Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The 10^th-ranked Florida softball team will host South Carolina at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium this Friday through Sunday for a three-game Southeastern Conference series.
 
The Gators (35-9, 10-5 SEC) enter the weekend after a break from midweek competition and most recently a series defeat, 2-1, at Missouri last weekend. The Gamecocks' (29-15, 5-10 SEC) schedule mirrored UF's this week as they had no midweek prior to this weekend and are also looking to bounce back with an SEC series win as they dropped their last series at home to Arkansas 2-1.
 
The Orange & Blue look to get back on track with SEC's top-ranked, nation's fourth best, scoring offense that's averaging 8.11 runs per game. With the five of the top six batting averages in the conference belonging to Korbe Otis (.434), Skylar Wallace (.408), Kendra Falby (.404), Jocelyn Erickson (.403) and Reagan Walsh (.393), the Gators will need to continue to perform at a high-level as South Carolina's pitching staff that boasts a team ERA of 1.84, which ranks second in the league.
 
In terms of innings pitched, the Gamecocks are led by transfer Alana Vawter (1.88 ERA – 130.2 IP), who is then followed by Sage Mardjetko (2.31 ERA – 91.0 IP) and Jori Heard (1.60 ERA – 65.2 IP). Vawter also leads the staff in wins with a 12-8 record.
 
Their staff has also only allowed a total of 59 extra base hits over 315.0 innings pitched this season but they'll be tested against a Gators lineup that has produced 160 extra base hits on the year that includes an SEC best in doubles (82) and triples (15), with the team ranking second in home runs (63).

Swapping sides, the Gators pitching staff led by freshmen Keagan Rothrock (18-6 – 1.99 ERA) and Ava Brown (14-3 – 2.65 ERA) will be up against a South Carolina offense that ranks last in the SEC in batting average (.240), slugging (.358) and on base percentage (.346). The Gamecocks only feature a pair of .300-plus hitters in Carlie Henderson (.355) and Rile Blampied (.303), but their lineup has drawn the sixth most walks (149) and hit-by-ptiches (39) in the SEC.

On the bases the Gators hold the advantage, not only over this weekend's opponent, but in the entire SEC as the team has stolen 78 bases with the next closest opponent being the 59 by Texas A&M. Skylar Wallace continues to lead in that category with 26 on the year and 108 in her career, which ranks second all-time at UF only behind Kelsey Stewart's 113 stolen bases.

On the other hand, South Carolina only has 45 stolen bases on 59 attempts this season with only Marissa Gonzalez having more than 10 as she is 11-for-11. Jocelyn Erickson looks to keep the Gamecocks frozen on the bases like she has most other teams as opponents have only attempted to steal on the sophomore 12 times this season with her catching 11 of them successfully. The feat in throwing out runners has led to an astonishing .083 stolen bases against average, which leads the SEC.

Following the conclusion of the series against South Carolina, Florida will step out of conference play with a solo midweek contest against in-state rival Florida State at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.

FOLLOW THE GATORS
FloridaGators.com
Florida Softball on Twitter
Head Coach Tim Walton on Twitter
Florida Softball on Facebook