The cake walk is over. The challenge is underway.
Florida began the nitty-gritty part of its schedule when it faced off against Southeastern Conference foe Mississippi State on March 7. That trip to Starkville, Miss., was the just the start of a long and difficult road that is SEC play. That road continues Friday when coach Tim Walton and company face off against South Carolina at 6 p.m.
However, the Gators have been waiting for this time of the year all season long.
“That first game against Mississippi State, my heart was pumping really fast because I was just really excited to be playing SEC teams,” sophomore Hannah Rogers said. “They are all great schools so it will be a tough season just depending on how we play and perform.”
Gone are the days of blowing out teams like Long Island, Eastern Michigan and Gardner-Webb. From now on, Florida will be up against the likes of No. 1 Alabama, No. 8 Georgia and No. 20 Auburn. And even the three non-conference opponents the Gators still have to face, No. 21 FSU, UCF and FIU, have a combined record of 51-24.
Before the season, UF was picked by vote of the league’s head coaches to win the 2012 conference title. And by leading the SEC with 23 wins and a 0.81 ERA, as well as coming in second in homers and RBI, the Gators look to be on their way statistically.
However, after the weekend series against Tennessee where Florida dropped its second game on the year, Walton said the schedule just becomes more daunting.
“I think everyone is tough, just look at the scores this weekend,” Walton said. “I think Alabama has got a good thing going, I think Georgia has got a good thing going, I think Kentucky is going to be digging tough. The one thing I coach weekly is that it’s going to be a battle in the SEC. It’s going to be a grind. We already played five games in the SEC, but we still have 23 more to play.”
The numbers back up Walton’s point. Although the Gators have clinched four straight Eastern Division titles, they have only won the conference title three times in school history coming in 1998, 2008 and finally in 2009.
But the players look forward to playing these rivalries to win bragging rights for the year.
“All teams are good that we play because everyone has their own thing,” Rogers said. “It’s just fun [playing SEC teams] because they are in our conference and so it’s like a rivalry for us. So it makes us want to beat people more.”
