Everyone is looking forward to the weekend, especially the Gators.
No. 3 Florida lost another midweek matchup Wednesday night when it was shut out against UCF in Orlando. Just two weeks earlier on March 28, UF dropped a home game to USF, so Florida (35-5, 15-2, Southeastern Conference) will look to use its weekend series against Auburn (26-15, 5-11 SEC), starting Friday night at 6, as redemption.
Thankfully for the Gators, their series against the Tigers doesn’t fall on a weekday, as three of their five losses have been midweek games.
But Michelle Moultrie isn’t worried.
“We’re fine,” said the senior center fielder. “We’re just going to reflect on it and move on.”
And although the seasoned Florida veteran doesn’t see a problem, sophomore Cheyenne Coyle hinted at the team’s struggle to come back in a game after losing to USF.
“It’s important to get the runs back as soon as possible,” Coyle said.
“The longer you wait to get the runs back, the harder it is going to be. If they strike first, we have to fire back right away.”
Coyle said she wanted her team to focus on that in last week’s midweek against FSU but her words could not carry over into this week.
Just as they did against the Bulls, the Gators fell behind by two runs in the first inning against the Knights on Wednesday and never found a way to jumpstart their offense.
Scoring in midweek games has been a problem all year for Florida. On a Wednesday or Thursday, the Gators average just more than four runs per game. But every other day, they average nearly seven runs.
The difference is night and day when comparing Florida’s last weekend series against Ole Miss to its last three Wednesday games against USF, FSU and UCF.
Against the Rebels, the Gators averaged 9.3 runs per game, while in three midweek games, UF managed just 10 combined runs — with nine of those coming against the Seminoles.
Still, Hannah Rogers places the blame on the opposing pitchers and not her team’s offense.
“Their pitcher came out ready to play,” Rogers said after the loss to UCF. “(She) did a really good job keeping us off the bases and not allowing us to get hits.”
But if the Gators look to make their fifth consecutive Women’s College World Series, their offense will have to learn to put up a fight against the nation’s top pitchers, especially when falling behind early in a game like they did against USF and UCF.
Florida senior outfielder Michelle Moultrie drops her bat to run after recording a hit against USF on March 28. UF has struggled in midweek games as of late.
