UF SB: No. 8 Florida Welcomes Louisiana, Rutgers & Mercer to Bubly Invitational

No. 8 Florida Welcomes Louisiana, Rutgers & Mercer to Bubly Invitational
There are deep ties between Rutgers, Mercer and the Gators as the Scarlet Knights and Bears are led by former Gators Kristen Butler (Rutgers) and Lindsay Fico (Mercer).

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The eighth-ranked Florida softball team is set to host Louisiana, Rutgers and Mercer at the Bubly Invitational Friday, March 10, through Sunday, March 12, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. All of UF’s games for the invitational will be streamed via SEC Network+.

The Gators (15-3) enter the weekend after the team downed UCF, 3-0, for the program’s eighth shutout of the season. Sophomore right-hander Lexie Delbrey (3-0) picked up her second-consecutive complete-game shutout of the season and Skylar Wallace extended her hit-streak to a career-long 12 games in the win over the Knights.

There are deep ties to Rutgers and Mercer despite it being the first all-time meeting with the Scarlet Knights (16-4) and the Bears (6-14) as each team is led by former Gators Kristen Butler (2003-’06) and Lindsay Fico (2003-’06). Butler, the 2006 SEC Player of the Year, has helmed the Rutgers program for six seasons, while her former teammate Fico is in her second season as the head coach of Mercer.

Overall on the year, Florida has outscored its opponents 155-40, which includes eight shutouts and 10 run-rule victories. UF’s potent offense enters the weekend as the nation’s third-best scoring offense with 8.61 runs per game and ranks inside the top five in on base percentage (.483 – 3rd), slugging percentage (.622 – 7th), batting average (.368 – 5th) and walks (93 – 4th).

Individually, Skylar Wallace leads the charge for the Gators at the plate as the redshirt-junior is on a career-long 12-game hit-streak that has helped her to a .514 batting average, 20 RBI, 20 runs scored on 18 hits and 13 walks. The 2022 NFCA Second Team All-American is also 10-for-10 on stolen bases this season.

In addition, Kendra Falby (.429), Avery Goelz (.417) and Charla Echols (.432) are all batting over .400 on the year. With only 18 games played on the season, Wallace (1.43 – 4th) and Echols (1.39 – 12th) both rank nationally in RBI per game, while Wallace (1.43 – 4th) and Falby (1.28 – 9th) also rank nationally inside the top 10 in runs per game.

Bubly Invitational Schedule & Links

Date

Time (ET)

Home

Away

Live Stats

Audio

SEC Network+

3/10

10:30 a.m.

Rutgers

Mercer