GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The 15
th-ranked Florida softball team returns home to Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium for a three-game series against No. 19 Auburn this Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Thursday's game will air on SEC Network, while Friday and Saturday will stream via SEC Network+.
The Gators (26-9, 4-5 SEC) are set to face the Tigers (28-10, 6-3 SEC) in their fourth SEC series of the year. The Orange & Blue opened conference play at home and took the series 2-1 over Missouri, before taking to the road where the program dropped series at Arkansas, 1-2, and at South Carolina, 1-2, this past weekend.
Florida looks to turn the page in front of its home crowd at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium as the program is 15-2 when playing at home and holds a .373 team batting average and 2.08 ERA with six shutouts this season. At home,
Charla Echols,
Kendra Falby,
Skylar Wallace,
Pal Egan and
Avery Goelz are all batting over .400 at home, while
Rylee Trlicek,
Lexie Delbrey and
Elizabeth Hightower all hold sub a 2.00 ERA.
Overall this season, the Gators offense is batting .339 (292-862), which currently sits as the highest batting average in program history. That success has also resulted in 7.46 runs per game, which currently ranks fifth nationally and second in the SEC. In addition, it's the most runs per game averaged by a UF squad so far in program history. In 2011 the Gators average 7.36 runs per game and 7.33 runs per game in 2010.
Spearheading the scoring efforts is Wallace, Falby and Echols as the trio ranks nationally run per game. Wallace (1.26 rpg – 7
th) and Falby (1.18 rpg – 13
th) are averaging over one run per game, while Echols is just under the one run mark with an average of 0.86 runs per game.
In SEC action, Wallace ranks second in the league with a .462 batting average (12-for-26) with 10 runs scored, two triples, two home runs and seven RBI to go along with being 8-for-9 on stolen bases.
Auburn enters the series after back-to-back conference series wins over Missouri, 3-0, and Ole Miss, 2-1. The Tigers dropped their SEC Opening Weekend series at Georgia, 1-2, to start SEC play.
Their offense enters the weekend with a .299 team batting average with six starters batting above .300 on the year and a pitching staff era of 1.90, which is led by Maddie Penta who sports 0.89 ERA and ranks third nationally with 183 total strikeouts.
Promotions
Thursday, April 6 | Throwback Thursday – A throwback back-to-back National Champion t-shirt presented by T-Mobile will be available for the first 500 fans.
Friday, April 7 | Kids Night – Stirrup sock giveaway for the first 250 kids, high school or younger, to enter the gates.
Saturday, April 8 | Yellow Game – The Gators softball team will be wearing their signature sunflowers along with other yellow uniform accents to continue to amplify awareness of pediatric cancer. The first 500 fans will receive a yellow custom long-sleeve dry fit t-shirt and select players will be available for postgame autographs.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
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Head Coach Tim Walton on Twitter
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