Gainesville, Fla. – The University of Florida softball team steps back into Southeastern Conference play this weekend with a three-game series against Arkansas March 31 through April 2 at Bogle Park in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Gators (30-2, 7-1 SEC) currently sit on top of the SEC standings after three weekends of competition while the Razorbacks (22-9, 2-7 SEC) sit in a tie for 10
th with South Carolina. UF is currently riding a 24-game win streak against Arkansas heading into this weekend's series.
All the games can be viewed live on the SEC Network via WatchESPN.com but fans can also listen live on WGGG (92.1 FM/1230 AM) & WMOP (100.1 FM/900 AM) as Ryan Urquhart (play-by-play) will have the call along with Kelsey Horton (analyst).
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GATOR NOTABLES
- Amanda Lorenz continues to produce at the plate in a variety of ways. The talented sophomore slugger extended her reached base streak to 32 games on the season after going 2-for-2 against Bethune-Cookman last night for her team-leading 11th multi-hit game of the season.
- As a program, Florida now sits with 999 wins. The Gators will look to eclipse the 1,000 mark and achieve the milestone in game one against Arkansas March 31 at 7 p.m. ET. Florida will be the 6th SEC program to have accomplished the feat with its next victory. Head Coach Tim Walton has been at the helm of the program for 638 of those wins.
- Florida continues to lead the nation in ERA (0.78) and fielding percentage (0.989) entering this weekend and sits fourth nationally in on base percentage (.455).
- Sophomore Kelly Barnhill continues to be lights out in the circle for the Gators over the last eight innings pitched she has recorded 19 strikeouts for an average 2.375 strikeouts per inning during that span. She recently recorded her 11th victory of the season with a complete-game win that included 16 strikeouts and shut the door in the fifth inning against Bethune-Cookman to strikeout the site.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Florida holds a 44-10 edge over Arkansas in the all-time series coming into this weekend's contest in Fayetteville, Ark. The Gators are 20-5 against the Razorbacks in their house and look to extend on that during this weekend's series. The last time Arkansas ousted UF was April 7, 2007 in Kelly Seashole Pressly Stadium during the final game of their SEC series. The Razorbacks took a 1-0 victory over the Gators.Â
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2016 RECAP & NOTES
May 6, 2016 | The Gators kicked off their 2016 series with the Arkansas Razorbacks with a 9-0, 5-inning blowout. Three different seniors hit home runs for the Gators and
Aleshia Ocasio (19-1) threw a complete-game shutout and recorded five strikeouts while yielding three hits and no walks.
Kelsey Stewart led off the game with a single, extending her hitting streak to nine games, and
Amanda Lorenz followed with a walk. With runners on first and second and no one out, sophomore
Kayli Kvistad mashed her sixth double of the season off the centerfield wall to score Stewart.
Kirsti Merritt followed with an infield single to score Lorenz. Florida scored their final run of the inning on a double steal.
ARKANSAS (17-37 / 1-21) -VS-
# 1 FLORIDA (50-4 / 18-4)
| Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
R |
H |
E |
| Arkansas |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
| Florida |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
9 |
10 |
0 |
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W: Aleshia Ocasio (19-1);
L: Clark (4-5)
Game Details
DATE - 5/6/2016 Â
START - 6:04 pm Â
TIME - 1:20 Â Â
ATTENDANCE - 1239Â Â Â Â Â Â
SITE - Gainesville (KSP Stadium)
HR: Kelsey Stewart (1);
Kirsti Merritt (1);
Taylore Fuller (1)
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May 7, 2016 | The Gators continued their winning streak over Arkansas dating back to 2007 with a 5-0 victory at KSP Stadium during senior night. The Gators scored four runs in the bottom of the third inning and junior
Delanie Gourley (18-3) recorded a career-high 16 strikeouts and earned her 18th win in the circle.                                                                                                                                                               Â
Senior
Kelsey Stewart and freshman
Amanda Lorenz got things going with a pair of one-out singles. Sophomore
Kayli Kvistad followed with a two-run single up the middle and senior
Kirsti Merritt capped things off with her second home run in as many days, as she blasted a two-run bomb to left-center field.                                                                                                                              Â
Gourley, who recorded her fifth-double-digit strikeout game of the season, registered perhaps her best start of the season on Saturday. Florida's junior left-hander tossed a complete-game shutout while allowing just two hits and no walks in addition to her career-high 16 strikeouts.
