BRAD GOLDBACH
The top-ranked college softball team in the country isn’t usually satisfied to win two out of three games in a series, but Florida coach Tim Walton suggested that very possibility for the No. 1 Gators in their upcoming series this weekend with the Mississippi Rebels.
“You hate to say that the goal is to win two out of three, but really to win on the road in the SEC is tough,” Walton said.
On paper, Walton’s statement appears to be an overreaction since the Rebels are only 11-9 on the season and the Gators (24-2) are coming off two more victories against a Top 10 team after defeating No. 8 Georgia Bulldogs in a doubleheader Wednesday.
But the Gators know it is important to take every conference foe seriously, even when comparing them to the many highly ranked teams Florida has faced this year.
“It just goes to show you the great competition we’re playing this year,” said senior pitcher Stacey Nelson, who threw a one-hitter against Georgia. “As we continue to play through the SEC, there are no days off. Everybody’s a good team.”
Another reason for Walton’s concern going into the weekend stems from Florida’s recent struggles in Oxford, where the Gators have lost two of their last three games. To try to reverse that trend, Walton said he will remind his team of its recent struggles in the Rebels’ ballpark in practice leading up to the weekend series.
The teams will play a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday and then the finale at 2 p.m. Sunday.
The Gators have already tasted success on the road in the SEC this season by sweeping South Carolina in last weekend’s three-game series. The Gators needed extra innings to take game one from the Gamecocks. But after notching the first win, Florida cruised the rest of the series, so it is no surprise that Walton wants to take the same approach against the Rebels.
“We want to work real hard on our first game and get that first win under our belt.” Walton said.
But as the Gators showed against Georgia on Wednesday, sometimes they only need to get the first inning under their belt to coast to victory. The Gators took a 7-0 lead after the first inning of the first game of their doubleheader and used that momentum to propel them to 15-0 and 4-0 victories.
Wednesday’s victories were a product of Florida’s intense practices this week, but Walton didn’t spend all of that time focusing solely on Georgia.
“We’ve already started preparing for (Mississippi) for a little bit, as far as some of the things they do,” Walton said. “But fortunately for us, some of the pitching that Georgia has is the same setup that Ole Miss has. They have a really good pitcher (Becky Nye, 7-2 with a 1.82 ERA). They’ve got an All-American third baseman (Lauren Grill, who also plays shortstop and leads the Rebels with 5 home runs and 16 RBI). So they’re going to present some issues at their place.”
If the Rebels bring the same style of pitching as the Bulldogs did against the Gators, then Florida should be well-prepared after racking up 19 runs, 14 walks and four home runs in Wednesday’s doubleheader.
But the Gators know victories aren’t rewarded by taking anything for granted or making any excuses if anything strays from the game plan.
“It’s a tough place to play,” Walton said. “It’s a tough travel for us to get there. All those are excuses. We need to be ready to play.”