For several Gators, Thursday will be a homecoming.
Freshman Katie Medina, sophomore Cheyenne Coyle and juniors Brittany Schutte and Ensley Gammel all hail from California, the location of the annual Cathedral City Classic in Palm Springs.
Every one of the Golden State natives lived within several hours of the stadium, so this tournament will be their families’ best chance to catch the No. 1 Florida squad in action. Even freshman Lauren Haeger, who is from Peoria, Ariz., will have an opportunity to see her family in the stands.
But she, and the rest of her teammates, are most excited to play ranked teams for the first time this season.
“I have a lot of confidence in our team for next week,” Haeger said. “I see a lot of things getting better, meshing better, communication is better. And that’s what it takes to play against those teams like that and compete against them.”
Florida will head west the only time this regular season to face three Top-25 opponents in No. 16 Texas A&M, No. 8 Texas and No. 5 Washington. Coach Tim Walton’s squad will also play BYU and Boise State for the first time in UF softball history.
However, Walton doesn’t look to change his gameplan. He says he will stick with what got his team off to a 9-0 start.
“I don’t think we do anything different when we’re playing teams that have a number in front of their names,” Walton said. “I look at the teams in Boise State and BYU, the teams that aren’t ranked. BYU has been to the Super Regionals and Boise State has had some close games this season already. No matter who we play, I don’t think you’re going to see us do anything different.”
Walton has his players singing the same tune as well. Both freshman Sami Fagan and senior Michelle Moultrie emphasized after their game on Sunday that they will continue what they have been doing.
What the Gators have been doing has worked, as they are No. 1 in the nation and undefeated nine games into the season. However, those nine victories have come against teams with a combined record of 23-37. Now, Florida will leave Gainesville in a cross-country trip to play teams with a combined record of 40-8.
Schutte, who will be making her third trip back to her home state in a Gator uniform, isn’t concerned with a team’s record. Instead, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division I National Player of the Week is just looking to tack on five more W’s in the win column.
“Whoever is on the other side doesn’t really matter,” Schutte said. “Just play ball.”
