Gators Travel to Alabama for First SEC Road Series
Thursday, March 19, 2015 | Softball
Florida vs. Alabama Series Notes
Gainesville, Fla. – The third-ranked Gator Softball team (28-2) will play its first conference road series this weekend, when Florida will travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to face No. 5 Alabama. The three-game set at Rhoads Stadium will mark the teams' first meetings since the Orange and Blue took two games from the Crimson Tide in Oklahoma City last June to capture UF's first national championship.
Florida is in the midst of a challenging stretch of its schedule that spans from the last two weeks of nonconference action through the first two weekends of league play.
· Since Feb. 25, the Gators have six wins over ranked teams (UCF, Oregon - twice, Michigan, Arizona, LSU) in 14 games.
· The clash with the Tide marks the fourth straight week that UF will play a team ranked in the top five of the national polls.
GATOR BITES: Quick Hits About the Gators
· The Gators began the season with 28 consecutive wins, setting a school record for the longest winning streak to start a campaign.
· Kelsey Stewart leads Florida with four triples on the year; Gator opponents have posted three triples.
· Stewart (12) and Kirsti Merritt (nine) both have more stolen bases than the Gators have allowed as a team (seven).
· Lauren Haeger (nine) and Taylore Fuller (nine) both have more home runs than the eight the UF pitching staff has allowed.
· UF hitters have struck out 127 times on the year; each of the Gators' three pitchers has 70+ strikeouts (Aleshia Ocasio - 95, Haeger - 91, Delanie Gourley - 71).
· Stewart has set the Gator records for career triples and stolen bases.
· Haeger has established a new UF mark for RBI.
· The Arizona native is closing in on the school record for career home runs.
· Merritt has tied the UF mark for hit-by-pitches in a season while setting a new standard for career HBPs.
SETTING THE STAGE: Alabama
· Alabama leads the all-time series, 32-28; this includes a 15-9 advantage in Tuscaloosa.
· Florida has won five of the last seven meetings with the Tide since the start of the 2013 season.
· Merritt and Stewart both have hit a home run against UA in each of their first two years at Florida.
· The Lake Panasoffkee, Fla., native leads all current Gators with 10 lifetime RBI against the Crimson Tide.
· The weekend series marks Florida's first appearance at Rhoads Stadium since a nonconference meeting in March of 2013.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
ESPNU will carry the first two games of the Florida-Alabama series, while the SEC Network will air Monday night's contest. Mark Neely (play-by-play) and former Texas A&M All-American Amanda Scarborough (analysis) will have the call.
All 2015 Florida Softball games can be heard on Florida Sports Talk (1230-AM in Gainesville, 900-AM in Ocala). Corey Brooks (play-by-play) and former Gator All-American Megan Bush (analysis) will form the broadcast team.
LIVE STATS
Live stats links for this weekend's games can be found on the Gators' schedule page.
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In the Polls: NFCA | USA Softball
