Florida Gators Softball Proves It Is Focused, but Not Finished After Wins Over Alabama

If Florida softball had a rival outside of Florida State, it would be the Alabama Crimson Tide.

In the last 12 seasons, either the Gators or the Crimson Tide have gone on to win the SEC regular season title. The two programs are like football’s eastern division race between Florida and Georgia. It’s a tossup when it comes down to who will actually play in the SEC Championship game, but you can bet one of the two teams will be in Atlanta.

Similarly, the likelihood of Florida or Alabama winning the SEC regular season title is high. Which is why last weekend’s series between the Gators and the Crimson Tide was huge, not only within the SEC, but in the world of college softball as a whole.

The two teams went head-to-head on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Tuscaloosa in a battle between the No. 5-ranked Gators and the No. 4-ranked Crimson Tide.

Florida was coming off of a humiliating loss to UCF that saw the Knights route the Gators 7-0 in Gainesville, marking just the second time this season that Florida lost on its own turf.

But in less than 48 hours following the loss, the Gators would be in T-Town preparing for their biggest series of the season.

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  Courtesy of Hannah White / UAA

Tim Walton’s ability to get his team to respond to his challenges following losses is unmatched. He did it the first time the Gators lost to UCF, and later went on to sweep a top 15-ranked LSU team that weekend.

Perhaps the biggest challenge of the weekend for the Gators would be facing Alabama pitcher Montana Fouts.

Fouts, who stands over six feet tall, making her one of the tallest softball pitchers in the country, has a unique stride in the circle – one that’s hard to adjust to for most batters.

The right-handed ace has pitched 118 innings on the year, including 14 – two complete games – against the Gators. The Alabama junior has tallied a respectable 181 strikeouts and maintains a 1.66 ERA on the year.

Florida’s leadoff hitter Hannah Adams went hitless on Friday night, despite boasting a .409 average on the year.

Meanwhile, Cheyenne Lindsey, who Walton moved to the two-spot after having generally hit at the bottom of the lineup, recorded a two-hit performance Friday night, including the hit that made the difference in Florida’s series-opening win.

A two-out, two-RBI single off the bat of Lindsey were the only two runs the Gators would score and need in their 2-0 win.

Florida’s opening win was bigger than most realize. Any win over Fouts is something to take note of.

But more importantly, Walton and the Gators knew that Fouts couldn’t pitch all weekend. They’d likely only need to beat her once, in addition to whoever else the Tide started in the circle.

After earning the start and hurling 140 pitches on Friday night, the Gators knew that Fouts wouldn’t get the start on Saturday, if she saw any action at all.

Senior Krystal Goodman started Saturday night’s contest against Florida. And while opposing Goodman, who is also 6-foot-1, is no walk in the park, it also doesn’t match the task of batting against Fouts.

The Gators hopped on Goodman in the third inning, plating two runs, which was ignited by a one-out walk from Adams. Lindsey, staying put in the two-hole, scored Adams after knocking a 0-1 offering from Goodman to right-center field, good for an RBI double.

Florida third baseman Charla Echols followed Lindsey’s two-bagger with one of her own, scratching Lindsey across the plate, helping the Gators to a two-run advantage.

Walton has been high on Echols since the Georgia-native transferred to Florida from Michigan State prior to the 2020 season.

“Wherever Charla goes, we go,” Walton has said.

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  Courtesy of Hannah White / UAA

Alabama answered the Gators’ two-run third inning in the home-half of the fourth, where the Crimson Tide plated a pair of runs.

The two runs in the fourth inning were the only two runs given up by Florida’s pitching staff through the first two games.

Elizabeth Hightower pitched the distance on Friday night, holding the Tide to just three hits and no runs.

On Saturday, Natalie Lugo and Katie Chronister pitched four and three innings, respectively, and gave up a combined four hits and two runs.

Meanwhile, the Gators capitalized on Montana Fouts’ absence and strung together seven hits on Saturday, the biggest of which came in the sixth inning.

With the bases loaded, Florida’s Kendyl Lindaman waltzed to the plate and flashed a smirk before stepping into the batter’s box.

Stretching 5-foot-10, Lindaman is one of the taller batters pitchers will face in most lineups, but Florida’s lineup, especially. And sometimes, in an attempt to adjust to the heightened strike zone, pitchers can keep balls hanging a hair too high.

And Lindaman will make pitchers pay for the mistake every time.

One pitch is all Lindaman needed.

Goodman tossed a screwball over the plate and Lindaman watched it hang high a hair too long for Goodman’s liking, but it was perfect for the Gators’ designated player.

With one swing of the bat, Lindaman blew the game wide open with a four-run grand slam in the sixth inning to help the Gators to an 8-2 lead.

Florida would plate one more run in the seventh, to put the game on ice en route to a 9-2 thumping in game two, securing its fifth-straight conference series. The Gators have yet to cough up a series in the SEC.

The Gators would go on to drop Sunday’s matchup as Fouts would dish 11 strikeouts in a 4-2 win for the Tide.

But while a sweep would have been the icing on the cake, Florida accomplished what they came into Tuscaloosa to do: bounce back and win the series.

The Gators rose to No. 3 in the country in both major polls this week, making them the top-ranked team in the SEC. However, the race for the regular season conference title is far from over.

The Arkansas Razorbacks have silently had an impressive season and currently sit atop the conference.

Florida and Arkansas won’t see each other in the regular season, meaning it will boil down to conference record. And the Razorbacks (16-2 SEC) currently hold a one-game advantage over the Gators (12-3).

Florida has nine conference games left on its schedule, while Arkansas has just six.

All said, if both the Gators and the Razorbacks finish out conference play perfectly and go undefeated, the game-three loss to the Crimson Tide could come back to bite the Gators in the rear.

But we’ll worry about what when we reach that bridge.

For now, Walton and the Gators get to enjoy clinching a huge series against Alabama, their foes of the conference.