April 21, 2008

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Dolphins wrap up the 2008 regular season on Tuesday as they travel to Gainesville, Fla. to take on the No. 3 ranked Florida Gators in a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m.

This weekend the Dolphins dropped two doubleheaders - falling to Stetson (5-0, 1-0) on Friday and to Florida Gulf Coast (12-3, 9-1) on Sunday.

Last Tuesday, the Dolphins swept Florida A&M on Senior Night, winning 6-1, 12-4.

The 12-run output was the most on the season for the Dolphins.

Scouting the Gators

Head coach Tim Walton has his Gators off to a historical start, breaking the school records in wins in a single season (51) and runs scored (320).

The Gators have been dominant at the plate, out homering their opponents 46-6 and have stolen 83 bases while limiting their opponents to just 18.

The Gators have six batters batting over .300, including junior first baseman Ali Gardner (.404). Eight Gators have an on-base-percentage over .350.

Junior pitcher Stacey Nelson (33-2) is the staff ace and possesses a 0.71 ERA and 255 strikeouts in 227 innings pitched. Stephanie Brombacher is 16-0 with a 1.67 ERA.

Mirante breaks all-time hits record

On Sunday April 20, Dolphins senior right fielder Jillian Mirante recorded two hits in game two of a doubleheader against Florida Gulf Coast to become JU's all-time hit leader with 186.

After equaling the record in the fourth inning with a single to left field, Mirante showed off the speed that also made her the Dolphins career stolen base leader and beat out an infield single to short in the sixth inning.

Janine Palumbo is the previous school record with 185.

Mirante now has 48 hits this season. She recorded a career-high 57 hits in 2007 and now has 186 in her career.

Mirante leads the team with 14 multi-hit games on the year.

RPI

The Dolphins are ranked 162 out of 283 teams in the nation in the recent RPI poll announced by the Nolan Report.

The Dolphins rank 102nd in difficulty of schedule so far, with that number sure to improve as they take on Florida, who has the No. 1 RPI in the country.

The Dolphins have risen 62 spots from their final 2007 ranking of 224th.