Head Coach Tim Walton Previews 2011 SEC Softball Tournament With Media Monday
Monday, May 9, 2011 | Softball
University of Florida softball head coach Tim Walton met with the media Monday to preview the Southeastern Conference Tournament hosted by Ole Miss May 12-14 in Oxford, Miss.
Florida earned the No. 2 seed in the SEC tournament, following Alabama, after its sweep over No. 3 Tennessee this past weekend. A Florida sweep allowed the Gators to clinch its fourth straight SEC Eastern Division title as five seniors played their last regular-season game.
“You can really tell by the way we are playing right now that finals are over, and that all of our players are completely focused and dedicated to what they are doing,” Walton said.
Florida will face Auburn, the No. 7 seed, at 2:30 p.m. (ET) Thursday. Florida is 27-14 all-time against Auburn. Walton said the Gators played extremely well against the Tigers on the road this season, and the Gators will be prepared for the first round.
“They have some really good pitching and a lot of different looks they can give us, and offensively their top five hitters did a good job against us when we played at Auburn.”
The Gators will make their 15th consecutive SEC tournament appearance after concluding the regular season 47-8 overall and 21-7 in the conference. Florida went 1-1 in the tournament last season before being eliminated by LSU in the semi-finals.
“We are going to do a lot more little things; we are going to drop down a lot more bunts, we're running a lot more, and if you're going to prepare for us you not only have to keep us in the yard but you're going to have to do a good job playing in-field defense too.”
