The Gator softball team used a Sunday doubleheader
to sweep its second conference series of the season, taking game one from Ole
Miss Friday, 4-1, before weather in the Oxford area forced two games Sunday at
the Ole Miss Softball Complex. UF struck with 8-0 and 8-7 victories on the
final day of the series for the sweep, as Florida has won all four of its
league series thus far in 2013.
UF (35-3, 10-2 SEC) used 17 hits, two
doubles, a triple and five home runs through the span of the two games Sunday
to sweep the Rebels (19-21, 1-11 SEC).
Sophomore Jessica Damico (Gray Summit,
Mo.) led the Gators at the plate with a .429 clip Sunday (3-for-7), while
sophomore Briana Little (Middleburg, Fla.) accounted for two of UF’s
five long balls. Junior hurler Hannah Rogers (Lake Wales, Fla.) tossed
two victories and a save through the weekend set, lowering her ERA to 1.12 on
the season and improving to 20-2 in the circle for the Gators thus far in 2013.
Senior Kelsey Horton (Valrico, Fla.)
added UF’s eighth grand slam of the year and freshman Kelsey Stewart (Wichita,
Kan.) extended her school-record triples tally to seven this season with the
Gators’ two wins Sunday.
In game one of the twin bill, the Gators
defeated the Rebels, 8-0, to secure the series win over Ole Miss. Rogers earned
her second win of the series to improve to 20-2 in the circle for the Orange
and Blue, working a complete game with a four-hit shutout and six strikeouts.
The Orange and Blue put up a five spot in the
top of the first for the Gators, fueled by a freshman Taylor Schwarz (Palm
Beach Gardens, Fla.) bases loaded walk, while Horton connected for her first
grand slam of the season, UF’s eighth of the year, to give Rogers a 5-0 lead to
work with in the home half of the frame.
The Gators’ ace struck out the side in the
bottom of the first to bring up the second, where the Gators added to the lead.
Damico led off with a double that dropped
just fair in left field and Stewart dropped a bunt to advance Damico to third.
Next up, junior Stephanie Tofft (Lincoln, Calif.) sent her second blast
as a Gator over the right-center fence to extend the UF advantage, 7-0, with
one out in the second stanza and chased game one starter Carly Hummel from the circle
in favor of Erinn Jayjohn for the Rebels. Jayjohn walked sophomore Lauren
Haeger (Peoria, Ariz.) and gave up a base hit to freshman Kirsti Merritt’s
(Lake Panasoffkee, Fla.) before getting out of the inning.
The two squads played two innings of
scoreless softball in the third and fourth, but Ole Miss connected for its
first hit on a Haley Culley infield single in the third, while Londen Ladner
connected in the fourth, but the Gators held the Rebels scoreless.
Zeros laced the scoreboard through the fifth
and sixth innings, as Rogers added her fourth and fifth Ks in the fifth and
sixth innings, respectively.
Little got ahold of a Jayjohn offering and
sent her seventh long ball of the season over the left-field fence to lead off
the top of the seventh for the Gators, taking the Orange and Blue ahead, 8-0.
Schwarz and senior Ensley Gammel (Bakersfield, Calif.) both connected
for base hits and quality base running allowed both to move into scoring
position with one out, but Jayjohn struck with a strikeout, while Rebel
centerfielder RT Cantillo snagged a hard-hit Damico ball to the wall for out
number three to retire the side.
Rogers and the defense completed the shutout
in the bottom of the seventh, using the Gator righty’s sixth strikeout to end
the game and solidify the team’s 14th shutout of the 2013 season.
In game two of the Easter Sunday
doubleheader, sophomore Alyssa Bache (Clearwater, Fla.) earned the start
and the win in the circle for the Orange and Blue to improve to 6-0 in the
circle for Florida. Bache worked four innings before the rain started to fall
in Oxford, making for slippery and tough conditions. Rogers came on to close
the game out for Bache, adding her second save of the season with three innings
of relief.
Florida drew eight walks and connected for
seven hits in game two of the doubleheader, including two home runs. All seven
base hits came from different Florida players in game two.
The Gators first capitalized on three
straight Shelby Jo Fenter walks in the top of the initial stanza to set up UF’s
first run on a Little sac fly that plated Stewart from third for the 1-0
Florida lead early. In the top of the third, Florida added three on a blast
from Schwarz, her fourth homer of the season, after both Little and Merritt
both drew two-out walks to set up the success.
In the bottom of the third, the Gators used a
sophomore Aubree Munro (Brea, Calif.) rocket on the base paths to throw
out Ole Miss’ Cantillo at second, while Bache worked out of a minor jam with a
runner on third, one out for the Rebels, using Munro’s caught stealing and
relying on Tofft and Schwarz to team up for the third out of the frame to keep
Ole Miss off the board.
Florida’s defense impressed again in the
bottom of the fourth with a 5-4-3 double play from Tofft to Damico to Schwarz
at first to retire the side, negating a leadoff base hit from Ladner.
In the top of the fifth, the Orange and Blue
used a two-run shot from Little, the Gators’ fifth homer of the day after
Haeger sent a single down the left-field line to set up the bomb for the 6-0
Florida lead. UF then added two runs in the inning when Merritt crossed after
an errant thrown on the Ole Miss catcher, while Stewart sent sophomore Bailey
Castro (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) home on a single up the middle for the 8-0
Gator lead.
Ole Miss battled back in the bottom of the
fifth with rain pouring down at the Ole Miss Softball Complex to negate UF’s
eight-run, mercy-rule lead with a six-run splurge from Brittany Broome and
Culley RBI singles and an Allison Brown grand slam before Rogers came on in
relief of Bache for her second save of the season.
Rogers effectively retired the Rebels with
two groundouts and a fly out to get out of the top of the sixth.
In the home half of the sixth frame, Cantillo
made it a one-run ballgame with a RBI single for an 8-7 game, but Rogers and
the Gators held on through the seventh for the series sweep to improve to 35-3
and 10-2 in league play.
Shelby Jo Fenter shouldered the loss for Ole
Miss in game two (6-8) after giving up UF’s first six runs and three hits,
while walking dishing out seven of the Gators’ eight free passes in the
contest.
