No. 2 Florida Softball Hosts No. 3 Georgia March 25-27
Thursday, March 24, 2011 | Softball
The second-ranked University of Florida softball team will play host to No. 3 Georgia this weekend in a three-game series at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium, beginning Friday at 5 p.m. The UF/UGA match-up for Saturday is slated for a 4:30 p.m. start and will be broadcast live by Fox Sports Florida with Bernie Guenther and Kristina Hilberth. Sunday's game will kick off at 1 p.m. All games will be available for Gator fans on Gametracker and are also accessible on the radio via 105 'The Game' locally. Gator fans can find all links on www.GatorZone.com/softball.
One of the top softball rivalries in the country, the Gators and Bulldogs enter the highly anticipated match-up sitting atop the SEC East in first and second, respectively. Florida (30-1), now the only squad undefeated in conference play, boasts a 7-0 league record with its last victories coming in form of a sweep at Ole Miss last weekend. The Bulldogs (24-4) enter the UF/UGA match-up with a 5-3 SEC record, following a sweep by now No. 1 Alabama last weekend.
The two league foes last met in the 2010 Women's College World Series when the Dawgs eliminated UF from the action with a 3-2 victory in Oklahoma City, Okla., June 5. The Gators' and Bulldogs' last regular season series (2010) was cancelled due to rain.
FLORIDA NOTABLES
The Gators improved to 30-1, 7-0 in the Southeastern Conference after defeating Mississippi State in a mid-week doubleheader March 16, and followed with 8-0 (6), 18-3 (5) and 11-3 (7) victories over Ole Miss this past weekend on the road… In the past week, the Gators out-scored their opponents, 63-7, hit eight homers, drew 38 walks and were led by senior Kelsey Bruders .769 batting clip, .850 on-base percentage and 1.538 slugging percentage, earning her SEC Player of the Week honors… Freshman righty Hannah Rogers earned all five wins for the Gators in the circle and now stands at 16-1 on the season… The Lake Wales, Fla., product allowed just four runs and 10 hits in 23.0
innings, while fanning 13 the past week, and has yet to allow an earned run in conference play...Through the first 31 games of the season, Florida has held its opponents to 32 runs, an average of 1.03 per game, while putting up 284 itself… The Orange and Blue have been patient at the plate, drawing 172 walks, and have connected on 57 home runs… UFs hot-hitting has continued as senior Megan Bush and Kasey Fagan clocked Floridas sixth and seventh grand slams of the season out of the park against Mississippi State and Ole Miss, respectively… In conference play, UF has outscored its SEC foes, 76-8, while hitting 13 homers and drawing 40 walks… Both Bush and Bruder lead the Gators individually through the first seven conference games for the Gators, each owning a .600 batting average… Bush is currently riding a Florida-record and career-long 19-game hitting streak.
WEEKLY AWARD: Bruder Tabbed SEC Player of the Week
Senior left fielder Kelsey Bruder was perfect in three of Florida's last five games, including a career-best 4-for-4 with six RBI and four runs in the second game of the doubleheader with MSU. For the second time this season, Bruder was just shy of a cycle, missing only a triple in the second match up with the Bulldogs. The senior is currently riding a six-game hit streak, ranks second on the team in multi-RBI games this season, with 12, and also owns nine multi-hit games. Bruder is currently leading the Gators in conference play thus far with a .600 batting clip, three stolen bases, 12 runs, 15 RBI, five doubles and three homers through UF's first seven league games.
FLORIDA vs. GEORGIA STATISTICAL COMPARISON
Florida.............. Category................... UGA
30-1.................... Record..................... 24-4
7-0............ Conference Record............. 5-3
.362.............. Batting Average............ . .325
801...................... At Bats....................... 693
284........................ Runs........................ 193
290......................... Hits.......................... 225
46....................... Doubles........................ 33
5.......................... Triples........................... 5
57.................... Home Runs..................... 45
271................ Runs Batted In................ 169
.645......... Slugging Percentage......... .582
46/57...... Stolen Bases/Attempts....... 31/39
172....................... Walks.......................... 94
170.................... Strikeouts.................... 122
.476......... On-Base Percentage......... .416
0.80.................. Team ERA................... 1.83
9.41.............. Opponent ERA............... 7.06
2........................... Saves............................ 4
39......................... Walks.......................... 61
178.................... Strikeouts.................... 201
.153....... Batting Average Against...... .189
.970.......... Fielding Percentage.......... .976
25......................... Errors..................... . ...17
UF/UGA SERIES HISTORY
Series Record................... UF Leads, 28-17
At Gainesville........................................ 13-9
At Athens ......................................... 13-6
Neutral..................................................... 2-2
1-run...................................................... 10-5
2-run........................................................ 5-0
Shutouts................................................ 15-3
Most Runs, UF.......................... 15 (3/11/09)
Margin, UF................................ 15 (3/11/09)
Most Runs, UGA.......... 12 (2x, last 4/15/06)
Margin, UGA................................. 9 (4/5/03)
Longest Win Streak, UF. 11 (5/3/97-5/7/99)
Longest Win Streak, UG..4 (4/3/05-4/15/06)
For a recap and complete statistics following each game of the series, visit www.GatorZone.com or follow the Gators on Twitter @GatorZoneSBall.
