No. 6 Gator Softball Set to Host No. 11 Gamecocks in Weekend Series

The sixth-ranked Florida Gators Softball team will play the eleventh-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks in a three-game series this coming weekend. The Gators come into this weekend off a loss to in-state rival Florida State in the mid-week Sunshine Showdown. The race for the SEC regular-season championship remains close as Florida leads, but right behind them is Georgia in second and the Gamecocks in third.

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History

The Gators and Gamecocks have played each other more than 60 times over the years. In the last ten meetings, Florida has won all but one of them, and that was in 2013. The Gators have won the last seven games in a row, and run-ruled the Gamecocks six out of those seven times.

The Gators currently led the overall series record 45-20; at home, UF leads 16-5; at South Carolina, UF leads 24-11; and at neutral sites, the record is tied 3-3.

Florida Gators

The Gators overall record in the 2018 season is 34-7 and they are 9-3 in the SEC conference. In UF’s last game, they lost on the road to FSU, 4-1. Florida struggled offensively in their game against the Seminoles, only getting off two hits. Florida State’s Carsyn Gordan hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first to give FSU the early lead.

But that didn’t stop the Gators because, in the bottom of the third inning, they made a small stride towards a comeback.

Sophomore Jordan Roberts started the inning off with a walk. After Junior Alex Voss came into pinch run, Senior Aleshia Ocasio put down a successful sacrifice bunt to move Voss to second. Next up, Senior Kayli Kvistad hit a double to right field scoring Voss from second. That made the score 1-1.

Unfortunately, that’s where the Gators scoring ended for the night. In the bottom of the fourth, the Seminoles scored another run, and in the bottom of the fifth, they scored two more.

Here are some more notes about the Gators going into this weekend:

• Florida currently leads the nation with 23 shutouts.
• Senior Kayli Kvistad is now up to 161 career walks. This is just 14 shy of the Florida record held by former pitcher Lauren Haeger.
• UF leads the nation in walks with 216, the next closest program is Northern Colorado with 179.

South Carolina Gamecocks

The Gamecocks come into this weekend off a mid-week win against Winthrop University. South Carolina put up seven runs against the Eagles.

Gamecock pitchers recorded eight strikeouts in that meeting. South Carolina’s overall record this season is 34-7, like the Gators, and 8-4 in SEC play.

Broadcast Info

You can watch the Gators-Gamecocks match-up on SEC Network + this whole weekend.

• Friday, April 13: First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
• Saturday, April 14: First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
• Sunday, April 15: First pitch is set for 1 p.m.