Notes (3/3/16):
- With today's win, Florida is now 51-4 and still holds the highest win percentage (.927) in the country.
- Florida's now won at least 50 games in four-straight seasons and 2016 is the eighth time in school history that UF has accomplished this feat. Florida's 21 runs allowed through 25 games is tied for the fewest in school history through this point in any season
- Florida clinched its first SEC Championship during a home series for the first time since 1998.
- Saturday's game was broadcast on ESPNU. Florida improved to 10-1 in contests that broadcast on national television.
ARKANSAS (17-38 / 1-22)
-VS- # 1 FLORIDA (51-4 / 19-4)
| Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R |
H |
E |
| Arkansas |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| Â Florida |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
X |
5 |
9 |
0 |
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W: Delanie Gourley (18-3);
L: Moll (12-30)
Game Details
DATE - 5/7/2016 Â
START - 1:02 pm Â
TIME - 1:55 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
ATTENDANCE - 1679Â Â Â Â Â
SITE - Gainesville, Fla. (KSP Stadium)
HR: Kirsti Merritt (1)
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May 8, 2016 | The Gators closed out their SEC series against Arkansas with a 8-0 run-rule victory. The Gators exploded for four runs in the top of the first inning and freshman
Kelly Barnhill (15-0) recorded Florida's fourth no hitter of the season and the first of her career on Sunday as she struck out 10 batters and walked just one Razorback.                                                                                             Â
Four no hitter's is the most UF has thrown in a single season in program history. In addition, Barnhill joins Lindsay Littlejohn (Feb. 19, 2006, Longwood) and
Delanie Gourley (May 16, 2014, Florida A&M) as the only freshmen in program history to throw a no hitter.
Senior
Kelsey Stewart and rookie
Amanda Lorenz ignited the Florida offense during the stanza with a leadoff walk and single. After Stewart came around to score on an Arkansas miscue,
Kirsti Merritt recorded an RBI single up the middle to score Lorenz.
Notes (5/8/16):
- Florida became the fourth team to win this series tomorrow after being the SEC regular season champs a season ago.
- Aleshia Ocasio (19-1), Kelly Barnhill (15-0) and Delanie Gourley (18-3) are the first trio in school history to all record at least 15 wins in a season.
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ARKANSAS (17-39 / 1-23)
-VS- # 1 FLORIDA (52-4 / 20-4)
| Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
R |
H |
E |
| Arkansas |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Â Florida |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
8 |
6 |
0 |
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W: Kelly Barnhill (15-0);
L: Moll (12-31)
Game Details
DATE - 5/8/2016Â Â
START - 1:04 pmÂ
TIME - 1:34 Â Â
ATTENDANCE - 1422 Â
SITE - Gainesville, Fla. (KSP Stadium)
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SCOUTING THE RAZORBACKS
- The Arkansas Razorbacks sit at 10th place in the SEC. In the conference, the team is 2-7 with a .222-win percentage. Overall, the team is 22-9 with a .710 percentage. The team is 2-7 against top 25 teams and are on a three-game losing streak.
- This past weekend, the Razorbacks played #17 Kentucky in. They lost game one 1-2, game two 7 to 5 and game three 2 to 0.
- Nicole Schroeder has been named the player of the week twice this season. She is the team's number one hitter with a .407 average and a slugging percentage of .975. Schroeder has 81 at bats, 23 runs, 33 hits and 12 homeruns. She is ranked 10th in the conference for batting average but first for slugging percentage. Schroder leads the conference in homeruns and is third in RBIs. She is right behind UF's Kayli Kvistad for on base percentage with .560.
- Stephanie Canfield has the third most career hit compared to any other Razorback's career. From 2013 to now, she has 220 hits. This is just seven away from the leading hitter. This season Canfield has 30 hits in overall play.
- Autumn Storms is the team's leading pitcher. She has an average of 1.53 earned runs against with 79 hits and 36 runs. This season she has a record of 10-6.
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