Lady Hornets face Florida in NCAA Softball Tourney Friday
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (bamastatesports.com) – When the Alabama State softball team gathered to watch the NCAA Softball Tournament selection show this past Sunday night, many of the thoughts flocked to the potential of playing either Auburn or Alabama.
It was the practical thought—seeming how both were ranked teams who shared the same home state as their counterparts.
But, instead, Alabama State popped up on the screen immediately after the commercial break, revealing that the Lady Hornets were headed to face the No. 1 team in the nation and two-time defending national champion Florida Gators.
“We were a bit stunned for a second,” said ASU head softball coach Chris Steiner-Wilcoxson.
“We figured it would have been Auburn or Alabama. But, it’s great that we were able to venture outside the state and see some place new. Some of the girls hadn’t been to Florida. And, we are honored to be here playing against such a high caliber program like Florida.”
The Lady Hornets (28-25) understand that they will be mega underdogs, but also take much pride in knowing that they earned this spot and belong here in the NCAA Tournament when they get set to take on the host Gators (53-5) at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium on Friday at 2:31 p.m. ET / 1:31 p.m. CT.
The SWAC Champions offer a lineup that has found a lot of success with its’ offense.
Alabama State ranks 19th in the nation in team batting average (.327) and features two of the toughest players to strike out in the country in Laura Aguilar (35th in the nation at once every 25.3 at bats) and Jenna Mae Thorne (72nd in the nation at once every 19.9 at bats).
Nobody on ASU has been hotter than Thorne, who batted .692 (9-for-13) in the SWAC Tournament with one double, one triple, two home runs, seven runs scored and seven RBI.
Aguilar batted .563 (9-for-16) in the tournament with four runs scored, one double and three RBI.
Florida counters with the nation’s top-ranked pitching staff featuring three hurlers with impressive numbers.
UF’s astounding 0.90 team ERA (381.2 innings pitched) would go down as the second-best ERA for a single season in program history if the season ended today.
Delanie Gourley (18-3, 206 strikeouts), Kelly Barnhill (15-1, 164 Ks) and Aleshia Ocasio (20-1, 130 K) are the first trio in Florida’s history to all win at least 15 games apiece in a single season.
At the top of the Lady Hornets’ pitching rotation is Maddie Phelps, an 18-game winner who was the SWAC Pitcher of the Year and was second in the conference in strikeouts (138).
The teams have never faced each other in softball.
