The Gators softball team’s offense has been a work in progress all season, but when given a chance to experiment against one of the nation’s worst pitching staffs in Mercer, it finally saw positive results.
No. 6 Florida (27-6) scored more than five runs in a game just once this month before plating 17 runs in two games against the Bears.
The offense should have another confidence booster against Bethune-Cookman on Wednesday at home before a crucial SEC road series against Ole Miss this weekend.
Kendyl Lindaman served as the catalyst for the Gators’ offensive production last week. Her last six hits have all been home runs, including one against Minnesota, her former team, which stood as the game winner, and four against Mercer. Lindaman’s offensive explosion earned her Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I Player of the Week honors.
Coach Tim Walton shuffled the batting lineup around for the weekend series against Mercer. He moved first baseman Amanda Lorenz and Lindaman from the No. 1 and No. 2 positions to No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.
Outfielder Jade Caraway, previously tasked with flipping the lineup around at the No. 9 hole, was inserted as the leadoff hitter, where she batted at North Carolina State before transferring to Florida. Second baseman Hannah Adams was used in the No. 2 spot.
Walton likes the new-look lineup, even though it has seen limited action against a lesser opponent.
“It just feels like Amanda Lorenz and ... Kendyl Lindaman just make that middle of the lineup so much different,” Walton said. “We’ll still have to wait a little while for them to come back up, but it certainly didn’t feel the same as it's been feeling.”
The Gators will have plenty of chances to see if this new lineup works, as pitchers Alexis Bermudez and Destiny Enriquez both have ERAs over 4.00. Bethune-Cookman (12-22) has played four ranked teams this season, lost to three of them and gave up 29 runs in the process.
Florida’s pitchers will also have an enormous advantage over the Wildcats’ offense. The Gators are No. 13 in the country in ERA and will face a Bethune-Cookman lineup that is the 13th-worst in batting average (.208).
Wednesday’s game is UF’s last chance to gain confidence, as the Gators will start a grueling stretch of seven games in 10 days against Ole Miss, No. 3 Florida State and No. 13 Arkansas.
Follow Brendan Farrell on Twitter @Bfarrell727 and contact him at bfarrell@alligator.org.
UF softball coach Tim Walton shuffled the batting lineup around for the weekend series against Mercer, moving Amanda Lorenz and Kendyl Lindaman. “It just feels like Amanda Lorenz and ... Kendyl Lindaman just make that middle of the lineup so much different,” he said.
