In the top of the fourth inning on Saturday against South Alabama, Amanda Lorenz stepped into the batter’s box facing a full count.
The freshman belted the 3-2 pitch to center field, notching the first home run of her young career.
"In practice, I feel like I hit them all the time," she said. "In games … it just hasn’t happened.
"The first one’s out of the way now."
With just two games left before Southeastern Conference play begins — a home doubleheader this afternoon against South Dakota starting at 4 — No. 1 Florida (22-0) is looking to add to what has already been one of the best starts in program history. This year’s team now only trails the 2011 and 2015 Gators, which started the season with 24 and 28 consecutive victories, respectively.
Lorenz has been a big reason why.
The freshman is among a trio of underclassmen powering the Gators, along with sophomores Janell Wheaton and Kayli Kvistad.
Of players with at least 40 at-bats, Lorenz leads the team in batting average (.483) while Wheaton is second (.444) and Kvistad is third (.432).
Lorenz also ranks first in hits (28) while Wheaton tops the squad in home runs (5) and RBIs (26).
Despite an average output of 6.95 runs per game, which ranks 17th in the nation, the Gators are second in on-base percentage (.497).
The emergence of these three young players has been welcomed for Florida, whose top hitter for the last three seasons — senior Kelsey Stewart — got off to a slow start.
But Stewart, the NCAA’s active leader in career hits with 315, has broken free of her early-season struggles.
After not recording a hit until the fourth game of the season and batting just .148 through the first 10 games, her swing is back to normal. Her batting average has jumped to .333 and she sits second on the team with 23 runs scored.
"The Kelsey Stewart of her early years, is that the outfield played really shallow … to take away her speed game," coach Tim Walton said, "Now everybody plays her deeper.
"She was hitting the ball fine, she just happened to be hitting it right where everybody was playing."
Florida’s pitching staff has also been overpowering.
Delanie Gourley, Aleshia Ocasio and Kelly Barnhill have each struck out at least 59 batters. To put that into perspective, UF’s hitters have only struck out a combined 57 times.
As the pre-conference schedule concludes and SEC play begins, Florida will look to continue its success.
"Our weaknesses are limited," Walton said. "For us overall, just really try to do a good job of working on what we do and get better on what we do."
Contact Brian Lee at blee@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @brianlee_17.
Amanda Lorenz bats during Florida's doubleheader sweep of Jacksonville on Feb. 17, 2016, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
