No. 8 Gators Homestand Begins with Midweek Against UCF
Florida returns home to Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium for a 10-game homestand which begins Wednesday, March 8, at 7 p.m. versus UCF on SEC Network+.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The eighth-ranked Florida softball team returns to Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium Wednesday, March 8, with a midweek contest against UCF at 7 p.m. on SEC Network+.
The Gators (14-3) are set to take the field against the Knights (10-12) under the lights in front of the home crowd after the team went 3-0 this past weekend at UAB. The Orange & Blue outscored the Blazers 23-1 to sweep their first series of the season.
Overall on the year, Florida has outscored its opponents 152-40 which includes seven shutouts and 10 run-rule victories. UF’s potent offense enters the week as the nation’s second-best scoring offense with 8.94 runs per game and ranks inside the top five in on base percentage (.489 – 1st), slugging percentage (.622 – 3rd), batting average (.378 – 4th) and walks (88 – 4th).
Individually, Skylar Wallace leads the charge for the Gators at the plate as the redshirt-junior is on a career-long 11-game hit-streak that has helped her to a .515 batting average, 19 RBI, 19 runs scored on 17 hits and 12 walks. The 2022 NFCA Second Team All-American is also 10-for-10 on stolen bases this season.
In addition, Kendra Falby (.462), Avery Goelz (.435) and Charla Echols (.415) are all batting over .400 on the year. With only 17 games played on the season, Wallace (1.46 – 7th) and Echols (1.41 – 10th) both rank inside the top-10 nationally in RBI per game, while Wallace (1.46 – 3rd) and Falby (1.29 – 7th) also rank nationally inside the top 10 in runs per game.
In the circle, Lexie Delbrey doubled her season total in innings pitched to 12 after a six-inning complete-game shutout in game two of the series with the Blazers where she only allowed one hit in the effort. The Bainbridge, Ga. native holds a 0.75 WHIP, which is slightly ahead of Elizabeth Hightower’s .97 WHIP.
Hightower holds the most innings in the circle for Florida this year with 44 1/3 over 10 appearances and seven starts. The Monticello, Fla. native also boasts a 1.42 ERA over that span.
The Knights enter the week after a 1-5 week in California at the Judi Garman Classic with four of their five losses being decided by two runs or less.
On the year, UCF holds a team batting average of .278 (139-for-500) with five players batting above .300 on the season. The pitching staff for UCF has a 3.94 ERA with four different pitchers receiving at least two wins and over 20 innings pitched.
Prior to the game fans will find that the Florida volleyball team will be in attendance signing autographs inside the stadium. The 2022 Southeastern Conference Volleyball Champions will sign autographs from 6-7 p.m.
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