Is there Reason for Softball Concern?

[ocalaman]

38-3 against a difficult schedule and ranked #1. And they may have the deepest and best pitching staff in the history of college softball and a stellar defense. But is the lack of hitting going to hurt them when it comes to Regionals, Super Regionals and the WCWS (if they make it)? For the last month they have really struggled to score runs against quality pitchers. Much of the team seems to have lost confidence at the plate and they're not getting power and RBI's from players who were expected to deliver this year. I'm not sure they won't get upset in postseason without more run production. The pitching staff, as great as it is, can't throw shutouts every game. I know many posters could care less about anything but football, but I'm just wondering what other softball fans think?

 

[instaGATOR]

They are 26-0 vs non-SEC opponents, and that included then #2 Mich.
So no, I don't see it as a major concern.

K.Kyistad .420
A.Lorenz .410
J.McLean .376
K.Merritt .337
K.Stewart .326
N.DeWitt .321
J.Weaton .316
T.Fuller .274
T.Schwarz .200 (UF record for career double-plays turned)
----------
A.Ocasio .500
T.Swertfager .333
Gourley and Barnhill- dont't swing the bat.

Strikeouts:
Barnhill Fr - 128 - ERA 1.38
Gourley Jr - 122 - ERA 0.78
Ocasio So - 97 - ERA 0.45

And those totals don't include last nights rain delayed game @ FSU.
With that game, all 3 UF pitchers are over 100 strikeout for the 2nd consecutive year.

* And the catcher, Aubree Munro, hasn't had a defensive error in the last 2 years, 670 chances.
Plus she's gunned down 13 base runners in her UF career.
She is one of 8 Gator players with a current season 1.000 fielding average!

Can they lose? Certainly. At this level and playing in the monster SEC, any team can lose in any game.
But 26-0 OoC is looking pretty good to me. Their biggest worry is having to play the SEC teams.

 

[instaGATOR]

Holy Schite Fatman -- Last season, Gator catcher Aubree Munro did not make an error in 354 defensive chances. This season so far, she has another 316 error free chances for a continuing total of 670 consecutive error-free chances! For now, her UF career fielding percentage stands at .997.

(she has also picked off 13 base-runners in her career) chomp

chomp

Aubree has been chosen to the 2016 USA Women's National Team, and she will likely be drafted tonight by one of the NPF (National Pro Fastpitch) teams. She is also an All American Scholar Athlete in Telecommunications - Media & Society. YOU-GO-GIRL!!

* Hanna Rogers & Lauren Haeger were the last 2 Gator's drafted. Thank goodness that none of the Gator's 3 current pitchers (Jr/So/Fr) are eligible (Sr's only) to be drafted this year. A total of 9 Gator softball players have been drafted in past years.

There are 5 Gator seniors with a shot at being drafted to the Women's professional league tonight:
Taylor Fuller - Kirsti Merritt - Aubree Munro - Taylor Schwarz - Kelsey Stewart. Good luck to them all!

!http://floridagators.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=5138

Named to the Top 25 ”Watch List” for the 2016 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.
The Gator's LHP Delanie Gourley and RHP Aleshia Ocasio. Gator RHP-1B Lauren Haeger won it last year.
http://floridagators.com/news/2016/4/13/pair-of-gators-named-to-usa-softball-top-50-watch-list.aspx

* For the 2nd consecutive year, all three Gator pitchers have exceeded 100 season strikeouts. An on-fire 14-0 Fr RHP Kelly Barnhill is leading the way with 128 SO's, with an 1.38 ERA -- schmo-kin'.

Kelly was also named to the 2016 USA National Softball Team.

 

[Countygator]

No.

 

[instaGATOR]

The 2016 NPF Draft: (held in Nashville, Tn on 4-14-16)

#12 Pick - INF Kelsey Stewart to the USSSAPride - Orlando/Kissimmee
#25 Pick - OF Kirsti Merritt to the USSSAPride
#34 Pick - UT Taylore Fuller to the ScrapYardDawgs - Woodlands, TX (just N. of Houston)
#39 Pick - C Aubre Munro to the USSSAPride

The only Gator senior not drafted (yet) was 1B Taylor Schwarz, but there is a supplemental draft later in the year, so she's still a maybe. She's a great 1B, so it's probably her modest batting average (.258 Career, .200 in 2016) that's held her up being drafted?

Congrats to those seniors and here's to hoping that they have a long and successful career as Pro's.

What I like the best about the NPF is that; ONLY Seniors are draft eligible.
To bad that's not the case with all college sports....

 

[PacoGator19]

Of course there is a reason to be concerned. That is all 95% of posters on this board do. I'm surprised there isn't a post from Michi saying that Walton needs to get fired.

 

[ocalaman]

Insta put up some great info that proves what a special group of young ladies this softball team really is. I'm behind them 100% and am confident that if they all play up to their abilities, they will win the title again. But maybe some of the seniors are putting too much pressure on themselves. This weekend's series gives them a break from the SEC, yet pits them against a powerhouse OOC program. Should be fun to watch.

