Florida Gators

 
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STARKVILLE, Miss. – The No. 1-ranked and Southeastern Conference champion Florida Softball team (52-4/20-4 SEC) will open SEC Tournament play on Thursday at 5 p.m. ET. UF will play the winner of Wednesday's contest between No. 8 seed Georgia (40-16) and No. 9 seed Ole Miss (38-19).
 
Florida enters the SEC Tournament as the No. 1 seed and travels to Starkville, Miss. looking for its fourth league tournament crown (also: 2008, 2009, 2013). Three of the last four times UF has won the SEC regular-season title, they have gone on to win the conference tournament.
 
UF is 23-25 all-time in the SEC Tournament, with three championships.   
 
The Gators secured their sixth SEC regular-season championship (1998, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016), and fifth under Florida head coach Tim Walton last Friday night. Florida, picked in the preseason to win the SEC, won its second-straight SEC regular season crown for the first time since the Gators went back-to-back in 2008 and 2009. 
 
The Gators are 21-4 (.840) against top-25 opponents this season, tops in the SEC, own eight come-from-behind wins – four in SEC play – and are 3-0 in extra-inning games in 2016. Florida owns 27 shutouts and 19 mercy-rule victories. In addition, UF is 22-4 versus current 1-25 RPI opponents and 9-0 against opponents ranked 26-50 in the RPI rankings.
  
Coaches' Corner
Head Coach Tim Walton:
"The SEC Tournament is a great opportunity for our team to feel what a one-game elimination style atmosphere is like. My goal is to try to get all three pitchers some good work and keep them sharp as we gear up for a postseason run."
 
Quick Hits

• UF is ranked No. 1 in both polls, No. 1 in the NCAA RPI and has the seventh-toughest schedule in the NCAA.
• Florida has allowed just 60 runs and committed only 25 errors through 56 games. UF's 60 runs allowed through 56 games is the second fewest in school history through this point in any season. Florida's 2009 squad allowed 41 tallies through 56 contests.
• The Gators currently sport the second-best fielding percentage (.983) and best earned run average (0.89) in the nation. For comparison through 56 games last season, Florida's pitchers had a 1.84 ERA and its defense had committed 28 errors and had a fielding percentage of .981. UF went on to record a .981 fielding percentage and commit just 33 errors, which are both school records.
• UF's astounding 0.89 team ERA (367.2 IP) would go down as the second-best ERA for a single season in program history if the season ended today. In addition, Florida's miniscule .156 batting average against (367.2 IP) would be the top b/avg. for a single season in program history.
• Delanie Gourley (18-3, 202 K), Kelly Barnhill (15-0, 157 K) and Aleshia Ocasio (19-1, 127 K) are the first trio in UF history to win at least 15 games each and record 125+ strikeouts in a single season. UF is the only school in the nation with three different pitchers with at least 100 strikeouts in 2016.
• Ocasio (0.71) and Gourley (0.76) have the No. 3 and No. 4 ERAs in the country and Barnhill is 10th with a 1.32 earned run average.  Historically, UF is trying to join its own 2009 squad and South Carolina's 1997 team as the only SEC teams to ever finish a season with two pitchers in the top-five nationally in ERA. In addition, UF has a chance to join FSU's 1993 squad as the only teams to finish a season with three pitchers in the top 10.
• UF's pitching trio leads the SEC with just 60 runs allowed and 486 strikeouts thrown. UF's strikeout total currently ranks third all-time in program history for a single season.
• Florida's opponents have only attempted to steal 10 bases against Aubree Munro and UF's catchers this season. That mark would shatter Florida's school record of 25 attempts by opponents that was set in 2015. In addition, UF's stolen-base-against percentage of 40% (4-10) this season would be the lowest in school history if the season ended today. Florida's 2003 team holds UF's top mark as they allowed just 51.7% (31-60) of runners to steal a base safely.
• Offensively, UF is sixth in the country in OBP (.441), 27th in scoring (6.25) and ranks 35th in BA (.318). The Gators .441 on base percentage would be the top mark in program history if the season ended today.
• Amanda Lorenz (.526), Kayli Kvistad (.524) and Nicole DeWitt (.521) are trying to become the first trio in school history to all have at least a .500 OBP or higher in a single season.
• Senior Kelsey Stewart is the NCAA active leader in games played (257), at-bats (891), hits (353), triples (29) and she's third in total bases (504) and fourth in runs scored (256). In addition, she's one of two active players in the country with 300-plus hits, 200-plus runs and 100-plus stolen bases.

 
Broadcast Information
The SEC Network will televise Thursday's contest between Florida and the winner of the Ole Miss-Georgia game. Florida Sports Talk will have the radio broadcast with Adam Schick (play-by-play) and former Gator Kelsey Horton (analysis) on the call. In addition, a live stats link will be available on the schedule page on FloridaGators.com.
 
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