The
top-ranked Florida softball squad improved to 6-0 on the 2012 season and 10-0
all-time against Jacksonville in Wednesday’s home-opener, while adding its fourth
run-rule victory this season with a 10-2, six-inning victory over JU (2-4) in
front of 809 Gator fans at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium Wednesday.
Freshman
righty Lauren Haeger (Peoria, Ariz.) improved to 2-0 in the circle for
the Orange and Blue, tossing the full 6.0, giving up just four hits, but no
earned runs, while fanning seven Dolphins. Haeger was additionally 1-for-3 at
the plate.
Junior
Kelsey Horton’s (Valrico, Fla.) bat came alive, once again, for the
Gators as she drilled her team-leading third homer of the season over the
left-center fence to bring home sophomore Cheyenne Coyle (West Hills,
Calif.) – who reached on a walk – and herself for the 2-0 Gator lead in the bottom
of the second inning.
Florida
struck again in the fourth with bases loaded when junior Ensley Gammel (Bakersfield,
Calif.) roped a two-RBI double down the left-field line to give the Gators a
4-0 advantage, with two runners in scoring position and one out on the board. A
freshman Jessica Damico (Gray Summit, Mo.) walk that loaded the bases
once again, followed by a Gator strikeout for the second out, brought up senior
Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.), who walked in UF’s fifth run of
the game before a JU strikeout ended the inning.
A
defensive miscue allowed Jacksonville to put its two runs up in the top of the
fifth to narrow the Gators lead to just three runs, but Florida countered with
four runs in the bottom half of the frame to take a 9-2 lead, just one shy of
the run-rule. Another Horton RBI single scored junior Brittany Schutte (Fountain
Valley, Calif.), who reached base on balls, while illegal pitches proved to be
costly for relief pitcher Sarah Sigrest, who had two illegal pitches against
two consecutive batters faced, allowing Coyle to cross home for UF’s seventh
run of the game.
Next
up, freshman Briana Little (Middleburg, Fla.) got in on the action in
her first career at-bat, pinch hitting for sophomore Kasey Fagan (Dunnellon,
Fla.). Little smacked a two-RBI double to center for UF’s eighth and ninth
scores and her first career hit donning a Gator uniform after making her debut
as a Gator as a pinch runner against FGCU last weekend.
Haeger
forced a three-up, three-down situation in the top of the sixth for the
Dolphins, bringing up the Gators, who scored the one run necessary to enforce
the run-rule. A Schutte single up the middle scored freshman Sami Fagan (Dunnellon,
Fla.) who led off the sixth for UF with a base hit of her own before Haeger
moved her into scoring position with her hit up the middle.
Seven
Gators recorded UF’s nine hits on the evening, led by Horton’s 2-for-3, three-RBI
effort, while Schutte additionally connected on 2-of-3 with two runs and a
walk.
Jacksonville
starting pitcher and first baseman Brittany Eppley led the Dolphins at the
plate with two hits in two at-bats, while Meagan Balding and leadoff hitter
Kayla Ouellet had one hit apiece. Eppley (1-1) was charged just her first loss
of the season after giving up two hits and five Gator runs in 3.0 innings of
work, while Sigrest came on for the final 2.0, but couldn’t slow the
hot-hitting Gators down.
