Sophomore Michelle Moultrie of the Florida softball team instills a rare breed of fear into the opposing defense when she enters the batter’s box: the fear of the unknown. Moultrie’s rare blend of speed and power causes defenses fits, knowing that there is no correct way to play her. Play her short, and she hits the ball over your head. Stand back even an inch too far, and she will already be standing on first base safely before you finish blinking your eyes.
Moultrie brings that lightning speed to a supremely talented outfield that also showcases the thunderous bats of power-hitters Francesca Enea and Kelsey Bruder. Moultrie and company will help lead the Gators (24-4, 6-2 SEC) in a clash with the No. 12 LSU Tigers (29-4, 8-0) for a three-game series this weekend. The teams will play a double-header beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium, followed by the series finale Sunday at noon.
When Moultrie puts her skills on display this weekend, the ease with which she can frustrate a defense will quickly become apparent. But it wasn’t always that way.
Coming out of high school, Moultrie had only a few offers from junior colleges to play collegiate softball. But the Jacksonville native had a better idea in mind, one that was “kind of close to home—not too far but not too close.”
So she sent the coaches at Florida an e-mail, only to find out that the recruiting process was already finished, but that didn’t mean Moultrie was out of options.
“This was the only school that was actually encouraging walk-ons,” Moultrie said. “They didn’t tell me, ‘No, you can’t play here.’ They did have walk-on tryouts, so that gave me a little bit of hope.”
Moultrie attended the offseason camps to get noticed by the Florida coaching staff after being told she would have a better chance of making the team. Coach Tim Walton liked what he saw, so he found her a spot on a traveling team to see how she would perform. Continuing to impress, Moultrie was awarded a “semester tryout” to allow her to condition with the team and to see how she fit in with the rest of the players.
Needless to say, the players were a little bit surprised.
“They were like, ‘Oh, this girl from camp is going to walk on,’” Enea said. “I was like, ‘What? Are you kidding me?’”
But it didn’t take long for the players to see what Walton saw in Moultrie.
“She was really fast,” Enea said. “She had so much power. I love her swing. It’s crazy good. She killed the ball. For having a home run swing and being as fast as she is, it doesn’t go hand-in-hand. It was interesting.”
Moultrie had the raw skills to be successful, but first there was a steep learning curve. Luckily, the transition was made a lot easier by teammates that Moultrie said “made her feel right at home.” She constantly picks her teammates’ brains to learn the intricacies of the game, never getting enough and always absorbing the game like a sponge.
“I had always played softball and just went out and played,” Moultrie said. “This is more of a level you have to really think about things. It’s another step up. I still learn things every day about the game. It was really helpful just to ask questions all the time. With Coach Walton, a lot of his teaching style is to get into the mental part of the game, so that was a big transition.”
It hasn’t hurt that Moultrie has been able to look up to two of Florida’s best, Enea and Kim Waleszonia. Last year, Moultrie stepped into the starting lineup after Waleszonia suffered a leg injury that sidelined her until the postseason. That trial-by-fire along with Waleszonia’s guidance helped the former unknown make strides toward becoming a star. Now when Moultrie has a question, which she will not hesitate to ask, she will usually turn to Enea.
“[Enea’s] a great leader,” Moultrie said. “She’s somebody you can always turn to. You can always ask her about anything. On the field and off the field, she’s always there for everybody. I really feel comfortable with her just because we’re both in the outfield together and she’s always helped. When I came to the camps the year before, she was one of the people there. I fell in love with her personality. I really wanted to come here because of her. I was like, ‘If everybody on the team’s like her, I’ll be in good shape.’”
Moultrie has certainly been in good shape due to her softball role models, but the key component to her success has been herself. Along with her desire to constantly learn by asking questions, Moultrie has a work ethic that is lauded by her teammates, something that has helped her exceed everyone’s expectations, according to Bruder.
