Florida is going to be tested to the max this weekend against Texas Tech with a berth to the WCWS on the line. The No. 6 overall seed Gators will host the No. 11 overall seed Red Raiders, and there will be plenty of subplots to follow throughout the weekend.
With game one set for 11 AM on Friday, because ESPN said so, these are the main storylines to follow in the two-out-of-three series.
How will Florida handle NiJaree Canady?
When the bracket got drawn, the immediate thing that jumped out was that Florida would get grouped with Texas Tech and superstar pitcher NiJaree Canady in Super Regionals. Canady almost dragged Texas Tech to a national title last season, and this year she has received a bit more help with pitching depth and hasn’t had to carry as much of a workload.
The concern for Florida is whether or not they can scratch out runs should Plan A of just mashing the ball not pan out. The Gators are 7th in the country in runs scored, and are also 7th in total home runs. But they don’t really do a lot to move runners over as needed, and they are at the bottom half in the country in steals and sacrifice bunts.Â
So if Canady shuts things down early, does Florida have it in them to draw a walk, move a runner over, and try to sneak runs home that way?
For what it is worth, Ole Miss did light up Canady in Regionals in the first game against her, so she is mortal sometimes.
The return of Mia Williams to Gainesville
Fate works in a funny way sometimes. Last year, Mia Williams, the daughter of former Gator and longtime NBA player Jason Williams, was a second-team All-American 2B for Florida, hitting .335 with 19 HRs on the year. But after Florida was bounced from the WCWS last year, she transferred to Texas Tech, and her mother had some very critical things to say on social media on her way out the door.
Well, wouldn’t you know it, that Williams is back and she is even better this season. Williams is currently hitting .435 with 22HRs on the year. Her 21 doubles are tied for the 5th most in the country.
Gabi Comia has held her own at 2B this year, hitting .339 and making the All-SEC Defensive Team. But she doesn’t have the power of Williams (zero home runs on the year), so the two are bound to get juxtaposed this weekend.
Get your coffee ready
As mentioned at the top, game one will start at 11 AM. Is it ideal for fans? No, no it is not.
But one has to wonder if there is a hidden benefit to the 11 AM start because it will be 10 AM Central Time for Texas Tech. Plus, thanks to the Morgan Wallen concert on campus last weekend, Florida had to play all their games for Regionals early, so they got used to the 11 AM start.
Texas Tech, meanwhile, played all its games for Regionals in the afternoon. Down the stretch, the bulk of their games were later starts, and they have won 13 of their last 15 games.
One of those losses was against Arizona State in the Big 12 Tournament.
The start time for that game was 11 AM.
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