After winning 22 straight games to start the season and outscoring opponents 181-29 in those matchups, Florida has hit a slump.
Since Southeastern Conference play began, the Gators have dropped seven of their past 16 contests and dropped all three games in a series sweep to No. 2 Tennessee this past weekend.
Outside of leadoff hitter Kelsey Stewart, whose .412 batting average is the ninth highest in the SEC, there is little consistency among the Gators’ bats.
“Obviously, we’re going through a point in time in the season where we’re not playing our best,” coach Tim Walton said in a release following Florida’s 9-2 loss to Tennessee on Friday. “But there is a lot of the season left.”
But No. 6 UF (31-7, 5-7 SEC) hopes to spearhead its way back into the win column when it faces No. 8 FSU (34-4, 12-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) in a midweek matchup tonight at 6 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
The Gators boast an 18-13 all-time record against the Seminoles, including a 9-6 mark at home. Florida swept the series in 2013, winning 7-3 in Gainesville after a walk-off grand slam by Briana Little and an 8-0 win in Tallahassee three weeks later.
FSU is riding a 13-game win streak heading into tonight’s matchup. If UF wants to pull out the win, it needs to find a way to get around FSU’s dominant pitching staff.
As a team, the Seminoles possess a 0.90 ERA — the second-best total in the country. Junior Lacey Waldrup leads Florida State in the circle. The right-hander is second in the nation with a 0.53 ERA. In 145.1 innings pitched, Waldrup has notched 178 strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .154 clip at the plate.
The Seminoles are also seeing success at the plate with Maddie O’Brien pacing FSU.
The junior shortstop holds a team-best .438 batting average and also leads Florida State with a .893 slugging percentage, 13 home runs and 58 RBIs. In 112 at-bats, O’Brien struck out just 10 times this season.
If Florida wants to win tonight, it will need to continue to see strides at the plate from players like Kirsti Merritt.
The sophomore center fielder logged three home runs against Tennessee, matching her home run total from the first 35 games of the season.
While Merritt has started to find her stride, Walton hopes to see improvement from his team that batted just .208 and struck out 27 times in three games against the Volunteers, especially because less than one-third of the regular season remains to be played.
“The bottom line is we have to execute,” Walton said. “That’s going to be the key. We have to execute everything.”
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
Kirsti Merritt bats during Florida’s 8-0 win against Mercer on March 12 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