“I think it speaks to her work ethic,” Bruder said. “She’s never going to be outworked. If you ask her to do something, she’s going to say, ‘Yes, sir,’ with a smile on her face. If you tell her to jump, she says, ‘How high?’ That’s just the kind of person she is. All the success she’s had, I’m so happy for her because it couldn’t have come to a better person.”
It is immediately clear that her teammates have the utmost respect for her because of that work ethic and her personality. Enea’s eyes light up when she starts to talk about Moultrie.
“I love Michelle,” Enea said. “She’s just a good girl. I feel like I do a lot of good things, then I look at her and go, ‘Wow. I’m a really crappy person.’ She’s such a great person. She’s always trying to get everyone to go to Bible study. She works super, super hard. She knows her weaknesses and never tries to cover them up. She just tries to get better every single day.”
Even though Moultrie isn’t afraid to ask questions when it comes to softball, she is as quiet as they come off the field. But as she has become more accustomed to her teammates and with that year of college adjustment under her belt, she is starting to open up and crack jokes with her fellow outfielders, something they can’t get enough of.
“She is super quiet, but when she talks it’s so fun because she doesn’t talk very often,” Enea said. “She’ll start telling a story and I’ll be like, ‘OK, I really need to listen.’”
Just as Moultrie has opened up off the field, her game has blossomed in her second year at Florida. She is second on the team in batting average at .381 and has already topped most of her numbers from last year, when she started 41 games, including home runs, already totaling three after only two last season. A season after Moultrie was simply trying to grab a spot on the roster, she is now trying to be a key cog in helping her team grab victories.
“I guess trying to be an impact player,” Moultrie said. “When I first came in here I was just trying to get on the team and didn’t really expect to be a starter or anything. Now that I’m in that position, I really wanna be somebody that our team can count on and things like that. I guess that’s what I’m working towards.”
Perhaps the biggest asset Moultrie provides is an unparalleled speed that she said helps her take away the precious seconds a defense has to make a decision, many times forcing a rushed decision that leads to an error. It is an ability that few are able to match on the softball diamond, so you might have to go to a different field to find her equal.
“Speed kills and Michelle has it,” Bruder said. “I think she could run with Chris Rainey. I think she’s so fast. She’s definitely one of the fastest girls I’ve played with.”
True to form, Moultrie laughed and quickly dismissed the idea of beating Rainey in a foot race. Although the soft-spoken Moultrie will not tout her own abilities, she doesn’t have to. Her game speaks loud enough on the field. Just don’t blink or you might miss her next electrifying play.
LSU Notes: LSU enters the series on a 24-game winning streak. … The Tigers lead the nation in ERA at 0.72. Oregon is second at 1.18. … Florida leads the nation in home runs at 2.07 per game, while ranking third in scoring at 7.67 runs per game. … LSU is led by senior Cody Trahan (8-0, 0.48 ERA), sophomore Brittany Mack (7-2, 0.92 ERA) and freshman Rachel Fico (11-2, 0.72 ERA). … Fico appeared on ESPN’s Top 10 plays as a senior in high school after striking out all 21 batters she faced in a game. Fico threw a national high school record 26 perfect games and went 105-3 with a 0.07 ERA in her career. … Senior Kirsten Shortridge leads the Tigers in batting at .444. … Sophomore Ashley Langoni leads the team with six home runs but has 17 strikeouts in 63 at-bats. … Florida has won the last six games in the series, including five straight shutouts. … The Gators are 13-26 all-time against LSU.
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
Conference Overall
EASTERN DIVISION W-L Pct. W-L Pct.
Florida 6-2 .750 24-4 .857
Tennessee 7-3 .700 26-7 .788
Georgia 5-4 .556 25-6 .806
Kentucky 5-8 .385 20-14.588
South Carolina 0-13 .000 10-23.303
WESTERN DIVISION W-L Pct. W-L Pct.
Louisiana State 8-0 1.000 29-4 .879
Arkansas 6-2 .750 22-12 .647
Alabama 7-4 .636 24-9 .727
Auburn 5-6 .455 20-12 .625
Mississippi 5-7 .417 20-15 .571
Mississippi State 2-7 .222 20-16 .556
SCHEDULE
FRIDAY / April 2
Arkansas at Georgia (2), 5 p.m.
