A few feet was all that stood between the top-ranked Florida Gators losing and hitting the road with a 24-game winning streak – the distance Michelle Moultrie’s fly ball needed to go to be a game-winning, 3-run homer instead of being the final out in a 6-4 loss to Alabama Sunday.
It’s always harder to swallow when victory is so close, but those few feet will be a measuring stick for the Gators the rest of the way, showing them the difference between being great and being the best.
The Gators (34-3, 13-1 SEC) will take that new mentality to Auburn, where they will take on the Tigers (25-10, 5-4 SEC) in a doubleheader on Wednesday. The first game starts at 5 p.m.
“We’re going to bounce back and we’re going to take care of Auburn in the middle of the week,” senior catcher Kristina Hilberth said. “We’re going to hopefully get better and start a new winning streak on Wednesday.”
The Gators are coming into the series having won seven of their last eight games against the Tigers. Auburn’s lineup isn’t as potent as Florida is used to seeing this year. As a team, the Tigers are only batting .258 with 20 home runs and 123 RBI compared to the Gators’ .339 batting average, 47 homers and 233 RBI as a team.
But Auburn makes up for its lack of hitting with a solid pitching staff. The Tigers will be led by the one-two punch of junior Anna Thompson (12-6, 1.45 ERA) and freshman Jenee Loree (10-3, 1.94 ERA). Junior Holly Ragsdale (3-1, 3.03 ERA) has only appeared in seven games this year but may make an appearance if Florida can get to Auburn’s starters early.
“They’ve got good pitching,” said Florida coach Tim Walton. “So when you have good pitching, you’re always in ballgames. We’ll have to do a good job of making some adjustments. They’ve got three different pitchers and a lot of different styles. So we’ve got to do a good job.”
The Gators also have to prepare for playing on the road for the first time in almost three weeks and know the challenges of playing on the road in the SEC.
“It’s on the road,” Hilberth said. “It’s always hard to play on the road in the SEC, so we’ve got to get to them. But we’re probably going to feel this (loss) a little bit in the gut for a few hours, hopefully not that long because we played a great game. But we’ll go back to the drawing board and look at Auburn.”
Even though the Gators are coming off a tough loss, their confidence hasn’t taken a hit as they expect to continue their season-long success.
“A couple of Ws,” said junior Francesca Enea when asked what she expected against Auburn. “Get there fast, so we can get out of there fast because we have school. I don’t like missing school.”
Enea isn’t the only Gator who stresses the importance of school. Senior pitcher Stacey Nelson was named one of 10 finalists for the third annual Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award on Monday. The award, which stands for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, is given out based on the recipient’s work in the classroom, work in the community, character and competition.
The award will be given out at the opening ceremony of the College World Series on June 2. The ballot is open to fans, media, coaches and sponsors. Fan ballots, which make up one-third of the vote, are available at http://www.seniorclassaward.com. Voting closes May 7.
The Gators will return home to play Mississippi State in a three-game series this weekend. The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday starting at 1 p.m. and will finish with the finale Sunday at 1 p.m.