No. 1 Florida Opens 2015 Campaign at USF Softball Classic
Thursday, February 5, 2015 | Softball
Gainesville, Fla. – No. 1 Florida returns to the diamond this weekend for the first time since capturing the 2014 national championship. The USF Softball Classic in Tampa, Fla., will kick off the 19th season of Gator Softball and the 10th season of Tim Walton's tenure as head coach.
The season opens Friday at 4:00 (all times p.m. and Eastern), when UF will face Hampton. On Saturday, the Gators will face No. 8 Michigan at 1:30 and Illinois State at 3:45. Sunday features two intrastate matchups as Florida will face Jacksonville at 1:30 and tournament host USF at 4:00.
GATOR BITES
· Florida returns 14 letterwinners from last year's squad.
· The Gators bring back two contributors from their 2014 pitching rotation in Lauren Haeger and Delanie Gourley.
· The UF roster includes six incoming freshmen - IF Nicole DeWitt, UT Kayli Kvistad, UT Aleshia Ocasio, OF Megan Reed, UT Becca Shipper and C/1B Janell Wheaton.
· Florida will open the season with 12 neutral-site contests in its first 28 games before conference play begins on March 13.
o The Gators excelled in neutral-site games in 2014, posting a 22-1 mark.
o Their only neutral-site loss on the way to the national championship came against Georgia in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament in Columbia, S.C.
· 2015 marks the fifth time in the last six years that the Orange and Blue have begun the season at a tournament hosted by USF (2010-12, 2014-15).
· The Gators have advanced to the Women's College World Series in three of the four previous years that they opened the season at the Bulls' tournament (all except 2012)
· Since 2010, UF is 19-1 when playing in Tampa/Clearwater during the season's first weekend (only loss: Feb. 13, 2010, 0-3 vs. Georgia Tech)
· UF comes to Tampa with winning records against Hampton (1-0), Jacksonville (12-0) and USF (39-13).
· The Gators have split four meetings with Illinois State.
· Florida is 4-8 all-time against Michigan.
· The Orange and Blue faced four of their weekend foes during the 2014 season, compiling a 5-0 record:
o 1-0 vs. Michigan: W, 9-4 (8), Feb. 8 at Tampa, Fla. (USF Wilson-DeMarini Tournament)
o 1-0 vs. Illinois State: W, 3-2, Feb. 7 at Tampa, Fla. (USF Wilson-DeMarini Tournament)
o 1-0 vs. Jacksonville: W, 6-0, Feb. 19 at Gainesville, Fla.
o 2-0 vs. USF: W, 10-3, Feb. 6 at Tampa, Fla.; W, 17-1 (5), April 23 at Gainesville, Fla.
· Florida went 6-0 last season in Tampa, outscoring USF, Illinois State, Wisconsin (twice), Michigan and Bethune-Cookman 40-13.
o Taylor Schwarz led the Gators with a .500 average (8x16), two home runs and eight RBI; Gourley, Haeger and Hannah Rogers each won two games.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
All 2015 Florida Softball games can be heard on Florida Sports Talk (1230-AM in Gainesville, 900-AM in Ocala). Adam Schick (Friday/Saturday) and Corey Brooks (Sunday) will have the call from Tampa, with former Gator All-American Megan Bush providing analysis.
LIVE STATS
Live stats links for the weekend can be found on the Gators' schedule page.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
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