GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 3 Florida heads to Fort Myers for a midweek tilt against FGCU at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 21. Tomorrow's contest against the Eagles at the FGCU Softball Complex is sold-out, but can be watched online via YouTube and listened to on 98.1 FM/850 AM WRUF.
The Gators (32-6) will step out of Southeastern Conference play to take on the Eagles (21-15) and once more next Wednesday, April 28, against Florida A&M. The program sports a 20-3 record against non-conference competition this season and a 5-1 record against FGCU.
The last meeting between the two programs resulted in a 3-1 win in favor of UF in Gainesville March 4, 2020.
Hannah Adams drew a bases loaded walk to tie the game 1-1 in the 2
nd inning and
Baylee Goddard produced a two-run home run in the 5
th inning to break the tie.
Overall, Florida has been impressive against non-conference opponents this season as the program has outscored opponents 125-42 and the pitching staff holds a 1.62 ERA with eight shutouts. Conversely, FGCU has been shutout a total of eight times this season.
Notable Notes:
Walton Approaching 950 Career Wins
Last season, head coach
Tim Walton became the second fastest softball head coach to reach 900 NCAA Division I wins in the Gators 5-0 victory over North Dakota State Feb. 14, 2020. Walton, achieved the feat in just 1,132 career games during his 18th season as a head coach.
This year, he captured his 800th win as a Gator against Charlotte Feb. 20, 2021 at the Bubly Invitational and currently holds a 949-241 record with a win percentage (.797) that ranks first among active DI head coaches.
Gators Ranked No. 3 in Latest Polls
Florida moved up to No. 3 in both the USA Today/NFCA & ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 polls after it took the series against Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala. this past weekend. UF also made a move in the latest RBI rankings as the team moved up from No. 3 to No. 2 this week.
NCAA National Rankings
The Gators currently rank inside the Top 10 in walks (157 – 4
th), shutouts (13 – 7
th), fielding percentage (.982 – 7
th) and ERA (1.55 – 9
th). Individually,
Kendyl Lindaman ranks 10
th nationally in walks per game (0.89),
Elizabeth Hightower ranks 10
th in shutouts (6) and
Hannah Adams ranks 5
th in SAC flies (5).
Reached Safely Streaks
Kendyl Lindaman (26),
Hannah Adams (23) and
Charla Echols (20) all currently have reached base safely streaks of 20 or more games. It's only the eighth time in program history that a trio has produced reached base safely streaks of 20-plus games and the first time since 2018.
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- 2018 – Amanda Lorenz (67), Hannah Adams (34) and Kayli Kvistad (21)
- 2017 – Amanda Lorenz (42), Kayli Kvistad (28), Sophia Reynoso (25)
- 2015 – Kirsti Merritt (31), Kelsey Stewart (22), Bailey Castro (22)
- 2014 – Kelsey Stewart (41), Lauren Haeger (24), Stephanie Toft (23)
- 2011 – Michelle Moultrie (37), Aja Paculba (20, Megan Bush (20)
- 2010 – Michelle Moultrie (26), Aja Paculba (22) and Francesca Enea (21)
- 2009 – Ali Gardiner (32), Francesca Enea (22), Kelsey Bruder (22), Aja Paculba (21)
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