I've been following Gator softball since the early 1990's and I can't remember a season where we made so many errors, so don't think it's ever been an issue for Coach Walton before. We've always had a top tier defense and by this time of the year our lineups have always been set. Uncharted waters from my perspective.
Is there something rotten in Denmark? Multiple slumps. Infield, every ground ball is scary. Only 2 errors-scorer was generous. More scary, pitching. In the 3 ARK games, 30 hits, 18 walks and 3 HBP equal 51 base runners. Only 13 outs were ground balls. Only one double play. Saturday’s win, though thrilling, was only possible because of ARK fielding error and a HBP. Lackluster performances against UCF and FSU. Too many LOB at Auburn even though we swept.
Rest assured most of us are. Heck, I wish Miller had pitched more vs the early season softies.....but there may have been a reason that didn't happen as well. But it's human nature as fans. In one of the games this weekend there were complaints that the hitters weren't patient after a quick inning, AND there were the usual complaints about taking too many strikes. Can't win sometimes
There's definitely something off with the dynamic. Pitchers need to trust their defense, and they can't right now. Communication and chemistry on the field are just not there, collectively. I understand that players change from year-to-year and all the moving parts have to adjust to fit together again, but by this point, that stuff should be worked out. I said it earlier in the season, but I feel like Wallace and Kistler brought SO much positive energy to the table, and no one has stepped up to fill those holes. Some of the girls definitely seem to be trying, but I, too, worry that there's some behind the scenes stuff happening that's keeping the team from fully coming together. Whatever it is... I hope they work it out, because I hate seeing this happen to Falby and Walsh in their senior years. (I know there are other seniors, but those two have given all four of their years to this program.)
Here are some Gator stats for SEC games ONLY: Team BA - .275, 8th in the conference Slugging % - .464, 6th in the conference Runs Scored - 71, 3rd in the conference Home Runs - 17, 3rd in the conference Walks - 59, 2nd most in the conference Strikeouts - 48, 4th fewest in the conference Stolen Bases - 6, 10th in the conference Team ERA - 4.27, 9th in the conference Opposing Team BA - .267, 8th in the conference Batters Struck Out - 45, 13th in the conference Walks allowed - 54, 10th in the conference Fielding % - .965, 10th in the conference Kendra Falby is our leading hitter in SEC games at .400, 13th best in the SEC Reagan Walsh is out 2nd best SEC hitter at .310, Taylor Shumaker is 3rd at .308 Korbe Otis is at .297, Mia Williams at .286, Rylee Holtorf at .258, Kenleigh Cahalan at .205, Jocelyn Erickson at .200. In limited SEC play Gabi Comia is hitting .313 & Ava Brown at .067. Our leading pitcher by ERA in SEC games is Katelyn Oxley at 3.17, which is 10th best. Ava Brown's ERA is 4.14 in SEC games, and in only 8.2 innings of conference pitching Keagan Rothrock's ERA is 4.04, Olivia Miller in 6.2 innings is 4.42 and Kara Hammock in 9.2 innings has an ERA of 8.69. In our 12 conference games, we simply have not played like a title contender; more like a middle of the pack SEC team. Gotta be better moving forward.
Thankyou for this perspective. I sadly didn't get to watch yesterday's game, and I didn't even realise Olivia had been pitching until Ava relieved her so I have no idea how any of the pitching looked then. I have never seen Olivia pitch before Saturday, and last season was my first time following. I'm in the UK and had never seen softball before. I'm hoping the players can find their rhythm again, and I think they will. I remember Kendra last season was struggling and asked to be moved down in the lineup to help the team, which shows great team spirit and self awareness, and it worked too!. I agree too that the team miss SW and KK, Skylar especially. Also AK I think is a noticeable loss. It does seem that maybe things aren't gelling as well with the team this year, but that could be anything really. Maybe there is a personality clash somewhere, maybe a coaching style that's a little uncomfortable, or maybe its nothing amd we speculate to try and find a reason that's just not there. I do remember there was a rough patch when I started following the Gators last year, but then Skylar got over her slump, Kendra followed suit and they rallied! I was literally watching them in the semi finals at the WCWS at 4am here on the edge of my seat lol.
In spite of all our issues and only going 1-3 last week, we're still #3 in RPI according to Warren Nolan, #4 in SOS and #10 in ELO (down 7 spots from last week). Just need to right the ship and start winning games again.
Red really pitched quite well against a very good Arkansas hitting team. Sometimes numbers don't provide the whole picture. I realize you can't ignore that in the first game she put the first two on with a walk and a hit and then Ellis went yard, but her numbers the rest of the weekend are excellent. Great players can sometimes win it and Ellis is a great hitter. After Ellis' HR there were still no outs and Red went the next six full innings and shut them out. In game two she was credited with two earned runs and that is simply wrong. Mia made an error on the first batter. There were two outs before they scored two runs. Those two runs have got to be scored as unearned if the official scorer understands the most elementary rules of scoring. She did give up an earned run in the third. So, after the first game Ellis HR she went a full 10 innings against a good hitting team, gave up 6 hits, had 1 legit earned run, struck out 5 and walked 4 (ignoring the intentional walk to Ellis). I'll take that from a freshman pitcher in the SEC against a good team yesterday, today and tomorrow. And, I know things are supposed to even out by the softball gods but Taylor goes 0-3 yesterday with a walk. But she hit a screaming rope directly at the center fielder that was caught and got robbed on a great catch on a ball that was over the fence for a three rbi home run.
Thank you for breaking it down like this! Any chance you have our defensive stats handy? Lol. I would LOVE to see a break down of errors by position. I know that there have been several that weren’t recorded as errors that should have been, but I’m curious as to whether or not my very strong opinions about a few positions are valid or if I am just super biased because I love Comia and want to see her on the field.
The stats are available to look up if you want to take the time. I'm not doing any more research. But feel free and then let us all know what you find.
The only thing that kept me from a 4.0 in grad school was my research and stats class, and I’ve never had to work so hard for a (barely) B in my life. But… if I end up with some free time, I might attempt this.
2b,SS and 3B all have similar fielding #s....7/8 errors on the season, fielding at around .940. Comia has no errors, but has only limited chances. Below is a site you can look thru. 2025 Softball Cumulative Statistics - Florida Gators
Through 42 games this year between third, short and second we have 23 errors in 42 games. Last year between third, short and second we had 21 errors in 69 games. Or, to look at it another way, we already have two more errors in those positions than last year in 27 fewer games. And you are correct in that at third and short we should have been hit with probably 5 additional errors this year that weren't charged.
Yep - We have 33 total errors and our pitchers haven't helped themselves either, with 5 errors coming from the circle.
Informative stuff, tho I favor OPS or even OBP over BAV. In those areas Erickson leads the team by far. She has 15 BBs and 4 HBPs on the season and an OBP over .500 in SEC play.
Because of you, my forum friend, I will not end up crying under my desk at work tomorrow because I tried to force the left side of my brain to work. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart… because I do not know how I would have explained my meltdown to my boss. I understand that promises have possibly been made to transfers, but dang. That’s rough.
