Gator Softball To Face Kentucky. 26-1 and 3-0 in SEC.

The Wildcats are 19-6 overall and 1-2 in the conference after losing the series at Auburn last weekend.

Gators Softball Celebrates! Photo credit UAA

The Wildcats won game one 8-3 on The Plains. Then they lost game two 6-2 and game three 6-5 in 13 innings.

They have been balanced in the circle with Hailey Nutter starting 8 games and McKenzie Oslanzi and Sara Haendiges starting 7 each.

Nutter has a 7-1 record and 4 shut outs in 12 appearances with a 1.88 era. Haendiges is 7-2 in 11 appearances with two  shut outs and a 2.18 era. Oslanzi only has a 3-2 record but has appeared in 12 games for the Wildcats with a 1.63 era to lead the staff.

Expect to see all three get a start this weekend and probably see them all in relief if necessary.

Karissa Hamilton leads the team in hitting at .432. Carly Sleeman is next at .410. Allie Blum and Peyton Plotts are the only other Cats hitting above .300. However, every player in the lineup is hitting above .200. Plotts leads the Wildcats in HRs with 9. Madison Anson is next with 6 followed by Hamilton and Blum with 5 each.

They have hit 33 as a team or a little over 1 per game. The top four hitters all have over 20 RBI. Their offense has scored 159 runs or over 6 runs per game.

The Gators swept the feisty Missouri team in Gainesville to start their SEC schedule. Taylor Shumaker took over the lead for the Gators in batting average now sitting at an even .500. Jocely Erickson is right behind her at 4.88 followed by Gabi Comia at .476 and Kenleigh Cahalan at .442. Madison Walker, coming off a good weekend against her former teammates, has climbed over the .400 mark as well.

The “weakest” hitter in the starting lineup for the Gators is Cassidy McLellan hitting a “lowly” (sarcasm here folks) .311. Erickson paces the Gators with 13 home runs. Shumaker now has 11 and Cahalan has 10.

As a team the Gators now sit at 60 long balls.

Keagan Rothrock picked up all three wins, one in relief, against the Tigers, improving her record to 14-1. Leah Stevens got the other start for the Gators but was roughed up early and replaced by Olivia Miller who pitched 7 plus innings of shut out relief in an 11-inning game two.

With Saturday starter, Ava Brown, still unavailable due to a leg injury, pitching continues to be a cause for concern for this team. Rothrock appears ready to shoulder the load like she did as a freshman, but the Gators will need to continue to have one of the other pitchers pick up some innings during these tough SEC weekend series.

Every weekend is tough in the SEC. This weekend in Kentucky will likely see warm and cold weather. Or at least it is expected to be colder than it has been in Gainesville. How this team responds to their second trip out of the state and the first road SEC series will tell us all just how good this team can truly be.