By BRAD GOLDBACH
The No. 1 Florida Gators have faced the stiffest softball competition the nation has to offer, but the next two weeks may provide them with their toughest tests yet
“We’re in the toughest part of our season,” said coach Tim Walton. “This is it right here. This is probably where the SEC will be won and lost in the next two weeks and we realize that. I realize that as a coach – how good Tennessee is, how good Alabama will be after their run and vice versa – as you keep going down the road.”
The Gators will take on the No. 6/7 Volunteers in Gainesville for a three-game series this weekend before the No. 2 Crimson Tide come to town next weekend. The series against Tennessee begins with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday. The series finale is at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Volunteers (24-3, 2-0 SEC) come in having faced a difficult schedule of their own, with two of their three losses coming at the hands of No. 12/14 Northwestern and the other to No. 3 Washington.
Tennessee sports reigning SEC Player of the Week Jessica Spigner. The freshman third baseman is batting .384 with 11 homers and 32 RBI on the season. The Volunteers also have junior first baseman Tiffany Huff, who is batting .507 with six homers and 48 RBI on the year. Their pitching staff will be led by freshman Cat Hosfield (17-3) and her 1.55 ERA.
But the Gators know what they have to do to come out victorious and continue their 18-game winning streak.
“Every game’s going to be close,” said sophomore pitcher Stephanie Brombacher. “We need to play defense like we did (Wednesday in two close victories over FIU). We need to hit the ball a little bit better, but I think our hitters are ready and right now our team’s ready for Tennessee.”
Brombacher hit the nail on the head because the Florida pitching and defense have been up to par, but the bats haven’t always been able to put teams away this season. The Gators will have to take advantage of every opportunity at the plate against the Volunteers because there may not be many.
“I think we’re wasting too many at-bats,” Walton said. “If we’re going to be successful against Tennessee, we’re going to have to do a much better job swinging the bat, swinging at good pitches and putting the team away really, really early.”
Even if the hitting hasn’t reached Walton’s lofty expectations to this point, the Gators should be well-prepared after facing Florida International on Wednesday and a few hard practices leading up to Saturday.
“We’re going to practice as hard as we’ve ever practiced,” Walton said earlier this week. “We’re going to get everything worked out that we need to get worked out. Speed the game up, get it really fast. Tennessee’s fast. Get them executing like we need to do tomorrow at practice and then be ready to go Saturday.”
The Gators know how much is riding on the matchup against Tennessee, but they won’t let the pressure affect the way they approach the Volunteers.
“I think we’re going to take it like we take every other series,” Brombacher said. “We take every series seriously. We took South Carolina and Ole Miss seriously. We will just practice like we always do and just work on the basics.”
The Gators will take it seriously because they have a No. 1 ranking and their home turf to defend. All of that and the driver’s seat in the SEC race are on the line, so they won’t give it up without a fight.
“Every SEC series is tough,” said senior Kristina Hilberth “We’re obviously gearing up. Tennessee is a great ballclub. Alabama is a great ballclub. We’re ready to fight. We’re ready to defend our home field and get after some teams.”