The
No. 6 Florida softball team used a first-inning run and a three-run seventh to
top No. 3 Alabama, 4-1, in front of 3,248 fans at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
One more win in the series will clinch at least a share of the 2012
regular-season SEC title for the Gators, while a sweep would solidify the title
outright for the Orange and Blue.
Both
the Gators and Crimson Tide stand at 21-5 in league play, while Florida moved
to 44-8 overall on the season, Alabama 45-6. Freshman Lauren Haeger (Peoria,
Ariz.) went 3-for-4 for the Gators at the plate, with two RBI, while classmate Sami
Fagan (Dunnellon, Fla.) was 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI.
The
two SEC foes combined for nine hits, as the Gators out-hit the Crimson Tide,
6-3.
Both
hurlers went the distance, as UF ace Hannah Rogers (Lake Wales, Fla.)
improved to 26-4 on the campaign, fanning seven Alabama batters and giving up
just three hits and one run – a Jackie Traina homer in the bottom of the
seventh. Rogers walked just three. In the opposing dugout, Traina shouldered
just her second loss of the year (29-2), giving up six hits and three earned
runs, while walking two and retiring nine Gators by strikeout.
Florida
jumped out with a one-run lead in the first thanks to two stolen bases by S.
Fagan, who connected for an infield hopper to get on base. After Haeger reached
on Bama fielding error, moving S. Fagan to second, the Dunnellon High School
product proceeded to swipe third. With runners on the corners, Florida attempted
a double steal, allowing S. Fagan to scamper home after Haeger’s move to second
garnered a throw from behind the plate.
Bama
shortstop Kaila Hunt snagged the ball and fired to the dish, but an errant
throw allowed Haeger to take second after S. Fagan scored for the 1-0 lead.
After
escaping a bases-loaded jam in the first by striking out the Bama side, Rogers was
on fire, knocking out the next 13 in a row before allowing the Crimson Tide’s
first hit with one down in the bottom of the sixth. Alabama’s Jennifer Fenton
squeaked one through the left side, while Hunt followed with a two-out soft
liner to right to put runners on the corners. With the tying run at third,
Rogers put out the threat, forcing a Cassie Reilly-Boccia groundout to second.
Florida used a three-run, three-hit seventh,
thanks to two two-out hits, an infield bouncer from S. Fagan to plate one run,
followed by a two-run single smashed up the middle by Haeger for the 4-0
Florida lead.
Traina led off the bottom of the seventh with
an opposite field shot for Alabama’s lone run of the contest. Rogers retired
the next three in order – including her seventh strikeout to end the game –
giving the Orange and Blue the series opener.
