It is the third in a trio of epic journeys for Team29. The Crimson Tide went 3-3 in the first two challenges. Can they finish on the plus side?
OKIE REWIND
Monday was not quite a sellout, but the football team was there and those guys are so big that it felt like a sellout.
ACCOLADES & RANKINGS
DAMN STRAIGHT!
It’s about time!
MOVING ON UP
Alabama (30-16, 7-8) again improved in the polls. To our knowledge, two of them released their rankings before Monday’s game ended:
- USAToday/NFCA 24 ↑ 23 ↑ 22*
- ESPN/USA Softball 23 ↑ 22 ↑ 17
- Softball America 22 ↓ 23 ↑ 18*
- D1Softball 24 ↔ 24 ↑ 19
*Poll announced before Monday’s win.
CLINCH
With a record of 30-16, Team29 clinches a winning record. They have 10 regular season games, the SEC Tournament, and at the very least two Regional games remaining. Should by some fluke they lose out and having still gotten into a Regional, they would finish 30-29.
TOP 10 PER D1 SOFTBALL
Florida (37-9, 9-6) is ranked 7/8/8/11. In case you missed it, Texas A&M has ascended to the top.
- Texas A&M 37-5
- Texas 39-5
- Florida State 40-6
- Tennessee 34-9
- Oklahoma 36-5
- UCLA 40-5
- Arkansas 31-9
- Florida 37-9
- South Carolina 32-10
- LSU 35-8
A little SEC flavor there. No? Overall, 12 SEC teams are ranked by at least one poll. Only Auburn, Kentucky, and Mizzou are omitted.
MIDWEEK
With the Okie series ending Monday night and the Tide arriving in Gainesville on Wednesday, there was no time for Bama to have a midweek game.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
The price of being on TV is one of those weird Thursday-Friday-Saturday series.
- Thursday, Apr 17 at Florida 5pm/6pm SEC+
- Friday, Apr 18 at Florida 5pm/6pm SECN
- Saturday, Apr 19 at Florida 1pm/2pm ESPN2
HOW TO WATCH… ALLEGEDLY
Ugh, 80s Top 40 DJ Beth Mowins is on the call with mumblemouth Michele Smith on color commentary for the second two games. It is unclear who will call the first game on SEC+.
SWAMP WEATHER
It should be pretty darn nice weather for all three games.
FLORIDA (37-9)
That record looks mighty nice. Doesn’t it? Look a little closer and you will see that the Gators are 16-5 at home, while 14-4 on the road, and 7-0 in pre-SEC season neutral site cupcake games. UF really did not take on much of anyone before conference play. The only currently ranked team they beat was #17 Duke who they split with at home. The next toughest win was Arizona State who is unranked. They also got shut out by the identical scores of 0-4 against UCF and Florida State.
Florida got off to a good SEC start winning two of three at Texas A&M. But the next weekend, they dropped two of three to Texas at home. They then swept woeful Auburn (27-17, 4-14), but lots of teams are doing that. Following that, the Gators dropped a midweek game to FSU and then two of three to Arkansas in Gainesville. This past weekend was 2-1 at Ole Miss. In short, they are beatable.
Tim Walton is back for his 20th season in Gainesville. New to his staff is Stephanie VanBrakle Prothro who was an All-American at Alabama in 2005 and 2006 and was pitching coach under Patrick Murphy from 2012 to 2021. She left he Crimson Tide to be head coach at Memphis but that tenure did not go so well (14-87, 3-42 in two seasons).
THROW THE BALL
The Gators have five pitchers, but go mainly with two. An All-SEC second teamer as a freshman in 2024, Ava Brown (10-1, 2.47) has logged the most starts and innings pitched. Keagan Rothrock (10-3, 2.59 ERA) had an All-Freshman campaign in 2024. She began 2025 okay but she was put on the shelf due to a mysterious injury for over a month this spring. [Murphy is not the only one who keeps the clamps on the injury reports.] Something is not right with her for she has gotten rocked for five or more runs in each of her last three outings. Redheaded freshman Katelynn Oxley (10-3, 2.59) looked like she might redshirt, but was thrust into action due to Rothrock’s injury. Kara Hammock (8-1, 3.88) is a 6-foot-2 transfer from UNC-Wilmington. She has pitched mostly relief and did not see action last weekend.
HIT THE BALL
Kendra Falby is a candidate for SEC POY. The senior tips the scales at .463 batting average and a .529 on-base percentage. Mia Williams is swinging a hot bat. The sophomore batted .571 over four games this past week for the Gators, including three games at No. 19 Ole Miss, and was named co-SEC POW. She leads the team in round-trippers at 16. Five Gators have at least 10 home runs on the season.
Florida scores a lot of runs: 7.9 per game overall with an SEC best 6.6 against conference foes.
CATCH THE BALL
Fielding has been a bit of a struggle this year for UF. Their fielding percentage of .969 puts them in the middle of the pack in the conference. They have 9 errors each from the starting 2B, SS, and 3B (see below).
FAMILIAR FACE
Kenleigh Cahalan is hitting .331 with 9 doubles, 10 HR and 43 RBI. On the downside, she has 9 errors and a .941 fielding percentage. The former Tide shortstop is primarily playing third base for the Gators and usually bats 7th in the order.
TEN CENT ANALYSIS (one thin dime)
It is a pretty quick turnaround for the Tide. The hope is that Murphy has instituted a “24 Hour Rule” like Nick Saban had. Beating Oklahoma is a great achievement, but it is time to put that behind you for now and concentrate on the next dragon to slay. The Gators are tough, but they are beatable. To be honest, their resume does not stack up next to the Tide’s and UF is not infallible at home. The Florida hitting is scary but pitching is a little suspect.
Alabama has a good shot at winning one; If they pitch like they did last weekend, perhaps more.
Poll
Gumps vs Jorts:
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0%
Bama sweeps and maybe unicorns?✩ ₊˚ ⊹♡ · ‧₊°
(0 votes)
35 votes total
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