For the Gators, there is no place like home.
Tonight at 6 against Ole Miss will mark the second of 16 straight games that No. 6 UF will play in the state of Florida. The month-long stay in the Sunshine State will be the one of the longest times spent at home in program history for the Gators.
The 31 straight days Florida won't cross its borders will give the Gators a much needed stay-cation. In March, they traveled to Starkville, Miss., Knoxville, Tenn., Fayetteville, Ark., Athens, Ga., and Tallahassee.
“We’re halfway through the season and now we have April, where we have two Wednesday games on the road and then everything else at home,” Walton said. “I’m so excited to be home for the next month.”
The only time UF has to venture out of Gainesville the rest of the month is when it makes the short trip to Orlando to face UCF on Wednesday. Other than that, the Gators will settle down in Katie Seashole Stadium, where they are 13-1 this season.
“It’s nice being in our own beds, being in our own batting facilities [and] being in our own weight room,” Walton said.
If Florida can hold out and win the remaining 14 home games left on its schedule, it will join the 2008 squad as the only other team in program history to drop just one game at home.
The Gators' quest for home dominance in April starts with a three-game series against the Rebels who have only two wins in Gainesville in program history. But instead of focusing on a record against a Southeastern Conference foe, freshman Lauren Haeger said she will use home-field advantage to improve.
“It’s good to play at home with all your fans and all your music and your warm-up how you like it,” Haeger said. “It’s going to be nice to get settled in and start beating teams like I know we can. I know we will win, and if we don’t, then I know we can bounce back from a loss.”
And with only one of five of the next in-state series against a ranked team (a double-header against No. 24 LSU on April 24), the Gators look to boost their 12-2 SEC record and vie for a fifth straight Eastern Division title.
But maybe even better than getting a weekend series against a sub-.500 SEC team is getting the chance to burrow in at home instead of living out of a suitcase. Junior Kelsey Horton has never had this kind of opportunity and said she will take advantage of it.
“I still have my packed stuff in my room so I’m excited to unpack and have my family come up for the rest of the month,” Horton said. “It’s a nice feeling knowing you don’t have to pack up and travel.”
