No. 2 Gators Visit No. 11 Georgia for Three-Game Series
Thursday, April 16, 2015 | Softball
Florida vs. Georgia Series Notes
Gainesville, Fla. – The second-ranked Gator Softball team (41-4, 11-4 SEC) will visit Southeastern Conference rival and No. 11-ranked Georgia (35-11, 11-7 SEC) this weekend for three games at Jack Turner Stadium. The series will mark the teams' first regular-season matchup since 2013, when the Gators took two of three games in Gainesville. UF's last visit to Athens came in 2012 - Florida won that series, 2-1.
QUICKLY: Florida Team Notes
· Florida is coming off a sweep of No. 13 Kentucky on Orange & Blue Weekend that followed an Easter weekend sweep of South Carolina.
· The Gators have defeated Sunshine State rivals in their last three midweek games, beating UNF in a 2-1, eight-inning game on April 1, besting Florida State by a 5-1 score in Tallahassee on April 8 and topping USF by a 7-0 count on Wednesday in Gainesville.
· The Orange and Blue are riding a nine-game win streak, the team's longest run since a 28-game strand to open the season.
· As of Sunday, April 12, the pitching trio of Delanie Gourley, Lauren Haeger and Aleshia Ocasio holds the highest per-game strikeout rate in the Southeastern Conference.
GATOR BITES: Florida Player Notes
· Kathlyn Medina is a Senior CLASS Award finalist. Fans can vote daily via multiple devices thru May 11 at SeniorCLASSAward.com.
· Ocasio is one of 25 finalists for the NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year award.
· Kelsey Stewart (20) and Kirsti Merritt (14) both have more stolen bases than the Gator pitching staff has allowed (10).
· Stewart holds the highest batting average in UF history (min. 200 AB) and has set the Gator records for career triples and stolen bases. She also is closing in on the career hits mark.
· The Kansas native's six triples thru Sunday ranks fifth in the country. (Stewart added a seventh triple during Monday night's series finale against Kentucky.)
· Haeger has established new UF marks for RBI and walks, while tying the school record for home runs.
· No. 17 also is closing in on the Gators' walks record.
· The senior was drafted by the Dallas Charge of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) on April 1.
· Merritt has set the UF marks for hit-by-pitches in a season and a career.
SETTING THE STAGE: Georgia
· Florida leads the all-time series, 33-23; this includes a 15-7 advantage in Athens.
· Since Tim Walton became Florida's head coach before the 2006 season, the Gators are 12-10 vs. the Bulldogs.
· Stewart (Wichita) and Georgia's Alex Hugo (Olathe) both are Kansas natives and played travel ball with the Wichita Mustangs.
· The Gators have six California natives, while the Bulldogs have two.
· UGA's Niaja Griffin (Orlando) is a Florida native.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
The Florida-Georgia series opener will be streamed on SEC Network+ through WatchESPN via participating television providers only. ESPN2 (Saturday) and ESPNU (Sunday) will televise the final two games, both of which can be seen on WatchESPN.
All 2015 Florida Softball games can be heard on Florida Sports Talk (1230-AM in Gainesville, 900-AM in Ocala). Corey Brooks and former Gator All-American Megan Bush will call the Gators-Bulldogs series.
LIVE STATS
Live stats links for the Florida-Georgia series can be found on the Gators' schedule page.
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