Gator Softball Welcomes South Carolina for Holiday Weekend Series
Thursday, April 2, 2015 | Softball
Florida vs. South Carolina Series Notes
Gainesville, Fla. – The third-ranked Gator Softball team (33-4) will host Southeastern Conference rival South Carolina for three games on Friday and Saturday at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. The Gators and Gamecocks have not met since the final weekend of the 2013 regular season, and have not played in Gainesville since March of 2012. Florida has won 28 of the teams' last 29 meetings after South Carolina took 19 of the first 29.
QUICKLY: Florida Team Notes
· Florida took two of three games at Mississippi State last weekend, marking UF's second consecutive road series victory.
· Wednesday's win over UNF marked Florida's first extra-inning game in nearly a year (last: 4/6/14 vs. Auburn - W, 1-0, 8 innings).
· Janell Wheaton doubled home Taylore Fuller with one out in the eighth, marking the freshman's first game-winning RBI.
· The Orange and Blue have 12 home games in the month of April. The Gators played just three games at KSP Stadium in March.
· 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
· Kelsey Stewart (16) and Kirsti Merritt (13) both have more stolen bases than the Gators have allowed as a team (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.
· Haeger has established a new UF mark for RBI.
· The Arizona native is closing in on the school record for career home runs.
· Haeger struck out 11 batters for the second consecutive outing against the Ospreys, marking her team-best fourth outing this season with double-digit Ks.
· The senior was drafted by the Dallas Charge of National Pro Fastpitch on Wednesday night.
· Merritt has set the UF marks for hit-by-pitches in a season and a career.
SETTING THE STAGE: South Carolina
· Florida leads the all-time series, 38-20; this includes an 18-6 advantage in Gainesville.
· Before South Carolina took Game 3 of the teams' last series on May 4, 2013, in Columbia, S.C., the Gators had not lost to the Gamecocks since April 13, 2003.
· Since Tim Walton became Florida's head coach before the 2006 season, the Orange and Blue are 21-1 vs. the Garnet and Black.
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Friday, April 3 – 6 p.m.
· Visors
The first 250 fans in attendance will receive a Florida visor
Saturday, April 4 – 1 p.m. (doubleheader)
Presented by Campus USA
· 2 Bits Signs & Hand Fans
· Postgame Autographs
Following Game 2 of the doubleheader, the Gators will sign autographs for fans along the third-base concourse
BROADCAST INFORMATION
The Florida-South Carolina series will on SEC Network+ via WatchESPN through participating television providers only. Adam Schick (play-by-play – Friday), Larry Vettel (play-by-play – Saturday) and former Gator All-American Megan Bush (analysis) will be on the call.
All 2015 Florida Softball games can be heard on Florida Sports Talk (1230-AM in Gainesville, 900-AM in Ocala). Corey Brooks (Friday) and Adam Schick (Saturday) will call play-by-play for the UF-USC series.
LIVE STATS
Live stats links for this weekend's games can be found on the Gators' schedule page.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
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