GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After 339 days being away from collegiate competition, No. 7 Florida will open the 2021 regular season in Tampa against USF. The Gators and the Bulls will play a three-game series this weekend with a doubleheader slated for Saturday at 1 p.m. and the series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m.
In 2020, the Gators concluded the shortened season with a 23-4 overall record and 3-0 mark in Southeastern Conference play. The last game the program played occurred March 11, against Florida State at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium where UF defeated FSU, 5-2, thanks to a trio of outstanding performances at the plate by
Kendyl Lindaman,
Charla Echols and
Cheyenne Lindsey.
The Gators finished the year on a six-game win streak and were in groove before the season was shut down.
With the page now turned to the 2021 season, Florida looks to continue to build on the momentum gained at the end of the 2020 campaign as nearly every position starter returns to the lineup. The one position that will feature a fresh new face will be at shortstop as freshman
Kali Reis is expected to step into the role that
Sophia Reynoso had anchored since she arrived on campus in 2015.
Reis is accompanied by fellow freshmen standouts
Avery Goelz,
Katie Kistler,
Haley Pittman and
Emily Wilkie.
In the circle, the Gators return
Katie Chronister,
Natalie Lugo,
Elizabeth Hightower and
Rylee Trlicek. Lugo (81.1 IP) and Trlicek (52.2) picked up the most innings out of the group, but the entire staff contributed to the Gators success last season. The group finished 2020 with a combined 1.89 ERA and held opposing offenses to just a .217 batting average.
Lugo (1.64 ERA), entering her senior season, finished as the national leader with six saves in just 18 appearances, while Trlicek (1.99 ERA) tallied a 9-2 record during her first year wearing the Orange & Blue. In the fall, Hightower was tabbed as the inaugural "Gators Unlimited" champion after a series of dominant performances that allowed her to tally 1,140 points.
At the plate, Lindaman, a three-time NFCA All-American, is back for her fifth year to anchor the Gators lineup and she's joined by Echols, who enters her second year with the program after transferring in 2019. The duo was recently tabbed to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 "Watch List" and the Preseason All-SEC Team.
The Gators projected lineup will also feature
Jaimie Hoover,
Hannah Adams,
Cheyenne Lindsey,
Julia Cottrill and
Baylee Goddard. Hoover (.325), Adams (.375), Lindsey (.381) and Cottrill (.323) all batted over .300 last season along with .400-plus averages from Lindaman (.410) and Echols (.417).
This weekend, the Gators will be put to the test against a talented USF squad that brings back USA Softball Player of the Year Top 50 "Watch List" pitcher Georgina Corrick and a veteran lineup that includes AnaMarie Bruni.
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Opposition Overview
| USF |
|
| Head Coach |
Ken Eriksen |
| Career Record |
975-502-1 (.660) |
| All-Time Record vs. |
50-13 (.793) |
| Streak |
Won Last 17 |
| Last Meeting |
Feb. 9, 2020 – W, 6-1 – Tampa, Fla. |
| Last Loss |
May 20, 2012 – L, 1-0 – Gainesville, Fla. |
| Last Loss in Tampa |
April 13, 2005 – L, 5-2 |
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