Alabama and Florida has become one of the biggest rivalries in softball over the past few years.
The two teams have played each other 11 times the past three seasons with Florida winning six of those contests.
And this weekend, the rivalry will be renewed when the No. 3 Gators (28-2, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to face the No. 5 Crimson Tide (21-5, 5-1 SEC).
Alabama is going to be motivated and will be looking for some revenge after the way last season ended.
Florida swept the Crimson Tide in the Women’s College World Series, outscoring them 11-3 in two games to clinch UF’s first national championship in program history.
Coach Tim Walton knows how much emotion goes into playing each game against Alabama.
"There’s always a lot of intensity that goes into it," Walton said. "They’ve done a good job, they’ve got a great program. We’ve got a great program. We have players that were recruited by both programs."
Florida’s pitching might be key during the three game series against Alabama.
The Gators pitching staff was left licking its wounds after the LSU series, which saw them give up 27 runs, 19 earned, in three games.
As a staff, UF leads the SEC with 257 strikeouts. Alabama on the other hand, strikes out the least amount of times at the plate, as they’ve only been punched out a total of 77 times in 26 games.
Walton said he won’t hesitate to use his three-arm rotation this weekend after they struggled against LSU.
"All three are going to pitch this weekend. They’re going to have to do it," Walton said. "Whether we decide to go with Aleshia (Ocasio) and Lauren (Haeger) and have Delanie (Gourley) come out of the pen, and see if that doesn’t help her get her confidence where she needs to be."
Florida’s staff will have to deal with the duo of Demi Turner and Haylie McCleney. Both Turner and McCleney lead Alabama in hitting and rank in the top seven in the SEC in batting average, hitting .488 and .481, respectively.
For UF, Kirsti Merritt is no stranger to the rivalry as she’s been a staple in Florida’s lineup against Alabama her previous two seasons.
The Lake Panasoffkee native has played seven games in her career against the Crimson Tide and has two home runs, 10 RBIs and four stolen bases.
One of the two home runs for Merritt was a three-run home run in game two of the WCWS in a 6-3 win to help Florida clinch its first national title.
Merritt specifically remembers her second contest against Alabama in which she went 3-for-4 with a home run, five RBIs and two stolen bases.
Florida will need her to come up with a couple of solid games in the series as the three game set gets underway on Saturday.
"Anytime that we play Alabama there’s a little bit more ‘oomph’ in the game because it’s just a really good rivalry between us two," Merritt said. "We always have really good games when we play each other. I remember my freshman year, that’s probably the favorite game I’ve ever played in, so it’ll be a good weekend."
Follow Luis Torres on Twitter @LFTorresIII
Kirsti Merritt bats during UF's 17-1 win against USF on April 23 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
