Florida is scheduled to take on No. 1 UCLA, No. 22/24 Oregon, Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside this week.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The third-ranked Florida softball program is set to travel to California for the first time since the 2020 season to take part in the 2023 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic held at Big League Dreams park in Cathedral City, Calif.
The Gators (10-0) are off to one of their hottest starts offensively in program history as the team has produced a record 118 runs through the first 10 games of the season. The 11.8 runs per game ranks the Orange & Blue as the nation’s best scoring offense along with being the nation’s leader in batting average (.435), on base percentage (.570), slugging percentage (.737) and walks (73).
Florida’s offense has also allowed the program to record eight five-inning run-rule victories throughout the first 10 games, which is just one shy of the nine five-inning run-rule games the program turned in through all 68 games played last season.
The success both at the plate in the circle last week brought in a pair of Southeastern Conference weekly awards as Skylar Wallace was named SEC Co-Player of the Week and Elizabeth Hightower (5-0) was tabbed SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week. Wallace batted .625 with 10 hits, 11 runs scored, 12 RBI and was 8-for-8 in stolen base attempts. Hightower earned four wins in four appearances, two starts, to improve to 5-0 on the season. The Monticello, Fla. native has not allowed an earned run all season through 20 1/3 innings.
Florida Head Coach Tim Walton is also on the verge of another milestone at the helm of the Gators. In his 18th season with the program, Walton needs just two wins to reach 900 wins as the head coach of Florida. In his 18 seasons, Walton holds a record of 898-201 (.817) and a career record 1,021-265 (.794) over 21 seasons as a head coach.
Last year, Walton was the second fastest head coach to reach 1,000 career NCAA Division I victories, which was only behind Arizona legendary head coach Mike Candrea.
After the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, the Gators take to the road once more with a three-game series set to take place in Birmingham, Ala. against UAB from Friday, March 3, through Sunday, March 5.
Mary Nutter Collegiate Class Schedule*
Schedule is subject to change.
Date
Time
Home
Away
Thursday, Feb. 23
10:30 p.m. (ET)
No. 1 UCLA
No. 3 Florida
Friday, Feb. 24
4 p.m. (ET)
No. 3 Florida
UC Riverside
Saturday, Feb. 25
1 p.m. (ET)
No. 3 Florida
No. 22/24 Oregon
Saturday, Feb. 25
3:30 p.m. (ET)
Cal State Fullerton
No. 3 Florida
