UF Softball: Gators jump 6 RPI spots with sweep of Aggies

Gators celebrate as Katie Kistler steps on home after her 6th-inning home run (UAA Photo)

Tim Walton may not be able to quote you chapter and verse what goes into the RPI rankings, much less this new KPI ranking, which is supposed to carry nearly equal weight with the NCAA Tournament selection committee. What happens on the playing field, well that’s an altogether different matter.

Walton knows that for the second straight weekend his Florida Gators (43-12, 17-7 SEC) won a series against a team with a higher RPI. Last weekend the Gators beat Georgia (37-15, 12-12 SEC) two out of three. With their 11-3 run-rule win over Texas A&M (39-12, 15-9 SEC) Sunday, the Gators came away with a sweep, which turned a Senior Weekend extra special. Sandwiched between the Georgia and A&M series wins was a win over Florida State.

“In our last six out of our last eight games against teams that were higher RPI than us  we won six out of eight,” Walton said. “So, there’s always something to be said to the NCAA committee about who’s hot, who’s not, who’s played a schedule and what does it look like. Ultimately our challenge as teams that we’ve played on our schedule, we’ve done a really good job. We’ve had a couple of hiccups, but overall I think you’re going to have that with young people but I think we’ve started to answer the call, but we’re playing a heckuva lot better on all aspects of the game.”

Based on the calculations at warrennolan.com, the Gators bounced six spots up to No. 10 in RPI, while the Aggies dropped four places to No. 16. Strangely, Georgia still has a higher RPI. The Bulldogs are No. 9 despite the fact the Gators beat them head-to-head, have a better overall record both overall and in SEC play, and have a better record against Quad 1 opponents: Florida 21-11, Georgia 20-15.

When the NCAA committee meets to choose the 64-team tournament field after the conference tournaments conclude next weekend, 16 teams will be seeded and designated regional hosts. The top eight seeds will guaranteed to host both the regional and super regional as long as they continue to win.

The sweep of the Aggies earned the Gators a second place finish in the Southeastern Conference, easily the toughest conference top to bottom in the country. That alone should weigh heavily on the tournament selection committee, as should Florida’s 17-8 record against teams ranked in the nation’s top 25, 9-3 against teams ranked in the top 10. However, when it comes to the NCAA, strange things can and often do happen. It is never a good idea to assume anything when the NCAA is involved, but whatever the committee decides, Walton feels confident that his team will be ready.

This is the youngest Florida team Walton has gone to battle with in years as four freshmen figure prominently in the lineup. He has standout seniors such as All-American shortstop Skylar Wallace and right fielder Katie Kistler, who celebrated their final regular season game at KSP with 2-run homers Sunday. Wallace hit her 10th homer of the season and her first in a month over the left field fence in the second inning while Kistler torched a pitch high into the trees down the right field line in the sixth when the Gators put together a 5-run inning to walk it off with their 26th win by run-rule of the season.

It was a slump-breaker weekend for Wallace, who went 5-10 with the home run, three doubles, five RBI and six runs scored.

“Everybody talks about her year,” Walton said, alluding to an April when the hits just wouldn’t fall. “She’s got the most runs scored in the SEC (76).”

Wallace also leads the NCAA in runs scored. She ranks eighth in the SEC in batting average (.377), fifth in slugging percentage (.721), third in on-base percentage (.536), ninth in hits (58), sixth in RBI (50), fourth in doubles (15), second in triples (4), fourth in total bases (111), fifth in walks (38), second in hit by pitch (15) and first in stolen bases (32, caught stealing only once).

Skylar Wallace slugs her 10th home run (UAA Photo)

Wallace said the home run and double to conclude Senior Weekend were secondary to how the Gators performed.

“The home run was just a bonus,” Wallace said. “To go out and play the way we did all three games, I’ll take that any day. Homer or not, that was a lot of fun. I can’t ask for anything better than that on Senior Weekend.”

