #1 Florida vs. Mississippi State on Friday at 6:00 P.M on ESPN3
- #1 Florida vs. Mississippi State on Saturday at 1:00 P.M on ESPN3
- #1 Florida vs. Mississippi State on Sunday at 5:00 P.M on SEC Network
That’s a look at this weekend’s games but let’s dig a little deeper into this weekend’s opponent in our scouting report. Here’s a quick scouting report on the Florida Gators softball team as well.
Scouting the Florida Gators:
Florida enters this weekend with a .983 fielding percentage which is the best in the country. The Gators also lead the country with a 0.82 ERA between its three pitchers.
The Gators enter this weekend’s series off of a great Lafayette series that saw the Gators get the bats going and they’re now hitting .321 as a team.
Sophomore Kayli Kvistad leads the team with a .420 average and also leads the team with nine home runs and 48 RBI’s this year. Freshman Amanda Lorenz was cold last weekend but rebounded with a home run against USF and now has five home runs while hitting .391 this year. Lorenz has a team best 10 doubles this year while driving in 35 runs.
Aleshia Ocasio continues to lead the nation with a 0.48 ERA and is now 15-1 this year in 26 appearances. Junior Delanie Gourley is fourth in the NCAA with a 0.76 ERA while going 13-2 with four saves this year. Freshman Kelly Barnhill has had back to back bad outings but is still 14-0 this year with a 1.29 ERA. The Gators three pitchers all have over 100 strikeouts this year.
Scouting the Mississippi State Bulldogs:
Mississippi State enters the series with a 24-20 record (3-12 in conference) and have struggled on the road.
Kayla Winkfield leads the Bulldogs with a .314 batting average and has scored 27 runs on the year. Winkfield has stolen 14 bases on 17 attempts, which leads Mississippi State.
Katie Anne Bailey is the Bulldogs power hitter, as she has three home runs and 26 RBI’s while hitting .312 this year. Caroline Sietz also has three home runs on the year and has driven in 24 runs.
Holly Ward leads the Bulldogs with 24 appearances this year and has a 9-6 record with a 2.87 ERA. The Bulldogs however use a six man pitching staff which also sees Regan Green having pitched in 26 games this season.
Stay tuned to GatorCountry.com all weekend for updates on the Gators softball team.