LSU just lost their second game in a row to Miss 9 - 2. Miss had 13 hits. Wow. Anybody can beat anybody in this league this year.
Wow is right. Ole Miss is historically one of the worst softball programs in the conference. They opened conference play losing 2 of 3 to MSU.
Gators remained 10th in the rankings this week. Doesn’t mean much this early in the season but after destroying 28th ranked Indiana last weekend, I think they deserved a little better ranking.
If we beat fgcu today that's another good win. Not sure of their RPI but I know they have a win over fsu so it has to be better than a lot of teams.
Gators have played 169 innings so far this season. Ava (55 ) & Keagan (89) have pitched 144 of those innings. Remarkable. I didn’t think it possible two freshman could immediately jump into a new program, pitch 85% of the innings and be this successful so quickly.
FGCU is #60 in D1 Softball's RPI rankings, 1-2 in games vs. Top 25, 1-4 vs. 26-50. Florida is 3-2 vs. Top 15, 3-0 vs. 26-50. Kentucky, who we play over the weekend, is only #34 in RPI, #46 in SOS, 2-4 vs. Top 25, 0-2 vs. 26-50.
Why haven't we seen more of Olivia Miller. I haven't seen her at all, so I have no idea what she brings to the pitching staff. She last pitched against Michigan on March 2 out in California when she gave up 4 earned runs in UF's 10-2 loss to the wolverines. Hard to hold that loss on her as that was apparently a pitching staff fail and little offense against Michigan. The wolverines would be wrong, but they couldn't be too impressed after having beaten this Gators team twice.
Here is where we lead or tied in various stats. SEC Leader Gators are leading the following Batting avg Slugging pct On base pct Runs scored Doubles Triples Total bases Total plate appearances Stolen bases Steal attempts Earned run avg Opposing bat avg Wins Sac flies allowed (Gators have the least) Hits allowed (Gators have the least) Runs allowed (Gators have the least) Earned runs allowed (Gators have the least) Doubles allowed (Gators have the least) Triples allowed (0 allowed tied with LSU) Wild pitches (Gators have the least) Hit batters (Gators tied for the least) Fielding pct Caught stealing by Passed balls (Gators have the least) 2024 SEC Softball - Team Statistics"]2024 SEC Softball - Team Statistics[/URL]"]2024 SEC Softball - Team Statistics[/URL]
Michigan roughed up Ava Brown that same game they hit Miller. I don't undersdtand why she hasn't been used more, too. She was a Top 20 pitcher in last year's recruiting class and originally signed with Ole Miss and then transferred to UF after some issue there allowed her to come to Florida. She's been in 9 games for the Gators and actually threw 2 perfect games, one against Bethune-Cookman (5 inning run rule game) and Lafayette (6 inning run rule game). The Michigan game is her only bad outing and her total ERA is 1.88. You would think Coach Walton would want to get her some experience in case Brown or Rothrock get hurt or come down sick. But I'm sure he knows what he's doing.
Totally agree. She should get the start today but I'll bet she won't. If she got beat today so what. She needs the experience. A loss today is no big deal. It is now all about the SEC schedule. Our final ranking will be based on how we do against SEC teams.
When was the last year UF had 3 terrific pitchers, 2017 maybe? Gourley Ocasio Barnhill Gourley got a fair number of starts, but she was groomed to come in to close out and save games. UF went 55-10 losing in the WCWS championship series in two excellent deciding games against OU which could have gone either way. Rothrock Brown Miller Could UF do the same thing in 2024 to maximize the use of these remarkable freshmen? EDIT: Miller, like Gourley, is a lefty. I didn't realize that until Olivia pitched to the last batter in the win over FGCU. This threesome could be exactly like the 2017 pitching staff which did everything except win the national championship.