The No. 2/3 Florida softball squad clinched
the regular-season Southeastern Conference Title Sunday, the fourth SEC
Championship in Gator softball history, and solidified the No. 1 seed in the
upcoming SEC Softball Tournament May 8-11 in Lexington, Ky. Florida will play
the winner of Alabama/Texas A&M to open SEC Tournament play May 9.
The Gators (18-6, .750) edged out the Tennessee
Lady Vols (16-6, .727) for their fourth league title in school history (1998,
2008, 2009, 2013), the third under Florida head coach Tim Walton, while also
claiming the SEC Eastern Division for the sixth time (1998, 2008, 2009, 2010,
2011, 2013).
Softball’s regular-season
title Sunday marked the eighth SEC title for the Florida athletics program this
year, tying a school and league record for most in a season as Florida previously
accomplished the feat twice, along with Georgia once.
The Orange and Blue wrapped up regular-season
play this weekend with a series win at South Carolina, finishing the 2013
conference slate as the only team in the league to win all eight conference sets,
including sweeps over both Arkansas and Ole Miss. UF is 49-7 overall on the campaign
as it heads to the postseason next week in Lexington, just one win shy of the
fifth 50-win season in Florida history.
Florida will play the winner of the No. 8 vs.
No. 9 seed contest between Alabama and Texas A&M on Thursday, May 9 at 11 a.m.
(ET) at John Cropp Stadium. The contest between the Gators and either Alabama |
Texas A&M will be broadcast live on ESPNU, as the complete 2013 SEC Tournament
will once again air on the ESPN family of networks, with the Championship Game slated
to be broadcast on ESPN Saturday, May 11, at 8 p.m. ESPN’s softball crew of
Beth Mowins, Holly Rowe, Michele Smith, Jessica Mendoza and Cara Capuano will
handle coverage through the duration of the tournament. SECDigitalNetwork.com
will additionally cover the tournament with exclusive online coverage behind
the scenes.
Tickets for the single-elimination tournament
can be purchased through the Kentucky Athletic Ticket Office by visiting www.ukathletics.com.
Florida is 19-23 (.452) all-time in the SEC
Tournament and advanced to the SEC Tournament Championship last season for the
fifth time in program history.
The Orange and Blue faced Alabama earlier
this season, knocking off the then-No. 1 team in the land with a mid-week,
non-conference 8-4 victory to kick off UF’s spring break road trip in the Heart
of Dixie. Alabama leads the all-time history of the series, 30-24, including a
6-3 edge on neutral ground.
While Florida didn’t face SEC newcomer Texas
A&M as part of its regular-season slate in 2013, the Gators and Aggies met
just last season in 2012 at the Cathedral City Classic in Palm Springs. UF
opened play in California with a 6-4 victory over the Aggies at the Big League
Dreams Sports Complex. UF and TAMU have met just seven times and the Gator
victory Feb. 23, 2012, gave the Gators the 4-3 all-time advantage in the
history of the series. Florida leads 2-1 on neutral ground.
Notably, Alabama won the three-game series
against Texas A&M March 29-31 in College Station. The Aggies took the
series opener, 3-2, at home before the Crimson Tide rebounded with 6-2 and 4-1
victories in games two and three, respectively.
The Gators are 11-4 (.733) against top-25
opponents, tops in the SEC, own 17 come-from-behind wins – seven in SEC play –
and are 5-2 (.714) in extra-inning games in 2013. Florida owns 18 shutouts,
paced by junior ace Hannah Rogers’ (Lake Wales, Fla.) nine. Florida is 9-3 versus 1-25 RPI
opponents, 13-3 against opponents ranked 26-50 in the RPI rankings and 16-1
against teams 50-100 in the most recent RPI standings.
