Saturday’s
softball action between the No. 4 Gators and No. 9 Bulldogs at Jack Turner
Stadium in Athens started with a continuation of Friday’s series opener, a
contest Georgia pulled out, 3-2, despite a seventh-inning rally by UF Saturday
afternoon. With momentum in favor of the Orange and Blue, the Gators went on to
even the series with a 4-2 victory in the second tilt of the three-game weekend
set between the two SEC Eastern Division rivals.
The
Gators (30-4, 11-2 SEC) used 2-for-3 performances from senior Michelle
Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) and sophomore Cheyenne Coyle (West
Hills, Calif.) in game two to down UGA (29-6, 8-3 SEC), while freshman righty Lauren
Haeger (Peoria, Ariz.) came on for five clutch innings of work in the
circle, fanning six Bulldogs and giving up just one run, despite six Georgia
hits, to earn her 10th victory (10-2) of her inaugural campaign donning the
Orange and Blue.
In
the continuation of Friday’s halted game, sophomore Kasey Fagan (Dunnellon,
Fla.) stepped up and knocked her second homer of the season, a two-run shot, to
narrow Georgia’s advantage, 3-2, in the top of the seventh as both squads met
at 2 p.m. to wrap up game one. With one out on the board, Georgia leading 3-0
and freshman Katie Medina (Downey, Calif.) on first, Fagan lifted one
over the left-center fence to turn over the Gators lineup. Both Sami Fagan (Dunnellon,
Fla.) and Moultrie delivered base hits and advanced into scoring position on an
Erin Arevalo wild pitch. Arevalo rallied for two strikeouts to secure Georgia’s
series-opening victory.
