Gators Softball Prepares for Regular Season Home Opener

The No.4 Florida softball team is back to their regular season schedule tonight. The Gators will host the North Florida Ospreys for their first midweek challenge.

Yesterday, the softball team had a grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the newly renovated Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Tonight will be the Gators regular season home opener and first pitch is set for 6 p.m.

https://twitter.com/GatorsSB/status/1095736630823014401

The Matchup

Gators

Florida softball started their season with 5-0 sweep in the USF Invitational in Tampa, FL. The Gators defeated Illinois State, 15-0, Michigan, 6-0, Arizona, 3-2, NC State, 2-1, and USF, 7-1.

The Gators are heading into this matchup though with a loss against the Japan National Team. Japan defeated the Gators 8-0 last night in an exhibition game in Gainesville, FL. This was the first time the Gators have ever played an international team.

While Gator fans might have been shocked by the end score, Japan is actually ranked No. 2 in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings.

In last nights matchup, Amanda Lorenz and Jordan Matthews were they only Gators to get a hit.

Ospreys

As for the Ospreys, North Florida opened their season at the UCF Invitational over the weekend. They lost their first two games against Minnesota, 13-0, and Ohio State, 3-0, in Orlando. However, rain canceled the last two games of the invitational. Therefore, the Ospreys are headed into this matchup against Florida 0-2, which isn’t a good sign for North Florida since Florida leads the series 8-0.

The Ospreys have a lot of new players added to their roster this season. They have seven freshmen on the team including freshman Veronika Kimploya, who joined after playing with the Czech Republic National Team. Junior Taylor Engman also joined North Florida from State College of Florida.