GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida softball team is set to make a quick turnaround after SEC Opening Weekend to take on USA Softball in an exhibition Tuesday at 6 p.m. and North Dakota Wednesday at 7 p.m. The exhibition with Team USA will be streamed via the SEC Network+, while the Gators contest with North Dakota will air direct on the SEC Network.
The Gators (17-2) welcome Team USA and Gator Greats Michelle Moultrie,
Kelsey Stewart and
Aubree Munro back to Katie Seashole Pressy Stadium for the second time as the trio is preparing to compete in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
Last season, the Red, White and Blue took a 5-3 decision in the exhibition with UF. The Gators fell behind 5-0 and faced arguably the world's best pitcher, Monica Abbott, for five innings, but rallied for three unanswered runs against Rachel Garcia and Keilani Ricketts to force Abbott back into the circle in the bottom of the 7
th with one out.
Florida was poised to make a comeback as Abbott loaded the bases when she issued a walk after picking up a strikeout for the second out.
Hannah Adams nearly tied the game when she laced a shot to center field that forced Haylie McCleney to race in and make a play to end the game.
The Gators gained valuable experience from facing the world's No.1-ranked team and look to use this opportunity to gain more for their 2021 campaign, which will resume the following night at 7 p.m. against North Dakota (8-13).
Wednesday will be the first meeting between the Gators and the Fighting Hawks. UND enters the midweek contest after a 2-2 weekend where it picked up two wins over East Carolina, but dropped two contests to No. 18 Georgia.
The Hawks hold a .213 team batting average, while the Gators pitching staff is limiting opposing hitters to just a .150 average at the plate.
Elizabeth Hightower (0.63),
Katie Chronister (0.64) and
Natalie Lugo (0.97) all hold WHIPs under 1.00 this season.
Following the pair of midweek contests, the Gators will hit the road for their second SEC series of the season with a trip to Starkville, Miss. To take on Mississippi State.
This past weekend UF opened conference action by taking the series over No. 9 Kentucky, 2-1, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
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