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Following a thrilling series win against Alabama, the No. 8 Florida softball team is in Baton Rouge to face No. 10 LSU at 2 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN2.
The Gators (40-10, 11-7 SEC) are looking for their second series victory against a top-10 SEC opponent.
A Broad Look At LSU
The LSU Tigers (37-10, 9-9), once ranked as high as No. 3, have seen their momentum stall. Following consecutive series losses to SEC opponents – including a sweep at the hands of Texas A&M and a 2-1 series deficit to Texas – the team is looking to bounce back.
Despite their dip in performance, the Tigers boast a talented roster. The team has relied on the pitching duo of Sydney Berzon (15-5) and Jayden Heavener (11-3). Though the two have combined for a 2.62 ERA, they have struggled recently. Redshirt junior Tatum Clopton (7-1) has stepped up in response, taking on a more significant role in the circle.
At the plate, redshirt senior Danieca Coffey has had a bounce-back year after missing out on most of her senior year due to injury. She leads the team with a .417 batting average and enters Saturday’s matchup on a six-game hitting streak.
The Tigers also feature a young, explosive force in redshirt freshman Tori Edwards, who has hit 16 homers this season.
She's Top 2, and Not 2!
Tori Edwards leads the entire SEC in conference play in wRC+ (weighted Runs Created plus) with 238.
She also leads all Freshmen in Batting Average, SLG%, and OB%#Volume33 pic.twitter.com/WUvAajMaJZ
— LSU Softball (@LSUsoftball) April 24, 2025
She most recently went yard in the team’s sole win against Texas to help LSU avoid a sweep.
Takeaways for the Gators
As Florida approaches its second-to-last SEC matchup of the regular season, the team is still addressing several areas of concern.
While stringing together base hits against top-ranked opponents has been a recurring challenge, it’s not the Gators’ offense that’s been their biggest issue in recent conference play. Rather, it’s been the pitching staff that’s struggled.
Keagan Rothrock (10-4) hasn’t quite been able to reach her pre-injury form. While pitcher Katelynn Oxley (8-4) has stepped up in her place, it’s not ideal to be relying on a freshman to carry the load — especially with the stakes high in SEC competition.
However, Florida still has a couple of games left to tighten up the rotation. Additionally, the offense seems to be finding its rhythm again. Most notable was the walk-off winner against Alabama, where the Gators fought back from a deficit twice late in the game to grind out a victory. Wins like those are promising as the team heads into the final stretch of the regular season.
KORBE WALKOFF x @korbeotis
GATORS TAKE THE SERIES
ESPN2 | #GoGators pic.twitter.com/m2etCmiNtQ
— Gators Softball (@GatorsSB) April 19, 2025
Taylor Shumaker and Kendra Falby remain the team’s two biggest stars and they both go into the weekend chasing milestones. Shumaker is within striking distance of 70 RBIs on the season, while Falby is just three stolen bases shy of the program record of 119,
The key is to have players on both the offense and the defense working in tandem — and UF seems to be getting closer to that with every series.
Looking Ahead
Games 2 is Sunday at 6 p.m. ET and Game 3 is at 7 p.m. Monday and both will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
