GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 5 Florida will welcome New Mexico State to Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium for a single midweek contest Wednesday, March 3, at 6 p.m. Fans can follow the action through live stats or by listening to the game via a live audio feed on FloridaGators.com with Ryan Urquhart and Skylar Lebron on the call.
The Gators (12-0) climbed up one spot in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll to No. 5 and remained at No. 5 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll this week after the team picked up a pair of wins over Louisville and one against McNeese.
New Mexico State (3-9) enters the week after a 2-3 showing at The Spring Games in Clermont, Fla. The Aggies dropped a pair of games to then-ranked No. 12 Kentucky, 11-1 (5) & 10-1 (5), but split with FIU, 4-3 & 5-11, and an extra-inning win against Stetson, 5-3 (8), to end the weekend.
The Florida pitching staff has steadily produced quality outings through the first 12 games of the season. The staff has turned in a nation-leading seven shutouts and currently has the lowest ERA (0.71) in the country with a minimum 30 innings pitched.
Only Alabama, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Washington have tallied seven shutouts this season, with the Sooners joining the Gators doing it in the fewest amount of total games played.
Leading the way in the circle is fifth-year senior
Katie Chronister. Chronister holds an unblemished 0.00 ERA through 22.0 innings pitched, which is more innings than any other pitcher in the country with a 0.00 ERA.
The Gainesville, Fla. native is currently riding a career-long 25.1 scoreless inning streak that dates back to the 2020 season.
Elizabeth Hightower (0.71 ERA) holds the most innings on the staff with 29.2 and is followed by
Natalie Lugo's (1.64 ERA) 21.1 innings and
Rylee Trlicek's (0.00 ERA) 6.0 innings.
Offensively, the Gators are batting .325 as a team and rank 12
th in the country in doubles with 23 on the year, with
Hannah Adams and
Cheyenne Lindsey ranking seventh nationally with seven doubles each.
Adams (.486) and Lindsey (.455) both lead the team in batting average, but are followed by
Charla Echols (.417),
Jaimie Hoover (.393),
Avery Goelz (.323) and
Kendyl Lindaman (.313) in the category as players with above .300 averages.
For the Aggies only bring a pair of .300-plus hitters to tomorrow's matchup as Hailey Tanori (.361) and Matalasi Faapito (.310) pace a lineup that averages .218 as team.
In the circle for New Mexico State, Faapito holds the most innings pitched with 30.0 and a 4.90 ERA. The Aggies staff comes in with a 6.17 ERA.
Following the midweek matchup with New Mexico State is a pair of games Friday and Saturday against instate rival No. 16 Florida State. The first game will be televised on the SEC Network, while the Saturday game in Tallahassee will be streamed via ACC Network Extra.
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