Led by a group of five veteran seniors who’ve been here the past three years, the Gator softball team will embark on its SEC-best fourth consecutive Women’s College World Series starting Thursday at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla. The Orange and Blue will face the 2011 Big 12 champions in Missouri in the nightcap of the four-game opening day slate, with first pitch set for 9:30 p.m. (ET).
This year’s WCWS will be covered in its entirety by ESPN/ESPN2 and will additionally be simulcast on ESPN3.com, while Gator fans can also tune in live on the radio to 105 ‘The Game’ with the call by Adam Schick. Beth Mowins and Jessica Mendoza will call the Gator-Tiger match-up, as well as every evening session game through the next week. Holly Rowe will be the field reporter and Pam Ward and Michele Smith will call the action in each day session.
Four teams in the WCWS represent the Big 12 (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Missouri), while the Pac-10 and SEC will each have representation from two league institutions, Florida/Alabama and Cal/Arizona State.
Florida is now 21-16 (.567) in NCAA Regionals, 9-2 (.818) in Super Regionals and 7-6 (.538) in the Women’s College World Series for an overall record of 37-24 (.606) in the NCAA Tournament. Florida head coach Tim Walton is 32-14 (.695) as a head coach in the NCAA Tournament following UF’s 2011 NCAA Tournament run thus far. Florida made its way to the big dance via both the Gainesville Regional and Super Regional, where the Gators faced defending national champion UCLA three times to advance to Super Regionals. A No. 4 seed, Florida hosted and swept No. 13 seed Oregon to become the first SEC school to make the WCWS four consecutive years.
Florida and Missouri meet in the WCWS for the second consecutive year, as the two squads additionally met in last year’s big dance. UF came out on top in the elimination game with a 5-0 victory. While the history isn’t extensive between the two Thursday opponents, fans will be in for a treat to see Missouri ace Chelsea Thomas take to the field against UF’s hot-hitting batters. Florida’s five seniors will look to capitalize on one last opportunity to cap off their careers as the winningest class in school history. The quintet is now 234-30 (.886) and 94-13 (.878) in the Southeastern Conference.
The Florida/Missouri Match-Up
Recapping the 2010 WCWS meeting between Florida and Missouri: Powered by three home runs, including two by Brittany Schutte, the fourth-seed University of Florida softball team defeated ninth-seed Missouri, 5-0, tallying its first win in the 2010 Women’s College World Series. Schutte hit her 17th and 18th homers to tally 58 RBI on the season. Stephanie Brombacher recorded the win, allowing the Gators to stay alive in the double-elimination tournament and play again on Saturday. The righty pitched her 12th complete-game shutout, allowing six hits and two walks and struck out six. Kristin Nottelmann shouldered the loss for the Tigers, going five innings, allowing three hits, three runs, one walk and striking out one. Reliever Jana Hainey came in for one inning, gave up two runs, one earned, and struck out one without allowing a walk.
Florida-Missouri Series History
Series Record........................... Florida leads, 2-0
At Gainesville...................................................1-0
At Columbia.....................................................n/a
Neutral.............................................................1-0
1-run ................................................................n/a
2-run ................................................................n/a
Shutouts ..........................................................2-0
Most Runs, UF.......................................5 (6/5/10)
Margin, UF.............................................5 (6/5/10)
Most Runs, Missouri........................................n/a
Margin, Missouri ..............................................n/a
Longest Win Streak, UF .......... 2 (2/7/04-present)
Longest Win Streak, Missouri..........................n/a
