Although they are taking a break from the rigors of Southeastern Conference play, the No. 6 Gators (20-3, 4-1 SEC) will still have something to prove as they travel to Waco, Texas to take on Baylor (18-7) in a weekend series, with the first game starting at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
UF has yet to record a win against a ranked opponent after falling to both No. 12 Georgia Tech and No. 10 Stanford earlier in the season.
Florida’s major issue in both of those contests was its inability to score against top-notch pitching, as it was shut out in both games.
While Baylor does boast a trio of pitchers with an ERA under two, UF coach Tim Walton is more concerned about the Bears’ bats.
“Baylor is good offensively,” Walton said. “They run, they steal a ton, so we’re just going to have to get ready for their offense and keep them off base as many times as we can.”
As a team, Baylor is batting .333 and has already stolen 74 bases.
They have eight regular players with an average of better than .300, and have five different players with 17 or more RBIs.
Regardless, the Gators have shown they are more than capable of scoring with the Bears, as UF has scored 12 more runs than its next opponent over the course of the season despite playing two fewer games.
“They’re going to have to get ready for our offense and try to keep the ball in the ballpark if they’re going to beat us,” Walton said.
If Wednesday’s doubleheader against Auburn is any indication, that will not be an easy task regardless of who is in the circle.
Against Auburn ace Anna Thompson, who was named the SEC Pitcher of the Week each of the last two weeks and boasts a .80 ERA, the Gators pounded out four runs in just more than five innings, despite being no-hit for the first 4 2/3 innings.
If the Gators can keep up the production they had toward the end of that outing, they should be able to hit anyone Baylor throws at them.
“It should be a really good matchup, they went to the super regionals last year so they’re a good ball club,” Walton said.
