Gators look for fourth straight win in rematch with No. 8 FSU

The No. 6 Florida Gator softball team will be on the road Wednesday night as they travel to Tallahassee to face Sunshine State rival Florida State. This will be the second game between these two top ten teams in two weeks and the Gators will be seeking revenge.

On April 2, the No. 8 Seminoles strolled into Gainesville and defeated the Gators 3-2 in eight innings, giving the Gators their fourth straight loss at the time. However, the Gators have really been able to turn things around.

For the first time since March of 2013 the Gators recorded a series sweep as they defeated the Auburn Tigers  over the weekend at home. Senior pitcher Hannah Rogers also seems to have been rejuvenated. After getting the loss one week ago to the Seminoles, the Gators ace rebounded by taking two of the three wins this past weekend against the Tigers.

The Seminoles will be coming into this game with a sweep of their own as they beat the Maryland Terrapins over the weekend and extended their win streak to 17 games. The Seminoles have been led by redshirt junior Maddie O’Brien who is batting a whopping .451 with 16 home runs and 63 RBI’s on the year. The Gators will remember O’Brien very well as she showed off her talents one week ago finishing 2 for 4 with a solo shot off junior Lauren Haeger.

The Gators have found their own leader at the plate in the last few games as sophomore Kirsti Merritt hit a couple home runs on Saturday and scored the game winning run as the Gators beat the Tigers 1-0 in eight innings on Sunday.  The Gators currently have four players hitting over .300 on the year and head coach Tim Walton will look for more of his players to produce as the season progresses.

The Gators come into this game 34-8 on the year while the Seminoles come in at 38-4. Under Walton, the Orange and Blue has won six straight games in Tallahassee dating back to 2008 and the Gators will look to keep that streak alive Wednesday night. Sophomore shortstop Kathlyn Medina talked about the Gators recent success and what that does for the team moving forward.

“The momentum will help us out. FSU is a great team so it’s going to be a great game. We’re just going in there with a good mentality and we’re going to try and get that win.”

You can hear all the action of Wednesday’s game right here on ESPN 850 WRUF with coverage starting at 5:50 followed by first pitch at 6pm.

For pre-game comments from Head Coach Tim Walton and players click on the links below:

Walton talks about the changes he wants to see against FSU

Walton talks about the impact of Katie Medina

Medina talks about getting back in the lineup

Munro talks about the team moving forward