The softball team will take on its toughest test of the season against No. 6 Alabama at 6 p.m. .
The No. 1 Gators (33-1, 8-1 Southeastern Conference) and the Crimson Tide (29-6, 3-3 SEC) have won every SEC regular-season championship since 2008.
"This is a phenomenal rivalry," coach Tim Walton said. "Who wins this series, not always, usually wins the SEC."
But the three-game series over the weekend has added meaning, as both teams will wear yellow uniforms on Saturday to spread awareness for pediatric cancer. Before the game, Terri Braswell will throw out the first pitch about two years after losing her 17-year-old daughter and honorary UF teammate, Heather Braswell, to brain cancer.
"I think that whenever she steps on the field it’s going to bring back some memories," senior Kirsti Merritt said. "It’s hard to even talk about it, to even think about it, but I hope that we can help her get through that day."
Gator softball players from years past will also be in town for alumnae weekend.
"This was one of those weekends that we put a star by at the beginning of the school year," Walton said. "Not only because it’s Alabama, but we’re trying to have our alumnae more connected to our program."
Walton said the team wouldn’t be where it is today, and some of the team’s great players wouldn’t be going to Florida without the foundation the alumnae laid.
But aside from the events surrounding the games, Florida’s full focus will be on Alabama.
The Gators are off to the best start in school history and have the highest winning percentage in the nation by a healthy margin.
Meanwhile, Alabama comes in with history on its side. The Crimson Tide hold the all-time series lead, 33-30, and has a 14-10 advantage in Gainesville.
Alabama will look to capitalize on UF’s slow offensive starts with pitcher Sydney Littlejohn, who boasts a 12-2 record and a 1.65 ERA that’s good for 47th in the nation.
But Littlejohn might find herself in a pitching duel with UF sophomore Aleshia Ocasio, who is 12-1 on the year and leads the nation with a 0.36 ERA.
But on Saturday, no pitcher will get more attention than Braswell.
"When we won (the national championship) in 2014," senior Aubree Munro said, "we brought her down on the field to be with us and to share in that moment, because she had just lost her daughter and she was with us every step of the way.
"To have her there for all of that and then two years later that she’s still with us, I think means so much to us."
Contact Matt Brannon at mbrannon@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @MattB_727
UF's Kirsti Merritt crosses home plate to score the lone run of the game in the eighth inning of Florida softball's 1-0 win against Florida Atlantic during the NCAA Regional finals on May 17, 2015, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
