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The No. 2 Florida Gators softball team will tangle with two in-state foes ahead of the Bubly Invitational this weekend.
On Tuesday, the Jacksonville Dolphins come to town and Wednesday, Stetson comes rolling in.
These will both be good tune-up games for what’s to come in the Bubly Invitational at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium, where Florida (6-0) will play six games in a four-day span, including two against No.7 Duke (3-2).
Jacksonville
Jacksonville comes stumbling into Gainesville after a tough weekend in the River City Leadoff where they finished 2-3. But now the Dolphins look to collect themselves and find a way to pull off what would be the upset of the year so far.
One thing Jacksonville will need to do early in this one is score first. Florida has yet to trail in any of their games this season and in doing so, has been able to put their competition away early. Senior outfielders Madison Bratek and Haley Fox will be counted on to step up. Fox has had a solid start to the year, leading the team in batting average (.500) and hits (7).
For Florida, it’s all about striking fast and shocking Jacksonville’s system early. This is a Jacksonville pitching staff that has given up 34 hits in just 332/3 innings played. Opponents are hitting just under .300 against them too, which will not fly against a Florida team hitting .392.
Expect for Florida stars to show out yet again. Freshman Taylor Shumaker will already be looking for her third multi-homer game of the season, with already five on the board. She was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday.
hittin' the long ball 😳
18 ABs, 9 Hits, 5 HRs for Tay Shu#GoGators pic.twitter.com/56ink1Xf4i
— Gators Softball (@GatorsSB) February 10, 2025
Stetson
The Stetson Hatters have had a much better start to the season at 5-0, including two wild wins over UT-Chattanooga.
One thing Stetson has showed this season is that it is more than capable at scoring runs. Stetson has scored 31 runs in five games, 14 coming from a 14-10 win against UT-Chattanooga. Junior outfielder Gia Napoli has started this season on fire at the plate.
Napoli will enter Wednesday’s contest hitting a scorching .689, along with her 1.381 OPS. Florida needs to make Napoli the top priority and figure out a way to cool here down. One way to do that is with dominant pitching.
The Gators come into the midweek games with a team ERA of 1.80. It’s been a three-pitcher rotation so far. Keagan Rothrock and Ava Brown have been lights out in the circle. The two have pitched 28 innings, posting a 5-0 record, with 21 strikeouts and combined ERA of 1.29.
Expect Kara Hammock to pitch against Jacksonville on Tuesday, with hopes of getting right and either Rothrock or Brown to get the ball to try and neutralize the Hatters.
Where To Find Media Coverage
Both home games are on SEC Network+ and ESPN 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF. The Tuesday and Wednesday games start at 6 p.m.
