Florida Gators

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 1-seed Florida begins their quest to a sixth SEC Softball Tournament Title Thursday, May 13, at 12 p.m. against No. 9-seed Mississippi State at Rhoads Stadium. The game will air on the SEC Network with Eric Frede and Amanda Scarborough on the call and on the radio at ESPN 98.1 FM/850 AM WRUF with Kyle Crooks and Ryan Urquhart.

The Gators (40-8) captured the top seed in the 2021 tournament after a sweep of Texas A&M to close out the regular season at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. UF won its league-leading ninth overall SEC Regular Season Championship and finished with the same conference record as Arkansas.

The Orange & Blue was deemed the No.1-seed in the tournament due to having won its series against No.3-seed Alabama during the regular season. The Gators were also the only program to win all eight of their SEC regular season series.

Florida received a first-round bye in the tournament and will face Mississippi State, who won its first-round game against Ole Miss, 3-1. Carter Spexarth went 3-for-4 and the Bulldogs tallied eight total hits in the win over their in-state rival.

Historically, the Gators hold a 16-5 record as the No. 1-seed in the tournament and are the reigning champions after having won the both the 2018 and 2019 tournaments. UF is one of three programs to have won the tournament title in back-to-back season and stands alone as the only program to achieve the feat twice.

The Gators enter the tournament with a flair for the dramatic as the team has a total of 10 come-from-behind victories, including four over the last six games. The program rallied twice to overcome 2-0 deficits at No. 15 Missouri and then overcame 3-0 and 4-0 deficits to Texas A&M to close out the regular season.

Should the Gators advance to the semifinal round of the SEC Tournament they will face the winner No. 4-seed Missouri and No. 5-seed LSU this Friday at 3 p.m. on ESPN2. The tournament championship will take place Saturday at 5 p.m. on ESPN2.

Notable Notes:

• The Gators earned the No. 1 seed for the SEC Tournament for the ninth time in program history, which is the most among SEC schools.
  • The Gators hold a 32-27 (.542) record in the SEC Tournament and holds the third best winning percentage among SEC programs in SEC Tournament play.
    • The 32 all-time wins are the third most by any SEC program in the tournament
  • UF's five SEC Tournament Championships are tied for the most among programs alongside LSU and Alabama.
    • Florida – 2008, 2009, 2013, 2018, 2019
    • Alabama – 1998, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2012
    • LSU – 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007
  • The No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament holds a 54-15 record and the Gators hold 16-5 record as the top seed.
  • The Gators, the reigning tournament champs, won back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019.
    • No team has won three-straight SEC Tournament Championships.
    • Only three programs have won back-to-back tournament titles and the Gators are the only program to have done it twice.
      • LSU – 2001 & 2002
      • Auburn – 2015 & 2016
      • Florida – 2008 & 2009, 2018 & 2019
• Florida played Mississippi State earlier in the regular season in Starkville, Miss.
  • The Gators swept the Bulldogs 1-0, 10-0 and 8-0 (5) in the three-game series.
  • The program holds a 41-21 record all-time over MSU.
    • The Gators are 1-2 against the Bulldogs all-time in the tournament
      • May 9, 1998 | L, 1-0 | Columbus, Ga.
      • May 10, 2001 | L, 1-0 | Chattanooga, Tenn.
      • May 10, 2007 | W, 3-0 | Auburn, Ala.
• The Gators have a total of 10 comeback victories on the season, with its largest being a comeback from a 4-0 deficit to Texas A&M in the regular season finale.
• The SEC Tournament will be the first neutral site games for the Gators this season.
• Hannah Adams enters the weekend on a five-game hitting streak.
  • The Hoschton, Ga. native has 17 multi-hit games, 13 multi-RBI games and has reached base safely in 33 consecutive games. Overall, she has reached base safely in 47-of-48 games played.
• Over the last 10 games, Katie Chronister holds a 0.82 ERA and a 3-0 record with three saves. She has also held opposing batters to a .074 batting average.
  • On the season Chronister has six saves which is tied for second most in the nation and is tied for the single-season program record.
    • The Gators program also has 12 saves on the season which is tied for the single-season record in 2016.

 
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