No. 4 Florida Softball Welcomes South Carolina For Weekend Series March 16-18

After what resulted in a 'No Game' with Chattanooga Wednesday due to inclement weather, the Gators will swing back into action Friday through Sunday when they play host to their first home SEC series at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium, as the Orange and Blue welcome South Carolina to town for the three-game set, which kicks off Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.

Saturday's tilt will be featured on Sun Sports, while all three games will stream live on GatorVision.tv and air on WYGC 104.9-FM, 105 The Game, live locally and online. Mike Gillespie and Megan Bush will call the radio action Friday and Sunday, while Gillespie will handle Saturday's duties as Bush and Larry Vettel call the second contest of the series for Sun Sports.

The Gators enter the weekend 23-2 overall on the season, 4-1 in league play after opening the conference slate last week with a five-game road swing. Florida first played at Mississippi State March 7, where the Orange and Blue took 1-0 and 8-5 wins from the Bulldogs in Starkville, its 13th and 14th straight in the history of the series. UF then continued its spring break road trip with a visit to Knoxville to take on SEC Eastern Division rival, No. 9 Tennessee, in its first three-game league series of the 2012 campaign.

Florida took two of three from Tennessee Saturday and Sunday to win the series for its third and fourth victories over Top-25 competition this season, while the Lady Vols got the best of the Gators in a 1-0 decision in the bottom of the seventh in the series opener Friday. For UF, the series win was the third in the last four series with the Vols, having swept in Knoxville in 2008 and in Gainesville in 2009, while the two squads split two games in 2010 after a rain-out shortened the series. Last year, the Gators took three from the Lady Vols at home to win their fourth-straight SEC Eastern Division title, the fifth in school history.

Gator freshman hurler Lauren Haeger (Peoria, Ariz.) was a key piece of UF's success in the series win over the Vols, and for her efforts, the first-year, Deer Valley High School product was named the SEC's Freshman of the Week for the second time this season. Not only was Haeger a factor at the plate, but the first-year Gator earned her first career save in the circle donning the Orange and Blue in UF's series-evening victory Saturday in Knoxville, while picking up the win Sunday after 3.2 innings of scoreless relief in the series finale against the Lady Vols to improve to 7-1 on the season.

Through the past week's five games, Haeger registered a team-leading .417 batting clip, highlighted by her career-best 3-for-4 day at the plate Saturday against the Lady Vols. The USA Softball Women's Junior National Team member reached base in all five games over the past week to extend her current streak to 11, ranking third on the team.

Haeger stranded 11 Tennessee runners on base in just 5.2 innings of work for a 0.00 ERA, including entering the game to get out of bases-loaded situations twice, once Saturday, once Sunday. She earned the save Saturday and win Sunday and started neither game.

In addition to Haeger's success over the conference-opening schedule, sophomore ace Hannah Rogers (Lake Wales, Fla.) put together her third career one-hitter in the first game of the doubleheader between UF and Mississippi State. She then earned the save in the nightcap between the Gators and Bulldogs.

Senior Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) provided UF's one run on a solo shot, her sixth round-tripper of the season, to seal the series victory in favor of Florida.

Scouting South Carolina

South Carolina heads south to Gainesville with a 19-9 overall record, 2-3 in league play. The Gamecocks took two of three from Arkansas in their SEC-opening series, but dropped two this week to Mississippi State in a Tuesday doubleheader. USC defeated Charlotte just Wednesday, 6-5, to round out the last week of competition. Notably, South Carolina senior Evan Childs ended the series finale against Arkansas with a two-run home run, helping the team claim its first win of the season when trailing heading into the seventh inning. Senior leftfielder Kaitlin Westfall leads the SEC with 13 doubles this season and senior outfielder Lauren Lackey has four triples on the year, tying Florida's Michelle Moultrie for the SEC lead. Freshman Katelynn Howser has done some of her best work in 2012 out of the bullpen. In 12 relief appearances, she's picked up three saves and three of her eight wins to lead the Gamecocks. In the 33 innings of relief, she's posted a 2.76 ERA. In her eight starts, she's 5-1, tossing five complete games and posting a 2.86 ERA in 41.2 innings. Samie Garcia leads the Gamecocks with a .462 batting clip and a team-high 42 hits, while Childs owns eight homers to lead USC. As a team, the Gamecocks are batting .327 with a .403 on-base percentage and 27 homers.

Series History

Florida leads the series, 33-19

Home: 13-5 Away: 18-11 Neutral: 2-3

*Notably, Florida has won 23 straight in the history of the series*

Last time out:

April 29, 2011: UF 5, South Carolina 0

April 30, 2011: UF 6, South Carolina 1

May 1, 2011: UF 6, South Carolina 1

Last game's line score:

Florida 6, South Carolina 1 (May 1, 2011 at Columbia, SC)

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Florida............. 202 002 0 - 6 7 0 (43-8, 18-7 SEC)