Florida Softball Releases 2009 Schedule
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 | Softball
University of Florida head softball coach Tim Walton unveiled the 2009 schedule for the Gators on Tuesday. It features three early-season tournaments, including two in Gainesville, and matchups with two teams who also competed in the 2008 Women's College World Series, including the defending national champion Arizona State.
Florida is coming off an NCAA record-setting season in which it recorded 70 victories and posted an overall record of 70-5. The 2008 Southeastern Conference regular-season and tournament champions return nine starters, including five All-Americans. They will be facing 16 teams that played in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
For the first time in three years, the Gators open at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville. They kick off their season with a weekend series against Big 12 foe Baylor on Friday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. The following weekend, Florida will host the Lipton Invitational, where it will take on five opponents, including Georgia Tech, a Gainesville Regional participant in 2008, and in-state-foe Florida Atlantic. The Gators then travel to Palm Springs, Calif., to play five contests in the Cathedral City Classic. Their tournament schedule starts off with a bang, as they face the ASU Sun Devils on the first day of action. They will also battle Regional participants Nevada and Washington.
Florida returns home to take on the 2005 National Champion Michigan Wolverines in a midweek game on Feb. 25 and then hosts the Cox Communications Invitational starting Friday, Feb. 27. The Gators will play four teams, including South Florida and Illinois, both of whom UF took down during the 2008 USF-Wilson Tournament.
The Gators swept nine of the 10 conference matchups and compiled a 27-1 conference record in 2008. They open the SEC schedule on the road in Columbia, S.C., against the Gamecocks on March 7. East rivals Georgia comes to town on Wednesday, March 11, for a doubleheader and then the Gators take to the road again the following weekend to play Ole Miss. UF defeated the Rebels, 1-0, in the first round of the 2008 SEC Tournament on a Francesca Enea (Woodland Hills, Calif.) home run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Florida goes into the end of March with two home series against SEC foes Tennessee and Alabama. The Gators swept the regular-season series against the Lady Vols and then beat them, 6-1, in the semifinal game of the SEC Tournament to advance to play Alabama. In the finale, the Gators came from behind on a grand slam by then-senior Mary Ratliff (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) to defeat the Crimson Tide, another WCWS participant, 4-1, to claim their first-ever SEC Tournament title. The Western Division champion Tide split with the Gators in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in the regular-season series.
April starts off with a doubleheader at Auburn on the first. The Gators also swept the Tigers, another Regional participant, by a combined score of 20-4. UF plays Mississippi State at home before facing Florida State on April 8. After a road series with Kentucky, the Gators take on UCF on April 15. The Gators shutout the Knights, 10-0, to advance to the Super Regionals in postseason play.
The final road trip of the season is to Baton Rouge, La., to face LSU. The Gators end the regular season with a pair of home series, against Arkansas on April 25-26 and versus Longwood on May 2-3.
The SEC Tournament is slated to begin on Thursday, May 7, in Knoxville, Tenn. The championship game will be played on Saturday, May 9. The NCAA Tournament will begin with Regional action on Thursday, May 14 at 16 sites across the country. Super Regionals will take place the following weekend at eight different venues. The eight-team WCWS in Oklahoma City, Okla., runs from May 28 to June 3.
Please visit www.gatorzone.com for the complete schedule.