Kentucky at Mississippi State (2), 5 p.m.
Tennessee at South Carolina, 5 p.m.
Alabama at Auburn, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY / April 3
Arkansas at Georgia, 12 p.m.
Louisiana State at Florida (2), 1 p.m.
Tennessee at South Carolina (2), 1 p.m.
Kentucky at Mississippi State, 1 p.m.
Alabama at Auburn (2), 2 p.m.
SUNDAY / April 4
Louisiana State at Florida, 12 p.m.
MONDAY / April 5
Georgia Southern at Georgia, 5 p.m.
TUESDAY / April 6
USC Upstate at South Carolina, 6 p.m.
Southern Mississippi vs. Mississippi at Ridgeland, Miss., 7 p.m.
WEDNESDAY / April 7
Kentucky at Louisville, 7 p.m.
Louisiana State at Alabama (2), 6 p.m.
Samford at Auburn, 7 p.m.
Georgia at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m.
Mississippi Valley State vs. Mississippi State at Ridgeland, Miss., 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, April 10
South Carolina at Kentucky (2), 1 p.m.
Florida at Arkansas (2), 2 p.m.
Tennessee at Auburn (2), 2 p.m.
Georgia at Mississippi (2), 2 p.m.
Mississippi State at Louisiana State (2), 2 p.m.
Northwestern at Alabama, 2 p.m.
SUNDAY, April 11
Florida at Arkansas, 2 p.m.
Tennessee at Auburn, 2 p.m.
Georgia at Mississippi, 2 p.m.
South Carolina at Kentucky, 2 p.m.
Mississippi State at Louisiana State, 2 p.m.
Northwestern at Alabama, 2 p.m.
RESULTS
All times Eastern
TUESDAY / March 30
North Carolina 17, South Carolina 7 (5)
WEDNESDAY / March 31
Florida 4, UCF 3 (9)
Mississippi 9-9, Alcorn State 0-1
Georgia 8, Kennesaw State 3
Tennessee 9, Middle Tennessee 1
Tulsa 13-1, Arkansas 2-3
Louisiana State 7, McNeese State 2
Mississippi State 4, Southern 1
Auburn 3, Troy 1
POLLS
As of March 30
ESPN.com/USA SOFTBALL DIVISION I
1.Washington (28-2); 2. Arizona (28-3); 3. Michigan (24-5); 4. Missouri (23-4); 5. UCLA (26-4); 6. Alabama (24-9); 7. Georgia Tech (29-5); 8. Georgia (24-6); 9. Florida (23-4); 10. Arizona State (31-4); 11. Stanford (25-5); 12. Louisiana State (28-4); 13. Oklahoma (27-9); 14. California (28-6); 15. Oklahoma State (29-7); 16. Florida State (31-6); 17. Texas (26-8); 18. Texas A&M (29-7); 19. Tennessee (25-7); 20. Illinois (23-4); 21. Oregon (24-5); 22. North Carolina (24-10); 23. Ohio State (18-10); 24. Baylor (19-10); 25. Brigham Young (20-7).
USA TODAY/NATIONAL FASTPITCH COACHES ASSOCIATION
1. Washington (28-2); 2. Michigan (24-5); 3. Arizona (28-3); 4. Missouri (23-4); 5. UCLA (26-4); 6. Florida (23-4); 7. Arizona State (31-4); 8. Alabama (24-9); 9. Stanford (25-4); 10. Georgia Tech (29-5); 11. Georgia (24-6); 12. Louisiana State (28-4); 13. Oklahoma (27-8); 14. California (28-6); 15. Oklahoma State (29-7); 16. Tennessee (21-7); 17. Texas (26-8); 18. Illinois (23-4); 19. Florida State (31-6); 20. Texas A&M (29-7); 21. Ohio State (18-10); 22. North Carolina (24-10); 23. Massachusetts (17-7); 24. Notre Dame (24-5); 25. Louisville (21-12).