Nothing is permanent. Ask Michelle Moultrie.
Before the season started, the lone Florida senior told coach Tim Walton she wanted to bat first. Walton obliged. But just six games into the year, Moultrie moved down to the No. 2 hole while freshman Sami Fagan has taken the role of leadoff hitter for the previous three games.
With seven hits against Michigan State, Moultrie has shined in her new role.
“I don’t know if anything is ever permanent,” Walton said. “Michelle wasn’t quite in her groove. But she found her groove now in the No. 2 spot.”
In the Gators’ 15-4 win Sunday against the Spartans, Moultrie went 3 for 3, scored four times and stole three bases. Before this weekend, she collected only four hits in six games and was not as productive as Walton wanted his leadoff hitter to be.
“It’s better for the team,” Moultrie said. “Sami is really good at getting on base, and I think it’s better for me. The type of hitter she is and the hitter I am, I think it’s better for her to hit first and me second.”
Moultrie certainly has experience at the No. 1 spot after hitting at the top of the lineup all of last season. As a junior, she led Florida with a .443 batting average, 101 hits and a .519 on-base-percentage.
However, both Moultrie and Walton agree that Fagan has every quality of a good leadoff hitter as well. Moultrie went as far to say Fagan may perform better than herself in the top spot of the lineup.
“She’s really good at slapping [and] she’s really good at bunting,” Moultrie said. “She can do a lot of different things, a lot more things probably than I can. Getting on base is what you’re trying to do as a slapper, so she’s really good at that and she has a lot of tools she can use.”
One of seven true freshmen, Fagan has started the season hot, winning the first Southeastern Conference Freshman Player of the Week award this year. Hitting .500 with four runs and three RBI this weekend, she has shown she is not afraid to take the challenge of leading off for the Gators.
“It helps that coach has confidence in me to get on base and start off the game good,” Fagan said. “I’m pretty confident there right now. (Walton) saw my speed and my ground bunts. I put the ball on the ground most of the time.”
Walton has already made several lineup changes this season, and there will likely be several more over the course of the year. However, he said he likes the production so far from the early switch-up.
“I like (Moultrie) hitting in front of those power hitters, which really changes the pitches they get,” Walton said. “I’m happy with the move. It obviously scored a lot of runs on the weekend so I’m very pleased with that.”
Florida freshman Sami Fagan (51) took over the leadoff spot from senior Michelle Moultrie for the Gators’ series against Michigan State after Moultrie slumped to start the year.
