The
No. 3/4 Gator softball team came out on the winning end of a back-and-forth
battle with the Auburn Tigers Friday at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium, taking
a 3-2 decision in the series opener between the two squads. Junior Kelsey
Horton (Valrico, Fla.) broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fifth with a one-out
RBI single to plate the game-winning run as the Gators improved to 36-5 on the
year, 16-2 in Southeastern Conference play.
After
senior Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) put up the first run of
the game with a solo shot – her ninth of the year – in the bottom of the third,
Auburn countered with two fourth-inning scores to take a 2-1 lead. Florida
knotted the contest in the bottom of the fourth stanza for a 2-2 tie heading to
the fifth, enabling Horton to send her fifth game-winning RBI of the season across
home.
Florida
ace Hannah Rogers (Lake Wales, Fla.) jumped out of the gates hot, with
two strikeouts each in the first and second innings, then settled in to finish
the evening with six Ks. Rogers (21-3) worked her 18th complete game of the
season, allowing just five hits and two runs to pick up her 21st victory.
It
was starter Lauren Schmalz who shouldered the loss for the Tigers after giving
up six of UF’s eight hits, while all three Florida runs belonged to the AU
starter. Schmalz moved to 7-7 on the year and the Tigers went to 26-16 overall
and 5-12 in league action this season. Angel Bunner came on for 2.0 innings of
relief and gave up two Gator hits, while retiring two by strikeout and walking
one to finish out the series opener for Auburn.
