If you were looking for All-American pitcher Kelly Barnhill on the day of a Florida softball game, the obvious place to search for her would be Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
However, just hours before Barnhill was slated to start against Texas A&M on Saturday night, she was nowhere near UF’s softball facility.
Instead, she was at the Family Garden Organic & Fair Farm — a local farm in Gainesville — picking strawberries with friends, including teammate Theresa Swertfager.
“You got to really find the time to go and not be a student, not be an athlete and just relax,” Barnhill said. “Those kinds of things take personal time, so you don’t get overwhelmed with school and with sports and with all the other pressures that goes with it.”
But when the moment arrived for Barnhill to step in the circle against the Aggies for Game 1 of a three-game series, the pressures of being a student-athlete appeared to be the last thing on her mind. Barnhill only allowed one run on two hits in seven innings of work against Texas A&M, leading the Gators to a 6-1 victory.
UF (27-3, 7-2 SEC) eventually swept the Aggies with 10-0 and 7-3 wins on Sunday and Monday, respectively. However, there hasn’t been much time to relax for Barnhill and her teammates following UF’s series against Texas A&M this weekend as they have a 4 p.m. doubleheader scheduled against Florida International tonight in Gainesville.
The Panthers (15-18, 2-4 C-USA) will bring an ace of their own to the midweek matchup. Pitcher Shannon Saile leads the the way for FIU with a 1.94 ERA and has struck out more batters (159) than Barnhill (154), though Saile has pitched 15.1 more innings than her counterpart. The sophomore right-hander has allowed an average of 3.63 hits per seven innings pitched, good for first in her conference.
Not to be outdone, Barnhill’s 2.34 hits given up per seven innings puts her firmly at No. 1 in the nation. That’s awful news for a Florida International lineup currently batting just .243 as a team.
UF coach Tim Walton stressed the importance of his players preparing for the doubleheader without any added fanfare or importance attached to facing off against an in-state rival.
"They're going to have to get their rest, go to class and do the things they need to do to recover from a long weekend of playing late and with the short week coming back,” he said. “Hopefully we can do the things that they need to do to recover, and we'll reward them with a couple extra days off at the end of the week.”
Follow Mari Faiello on Twitter @faiello_mari and contact her at mfaiello@alligator.org.
Kelly Barnhill leads the nation in hits allowed per seven innings pitched.
