Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 2-ranked University of Florida softball team continues play at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium Wednesday, March 15, with a solo contest against North Dakota State University at 6 p.m. ET

The Gators (22-1, 2-0 SEC) come off a 2-0 series victory over Missouri on SEC Opening Weekend where the team produced a pair of shutouts (6-0 & 1-0) behind the solid pitching efforts of senior Delanie Gourley (9-1) and sophomore Kelly Barnhill (9-0).

Gourley threw the team's eighth one-hitter of the season to open the series against Missouri while Barnhill tied her season-high of 12 strikeouts in the second and final game of the series. Both teams agreed to cancel the third game of the series due to the weather conditions steadily declining on Monday evening.

The Bison (10-14) are coming a productive 4-1 weekend at the Stetson University Westin Invitational where NDSU picked up wins over Manhattan College (W, 3-2 & W, 5-1), Stetson (W, 3-1) and Colgate (W, 3-1). Their only loss on the weekend came at the hands of Columbia (L, 7-6).

Gator Notables

• Sophomore Amanda Lorenz is currently riding a 41-game reached base streak that dates back to the 2016 season where she ended on an 18-game streak. The Moorpark, Calif. native has reached base safely in all 23 games so far this season along with junior Kayli Kvistad. Redshirt-freshman Sophia Reynoso is right behind the pair with a 21-game streak.
• The Gators enter the week with the nation's best team ERA (0.64) and is led by Barnhill's 0.25 mark which ranks third individually and first in the SEC. Junior Aleshia Ocasio comes with the 13^th best ERA (0.72) while Gourley ranks 34^th (0.98).
• So far this season Florida has produced 15 shutouts in 23 games played, a mark that currently ranks second in the SEC behind Alabama's 16 total shutouts. Last year it took 28 games for the Gators to reach 15 shutouts while the team finished with 31 total at the end of the season.
• A trio of freshmen in Jordan Roberts, Jaimie Hoover and Sophia Reynoso lead the Gators in multiple RBI games this season as the group has combined for 17 multiple RBI games this season. Roberts and Hoover leads the group with six each while Reynoso currently has five to her credit.
• Ocasio has recorded starts at three different positions (right field, pitcher and third base) on the field so far this season and has a played a total of four on the year so far as she has also played left field for the Gators.

Bison Bites

• North Dakota State, selected as the Summit League's preseason favorite, won their third consecutive league tournament title in 2016 as the team collected six first-place votes for a total of 36 points. The Bison, who have won the last three Summit League tournament championships and five consecutive regular season crowns, return six all-league selections, including pitcher of the year Jacquelyn Sertic.
• Sertic has only hit one batter this season, which leads the NCAA, and ranks second nationally in total strikeouts with a total of 145 to her credit.

 
Series History
In the brief history of competition between the two programs, the Gators have outscored the Bison 27-0 in a pair of five-inning games. The two teams met in 2011 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium during the Lipton Invitational where Florida took two games on two separate days by the scores of 18-0 (5) and 9-0 (5).

Recap – March 5, 2011
Florida's five-inning shutout against North Dakota State marked the 10th time the Gators have blanked an opponent this season and the sixth time the Orange and Blue have shortened a game to five innings by run rule.

In the first all-time meeting between the Bison and Gators, UF came away victorious in a game that resulted in a program-high 18 walks drawn. The team is now also tied for fourth in the record books for runs scored in a game. Seniors Aja Paculba (Wildomar, Calif.) and Megan Bush (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) both went 2-for-3 with two runs apiece, one homer for Paculba. Bush later dropped a solo bomb against Pacific in UF's second game of the day.

Senior Stephanie Brombacher (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) secured her 10th win of the season, her fifth shutout, allowing just two hits, one walk and five Ks in five innings of work.

Recap – March 6, 2011
Florida used five homers, including two in the first inning and three in the fourth, to defeat North Dakota State, 9-0, in five innings Sunday. The second-ranked Gators improved to 19-0 on the season, tying the best start in program history.

For the second time in as many days, UF shut out North Dakota State behind the righty, Brombacher, who improved to 11-0 with the win Sunday following 4.0 innings of work. Sophomore Ensley Gammel (Bakersfield, Calif.) pitched one inning of scoreless relief, striking out one batter. Florida allowed just one hit on the day, a blooper that fell in the 5-6 gap by NDSU's Rivera, the first batter of the game.
 

NORTH DAKOTA STATE		2-0
Home: 2-0	Away: N/A	Neutral: N/A
Date	Location	W/L	Score
3/5/11	Gainesville, Fla.	W	18-0 (5)
3/6/11	Gainesville, Fla.	W	9-0 (5)

 
SEC Standings

	SEC	SEC%	OVERALL	OVER %	STRK
Alabama	3-0	1.000	24-2	.923	W17
Florida	2-0	1.000	22-1	.957	W14
Texas A&M	2-1	.667	21-2	.913	W2
Auburn	2-1	.667	22-3	.880	W1
Tennessee	2-1	.667	21-3	.875	W2
Mississippi State	1-2	.333	20-5	.800	L2
LSU	1-2	.333	19-6	.760	L1
South Carolina	1-2	.333	18-7	.720	L2
Georgia	0-0	.000	24-3	.889	W12
Ole Miss	0-0	.000	20-3	.870	W1
Kentucky	0-0	.000	18-4	.818	W13
Missouri	0-2	.000	11-10	.524	L2
Arkansas	0-3	.000	19-4	.826	L3

 
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