 

[instaGATOR]

~ #1 Gator Softball is (38-3), with the #1 RPI, #10 SoS.
They are currently 26-0 vs non-conference opponents, with (32-3) #5 LLU

coming to Gainesville for a 3 game series for yet another Clash of the Titans?

Florida leads the Nation with a team 0.85 ERA -- LLU leads the Nation with 77 HR's.
Looks like another case of the un-hit-able pitch vs the very movable object.

I don't know about 'fun to watch ocala,' but it's sure to be very exciting to witness.
(fun for me would have to include our Ladies puttin' a whoopin' on them)

 

[gatormanin96]

~ #1 Gator Softball is (38-3), with the #1 RPI, #10 SoS.
They are currently 26-0 vs non-conference opponents, with (32-3) #5 LLU

coming to Gainesville for a 3 game series for yet another Clash of the Titans?

Florida leads the Nation with a team 0.85 ERA -- LLU leads the Nation with 77 HR's.
Looks like another case of the un-hit-able pitch vs the very movable object.

I don't know about 'fun to watch ocala,' but it's sure to be very exciting to witness.
(fun for me would have to include our Ladies puttin' a whoopin' on them)

No issue with runs today. 12-1 so far

 

[instaGATOR]

No issue with runs today. 12-1 so far

????

Team -- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
#5 ULL ---- 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 2
#1 Florida 0 1 4 0 0 0 X 5 9 0

The Gators take the first game vs LLU.
UF 5 - 1 LLU

 

[ocalaman]

Bats definitely got cranking today. Pitching & defense stellar as always. When they hit like they're capable of up and down the lineup, they're virtually unbeatable. Good to see Wheaton & Fuller hit a home run and Kvistad was a monster in game 2. Go Gators.

 

[instaGATOR]

Florida scored 19 runs in the doubleheader, taking Game 1 by a 5-1 score before clinching the weekend series with a 14-1 run-rule victory. Use the link to enjoy the whole story.

http://floridagators.com/news/2016/...-twinbill-versus-no-5-ull-in-gainesville.aspx

 

[GatorGray]

I think they were just going through a slump. Not unusual for teams to do. They just put up 22 runs on a Top 10 team over the weekend (La-La). They will be fine.

 

[instaGATOR]

#1 UF's 3 game series with #5 LLU resulted in a 5-1 win to begin the series, then a 14-1 Run Rule win and a final game 3-0 Shutout. LLU was leading the NCAA with 77 HR's. They got 1 HR to UF's 4 in the 3 game series.
UF 22 - 2 LLU in the Gator's 2nd Top 5 shoot-out. They beat #2 Mich 8-0 early in the season. They are now 29-0 in OoC games for 2016.

* The #1 ranked Gators are 41-3, have the #1 RPI, and they are playing the #6 SoS in the Nation.
* The Gators also have the best fielding percentage (.982) and best ERA (0.84) in the Nation.
* Ocasio (0.49) and Gourley (0.76) have the No. 1 and No. 3 ERAs in the country and Barnhill is 4th in strikeouts per game (10.9). In addition, UF's pitching staff has combined to allow the fewest runs in the SEC (43) and record the most strikeouts (373).
** Florida has an overall scoring margin of 267-43, including 21 shutouts and 15 mercy-rule victories.

The Gator's Jr Pitcher Delanie Gourley was just named the USA Softball PoW. This is the 2nd National Award of Gourley's career and Florida's 1st of the 2016 season.

Tonight (4-20-16) they take on USF in G'ville. They beat the Bulls 11-1 in Tampa to start the season.
4-20-16 -- UF 3 - 0 USF for yet another Shutout.

 

[HardeeWildcatFan]

See what they did last night only shows they wait on them pitchers to make a mistake or they finally get use to the pitches and boom they go hitting. Good game against USF last night. Enjoy that.

 

[instaGATOR]

See what they did last night only shows they wait on them pitchers to make a mistake or they finally get use to the pitches and boom they go hitting. Good game against USF last night. Enjoy that.

Last night against MsSt: After D.Gourley sat them down 1-2-3 in the 1st.
In the bottom of the 1st inning, the Gators scored seven runs on six hits.

Sophomore Kayli Kvistad and senior Taylore Fuller each hit a two-run home run, while Janell Wheaton (double), Aubree Munro (single), and Justine McLean (single) all recorded RBI hits sandwiched in-between those homers.

Every game is different, but this is not the first time that they have scored in the 1st.

#1 UF Softball, LHP D.Gourley gets a 'run-rule' 5 inning No-No 16 - 0 Shutout vs MsSt.

#2 UF Baseball, RHP L.Shore had a 9 inning, 2 hit, minimum batters (27), 6 - 0 Shutout vs UGly.
That Shore-Shutout also set a new UF Record with his 13th Consecutive Win.
Russ Kibler had held the record since 1984 (32 years) with his 12 Consecutive Wins.
He was in the park to see Logan break his record and to congratulate him on doing so.