The Gators eked out a 2-1 win Friday night when Wallace doubled in the tying run in the sixth and freshman Ava Brown drove in the game-winner with a sacrifice fly. Saturday was a wild, 9-8, win in extra innings, the game-winner coming on a Jocelyn Erickson single to left field with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth.

Sunday, Erickson was met by a mob of teammates after she cleared the bases with a double to the base of the right field fence to drive in three for the run-rule.

“We’re each other’s biggest fans,” Kistler said. “We all love each other and love being around each other. It makes coming every day and working hard so much more fun, especially for our last year.”

Kistler’s last year doesn’t quite seem possible for Walton, who has known her for more than 10 years. While Kistler downplayed the home run, Walton was all too happy to talk about the blast that was a no-doubter from the moment it left the bat.

“It’s a pretty good feeling watching Katie Kistler hit a home run over the [foul] pole like that,” Walton said. He beamed when he said it.

The Gators don’t play again until Thursday when they face the winner of a game between Georgia and Auburn in the SEC Tournament in Auburn. Perhaps the Gators will get another shot at Georgia and moving past the Bulldogs in the RPI.

Whoever the Gators play, Kistler says they will be ready.

“We practice how we play,” Kistler said. “We prepare ourselves very well for moments like this.”

For Walton, it has been one of his more rewarding seasons as Florida’s head coach. He’s blended in freshmen Keagan Rothrock, Ava Brown, Ariel Kowalewski and Mia Williams and transfers Korbe Otis (from Louisville) and Erickson (from Oklahoma) with Wallace, Kistler and juniors Reagan Walsh and Kendra Falby into a team that has a habit of turning games into adventures. They can play flawlessly in the field and scratch out 2-1 wins like they did against the Aggies Friday night. They can blow big leads as they did earlier in the week against Florida State and again against the Aggies on Saturday yet have the composure to come back and win. And, they can put it all together to run-rule a quality team like A&M, which is talented enough to win both a regional and super regional.

Walton isn’t willing to compare this team to some of the others he’s coached in a career that includes two national championships, 11 super regional championships and eight SEC championships, but he will concede this team is unique.

“I don’t really try to compare teams and years because I try to live in the moment,” Walton said. “The one thing I can tell you that this team has what we haven’t had in a long period of time which is a really sound process with the ability to be flexible. It’s not a routine. It’s not habits. It’s not superstitious habits. It’s a sound routine with the ability to be flexible.”

Gator notes: Otis leads both the SEC and nation in on base percentage (.586). She is hitting .455, which leads the SEC. Otis hit a grand slam in the win over the Aggies Saturday … Erickson is hitting .399 while leading the SEC in RBI (70) … Falby (.410 batting average) leads the SEC in hits (79) … Getting the win in the circle Sunday was Rothrock, who leads the SEC with 23 wins … As a team, the Gators lead the SEC in every significant offensive category except sacrifice bunts and hit by pitch. As a team, the Gators are hitting .344 with more walks (248) than strikeouts (210) … Led by Reagan Walsh, who leads the SEC with 16 home runs, the Gators lead the SEC in homers with 78.

SEC Tournament

Tuesday

Game 1: No. 13 Ole Miss (30-24, 7-17 SEC) vs. No. 12 Kentucky (30-21, 8-16 SEC)

Wednesday

Game 2: No. 9 Alabama (33-16, 10-14 SEC) vs. No. 8 LSU (38-14, 12-12 SEC)

Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. No. 5 Missouri (40-15, 13-11 SEC)

Game 4: No. 10 Auburn (27-18-1, 9-15 SEC) vs. No. 7 Georgia (38-15, 12-12 SEC)

Game 5: No. 11 South Carolina (33-21, 8-16 SEC) vs. No. 6 Mississippi State (33-17, 12-12 SEC)

Thursday Quarterfinals

Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. No. 1 Tennessee (40-9, 19-5 SEC)

Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. No. 4 Arkansas (36-15, 15-9 SEC)

Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. No. 2 FLORIDA (42-13, 17-7 SEC)

Game 9: Game 9 winner vs. No. 3 Texas A&M (39-12, 15-9 SEC)