Taylor Schwarz is on a hot streak.
The sophomore first baseman, who had a .263 batting average heading into Florida’s rematch against Florida State on April 9, went 4 for 7 at the plate and logged four RBIs in UF’s last three contests.
“Typically, when you look at pull hitters, traditionally they will hit lower by average than the hitters who spray the ball down the field,” coach Tim Walton said.
“Last week, I think she was a little more committed to hitting the ball to all fields and has really been working hard on that. I think that’s the key to all hitters: you can’t just be one-dimensional where you hit the ball. You have to spread it around.”
Schwarz attributes her recent success to putting in extra practice with her swing and making some minor adjustments with her stance.
“I feel like I’ve just been staying with my plan since the beginning of the season,” the Palm Beach Gardens native said. “Obviously, you get into some slumps in the season, but I think just really staying positive, working with coach before practice, hitting early every single day has really helped me stay focused on the field.”
Schwarz hopes to continue her success when No. 5 Florida (37-8, 8-7 Southeastern Conference) starts its three-game series against No. 21 Texas A&M (29-14, 9-9 SEC) tonight at 8 in College Station, Texas.
“The main thing is we’ve got our stride back,” Walton said. “We’ve got our confidence back and when you win, good things happen for you for sure.
“We’ll be hungry again to get back out on the road, at a tough place to play in College Station against a team that, as of late, has really played some good softball.”
Seniors Emily Albus and Nicole Morgan lead the Aggies on offense.
Albus is fourth in the SEC with a .438 batting average, which includes a .379 clip against conference opponents. Morgan holds a .723 slugging percentage — the seventh-highest mark in the conference — and has 44 RBIs on the year.
After posting a combined .349 clip at the plate in its past three wins, UF looks to continue its success against TAMU.
“Typically, when you get some hits, you get a lot of hits and when you get very few hits, you don’t get many hits at all because of the way things are contagiously,” Walton said.
“I think that’s the nature of the game that we play. It’s not as easy to get hits as it looks sometimes.”
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Taylor Schwarz bats during Florida’s 8-0 win against Indiana on Feb. 22 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Schwarz is batting .281 and has six home runs in 45 games this season.
