It's no secret that the Gators have been looking forward to this weekend since the season started.
In the team's media guide, senior first baseman Ali Gardiner said UF's series against Alabama was her most anticipated of the year.
No. 1 UF (32-2, 11-0 Southeastern Conference) will take on No. 4 Alabama (26-4, 6-2 SEC) this weekend in a three-game home series, starting Saturday at 1 p.m.
Last week, Alabama was ranked No. 2 in the NFCA Top 25, and had the team not lost twice to No. 17 LSU, this weekend would have pitted the top two teams in the nation against each other.
But when it comes to facing the Tide, the rankings don't matter to the Gators.
"Alabama's always been a tough competitor, and I think we're all really excited," Gardiner said. "We've been looking forward to it for a long time, but now it's here and we're ready to go."
UF coach Tim Walton also expressed his excitement for this weekend's conference showdown, adding how important it will be for the Gators to come out with energy early in the game.
"I'm looking forward to winning, but that's going to be a hard challenge. They're a great team," Walton said. "I don't think you're going to find any 1-0 ballgames out here next week. It has the potential to be a slugfest, and we're going to have to do a good job of coming out and swinging the bat as well."
A higher-scoring game will certainly work in the Gators' favor. The team won the season series 2-1 last year, with UF's victories coming by scores of 8-4 and 4-1. And if the Gators want to continue their dominance over the top teams in the SEC, they will need to put up the kind of scores they did against Georgia (15-0 and 4-0 wins on March 11) and Tennessee (7-0, 7-0 and 4-1 victories last weekend).
After posting shutouts in the previous eight conference games, UF's comeback win against Tennessee on Sunday provided a challenge similar to the one they will face this weekend.
"It makes us more prepared for games like that in the postseason too," Gardiner said. "That's what the postseason's all about. People are going to bring their A game for possibly that last game of the season for them. That really helps us for Alabama and down the road."
Despite starting out slow against Tennessee pitcher Cat Hosfield on Sunday, UF's hitters were able to make adjustments at the plate in their second and third at-bats. He hopes his players are able to mirror that success against Alabama's ace, Kelsi Dunne (12-0, 0.56 ERA) and backups Charlotte Morgan (8-4, 1.95) - who also leads the team in RBIs - and Amanda Locke (6-0, 1.91).
"I don't think we do much different (than we did last weekend)," Walton said. "I think we just do the same things we do, just try to break down their pitchers if we can and try to put ourselves in a position where we can handle all three of their pitchers as opposed to getting caught up in just one."
