Gator softball set for WCWS showdown with Oklahoma State
The Florida Gator softball team looks to make a statement as they open the 2019 Women’s College World Series against Oklahoma State.
For the 10th time in 12 years, the Florida Gator softball team is back in Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series.
And, like every other year, this year won’t be easy for the fifth-seeded Gators.
On Thursday Florida will take on No. 13-seed Oklahoma State in the first round of the double-elimination tournament.
The Cowgirls (44-15) are fresh off eliminating defending champion Florida State in the Tallahassee Super Regional, while Florida (49-16) knocked off No. 12-seeded Tennessee twice to win the Gainesville Super Regional tournament last weekend.
Oklahoma State has been somewhat back and forth all season long. They opened the season with a 7-4 loss to Illinois and sustained early-season losses to LSU and Notre Dame. They also suffered a pair of losses to Arizona and Colorado State in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in February.
After the loss to the Rams, Oklahoma State rattled off 10 straight wins, including a three-game sweep of Oregon. They closed the regular season after being swept by No. 1 Oklahoma.
This season, the Cowgirls are 1-3 against the Southeastern Conference.
Oklahoma State is led by Madi Sue Montgomery and her .353 batting average. The senior infielder leads the Cowgirls with 61 hits on the season.
The power for Oklahoma State, however, comes from, of all places, senior pitcher Samantha Show. The senior from East Bernard, Texas has powered a team-high 18 home runs this season. She also brings a 21-8 record in the circle with a 2.37 earned run average.
Florida, on the other hand, started the season on an 18-game winning streak before falling 7-1 to UCLA in late February.
After going back and forth in league play, the Gators defeated four straight ranked opponents – including No. 4 Alabama – to win the SEC tournament title. Their only postseason loss is a 3-2, 9-inning game to Tennessee in the second game of the Super Regionals.
Florida did not play any teams from the Big 12 this season but are 4-5 against opponents similar to Oklahoma State.
The Gators have a pair of batters hitting over .400. Hannah Adams leads Florida with a .429 average while senior Amanda Lorenz is hitting .419 and is on track to be the first player in Gator history to end the season hitting .400 or higher in three seasons.
In the circle, Kelly Barnhill remains close to the single-season strikeout record for the Gators. Barnhill has 349 so far this season and the record, set by Stacey Nelson in 2008, is 363. Barnhill is 34-12 on the season with a 1.45 ERA.
She is backed up by Natalie Lugo and her 8-3 overall record and 2.04 ERA.
The first game for the Gators in the Women’s College World Series will be at 7 p.m. EDT on ESPN2. Locally, the game will be broadcast on WGGG (92.1 FM/1230 AM) and WMOP (100.1 FM/900 AM).