« Softball 2012

Michelle Moultrie

School
Florida
Position
Center Field
Major
Business Administration, Sport Management
AVG
.395
R
58
H
64
FLD%
1.000
RBI
29

Classroom

Florida’s lone softball senior, Michelle Moultrie truly embodies the full title of student-athlete, working equally as hard in her academic endeavors as a student as she does on the softball diamond. In addition to her endless contributions to the Florida softball team on the field of play, Moultrie gets it done in the classroom and is a leading example as a Business Administration major with a specialization in Sport Management major at UF. Boasting a 3.36 GPA, Moultrie will graduate May 5, 2012, with her undergrad degree from the University of Florida, accomplishing the feat in four years. A 2011 Capital One Academic All-American, Michelle was additionally a 2011 Capital One Academic All-District III First Team selection last season. Michelle has been named to the Southeastern Conference’s Academic Honor Roll all three years of her Gator career thus far in 2009, 2010 and 2011. In addition to juggling a busy softball schedule, Moultrie has already held an internship at Chacon Diaz & Di Virgilio Wealth Management in Jacksonville, Fla.

Character

Perhaps the most compelling character traits Moultrie holds as a student-athlete at Florida would be her humble persona and conviction in her faith through all she does. Moultrie is a true leader of this Florida team, but she’s not necessarily the most outgoing and verbal leader – she does it all by example, on and off the field as a woman of integrity – when she does speak, everyone listens and has complete admiration for their senior leader. A devout Christian, Moultrie is mentally strong and has an indescribable work ethic and willingness to learn and get better that has brought her from just a walk-on her freshman year at Florida in 2009 to a 2011 All-American, the 2011 Women’s College World Series co-Most Outstanding Player and a member of the 2011 & 2012 USA Softball Women’s National Team. You would be challenged to find a more kind, supportive, humble and hard-working individual and teammate than Moultrie. Her presence on the Gator squad is invaluable, just as much for her intangibles as her athletic contributions.

Community

Moultrie and her Florida teammates are one of just two athletic teams at the University of Florida to be affiliated with the Friends of Jaclyn Organization, which matches children with brain tumors to high school and college athletic teams to provide support for the children and awareness of brain tumors throughout the community. Moultrie and the Gators welcomed Heather Braswell to the team in 2009 and she’s been an honorary member ever since, joining the Gators in the dugout for every game she can make. In addition to involvement with Friends of Jaclyn, Moultrie and the Gators host an annual charity event – ‘Swinging for Cancer’ – which pits other well-renowned UF athletes and alumni against top-notch pitchers in a home-run derby-type event, all to bring awareness to selected charities affiliated with the University of Florida’s hospital, Shands. In other community efforts, Moultrie and the Gators give back through UF’s Goodwill Gators program, including assisting with events like Climb for Cancer and Gator Tracks, coupled with visits to the Shands Hospital pediatric care unit and visits to local elementary schools for mentoring and tutoring. For two-consecutive years, UF’s softball team earned the ‘Life Skills Cup’, awarded to the Gator athletic team with the most community service hours and program points.

Competition

A 2012 pre-season All-SEC selection, Moultrie, who was already named to the 2012 USA Softball Women’s National Team, has led the 2012 Gators to a 43-8 overall record and 20-5 mark in SEC play so far to give Florida a chance to compete for the SEC regular-season title in the final weekend of league play May 4-6 at Alabama. A 2011 All-American, Michelle has laid down a staggering 69 bunt singles in her career at UF, including 23 this year. UF’s career stolen-bases leader, Moultrie is en route to finishing her career as UF’s career batting average record-holder as well. Twice this season, she’s been a double shy of hitting through the cycle and two of her 10 home-runs are inside-the-park homers, demonstrating her speed. She had just 12 career homers entering the season and now has 10 in 2012 for a career total 22. Moultrie, also a top-10 finalist for USA Softball’s Player of the Year, leads the Gators in batting average (.403), on-base percentage (.505), slugging percentage (.688), hits (62) and homers (10), has 21 stolen bases on the year and has yet to commit an error in 57 chances. In addition to her team-leading stats, Moultrie leads the SEC through leage play in batting clip, fielding percentage, ranks third in hits, doubles and on-base percentage and checks in fifth in runs scored and slugging percentage. Her 1.1 runs scored per game place her 15th in the country in the category. Moultrie was drafted March 7 in the 2012 National Pro Fastpitch Senior Draft to the USSSA Florida Pride, with the option to continue her softball career professionally when her collegiate eligibility expires. A 2011 All-American and All-Southeast Region selection, Michelle is additionally a two-time All-SEC selection, a SEC All-Defensive Team pick and has won two Gold Medals as a member of Team USA at the World Cup of Softball and the Pan American Games, both in the summer/fall of 2011. After working from walk-on in 2009 to a breakout junior year last season, Michelle was named the co-Most Outstanding Player at the 2011 Women’s College World Series as a member of the WCWS All-Tournament Team after leading all participants in hits, doubles, homers, total bases and stolen bases, while matching WCWS records with four homers and 13 hits.  She has started every game since her sophomore year, has played in 239 games with 220 starts and set Florida single-season records for batting clip, on-base percentage, hits, triples, stolen bases and attempts in 2011. She still has the second-longest hit streak in UF history, a 19-game strand in 2011. Michelle has helped lead UF as the Gators have competed for the national championship two out of the last three years, including three straight trips to the WCWS under her talents (four straight overall as the first SEC team to make four consecutive and compete for two national titles).