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College Senior Day ceremonies come and pass every year, but they
don’t always involve a weekend when two teams are fighting for
supremacy in the Southeastern Conference.
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They also rarely honor the most successful senior class in the
history of a program, yet that’s exactly what will happen this
weekend as Pressly Stadium hosts a collision of power and
small-ball, better known as the UF-Tennessee softball rivalry.
The
No. 3 Volunteers (44-7, 20-5 SEC) bring the nation’s best team
batting average —an offensive attack based heavily on slap bunting
and speed— into Gainesville to face the nation’s most prolific home
run-hitting lineup.
“It
should be a huge test, not so much for where we’re at, but where
we’re going,” Gators head coach Tim Walton said. “That’s one of the
best teams we’ll see on the year, let alone the postseason as
well.”
Tennessee doesn’t just bring a speedy lineup led by .473-hitter
Raven Chavanne, the Vols also feature the sister-pitching duo of
Ellen and Ivy Renfroe.
Walton said Tennessee’s pitching staff is unlike anything Florida
has seen this season. Freshman Ellen Renfroe is second to only
Alabama’s Kelsi Dunne in strikeouts in the SEC, and her sister,
Ivy, and occasional reliever Cat Hosfield, each make Tennessee‘s
pitching attack one of the most versatile in the SEC.
Senior Stephanie Brombacher will take the mound for the No. 4
Gators (44-8, 18-7 SEC) and will have an emotional weekend in the
circle.
“I’m not playing softball anymore after this, so it’s kind of a big
day,” Brombacher said of the upcoming Senior Day.
Florida’s next victory makes this senior class the winningest group
in UF history. The team’s five seniors have contributed all four
years, including second baseman Aja Paculba, who has started all
254 games of her UF career.
“You don’t find that too often,” Walton said. “Usually you have
some deadweight in your senior class somewhere.”
The
Gators never made it to a College World Series before Brombacher,
Paculba, Megan Bush, Kelsey Bruder and Tiffany DeFelice stepped
onto campus. The group has made it to Oklahoma City every season
since.
While the weekend will be filled with family and tributes, the
seniors realize there are bigger things at stake against
Tennessee.
The
Gators can win the SEC East and a No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament
by sweeping Tennessee. An SEC regular-season championship is still
possible, although it would require Alabama losing to
cellar-dwellers Ole Miss this weekend.
“Personally, I’m not going to try to put too much emphasis into
[Senior Day] because I don’t want to get too caught up in it and
get too emotional,” Paculba said.
Florida begins its series with the Volunteers on Friday at 4:30
p.m.
