The No. 4 Florida softball squad opened the
2013 Southeastern Conference schedule with a 13-0, five-inning victory over
Auburn Friday at Jane B. Moore Field to kick off the series between UF and UA.
The Gators used 10 hits and drew eight walks on the evening to seal the victory
over the Tigers and improve to 24-1 on the season with their first league win
of the season.
With their victory Friday, the Gators are now
24-9 all-time on SEC opening day and 11-4 under head coach Tim Walton in
league openers. The run-rule win marked UF’s eighth of the season.
Junior hurler Hannah Rogers (Lake
Wales, Fla.) and sophomore righty Alyssa Bache (Clearwater, Fla.)
combined for the shutout, Rogers earning the win to improve to 12-1 after four
innings of scoreless work to start things off for UF. The righty gave up just
two hits and fanned six before Bache came on to close it out in the fifth and
final frame. Bache held the Tigers scoreless, allowing just one Auburn hit in
the final stanza.
Sophomores Briana Little (Middleburg,
Fla.) and Lauren Haeger (Peoria, Ariz.) led Florida at the plate, Little
with a perfect 2-for-2 performance, one RBI, four runs scored, a walk and a
hit-by-pitch, while Haeger went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a three-run
jack in the fourth. Sophomore Bailey Castro (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) also
went yard with her second pinch hit grand slam of the season over the
scoreboard and beyond in left center in the fourth inning, upping UF’s grand
slam total to six this season.
A Little leadoff double in the top of the
second frame – her third of the season – got things started for the Gators
offensively before junior Stephanie Tofft (Lincoln, Calif.) drew a one
out walk, followed by a freshman Taylor Schwarz (Palm Beach, Fla.)
hit-by-pitch that loaded the bags. Freshman Taylore Fuller (Chiefland,
Fla.) lined a hard-hit ball to the AU third baseman to plate Little for UF’s
first run of the game on the fielder’s choice.
Little and Tofft collaborated for UF in the
top of the third to take the Orange and Blue up, 4-0, after the visiting half
of the stanza after both connected for RBI hits – Little a RBI single to left
and Tofft a two-RBI double to right field to cap off a four-hit inning for UF.
Tiffany Howard accounted for AU’s first hit
of the game in the third on a one-out bunt single, but a fielder’s choice and
Rogers strikeout retired the Tigers and prevented an scoring opportunities in
the frame.
The Orange and Blue used a five-hit,
eight-run performance in the fourth to extend its lead over the Tigers Friday
to 12-0; a Haeger three-run shot lined straight to the scoreboard in left
center and a Castro pinch hit grand slam blasted way over the scoreboard highlighted
the inning for the Gators. Haeger’s bomb counted as her team-leading seventh of
the season and chased AU starter Hilary Mavromat from the circle, while Castro’s
grand slam off righty hurler Lexi Davis was her second pinch hit grand slam of
the season, contributing to UF’s six on the year.
With one down in the bottom of the fourth,
Rogers worked her way out of an Auburn bases-loaded jam, using a strikeout and
a groundout to hold the Tigers scoreless.
Auburn opted to go with Tiffany Howard in the
circle in the fifth, but the Gators kept the momentum going. Little was tagged
with her team and SEC-leading ninth pitch of the season, while senior Kelsey
Horton (Valrico, Fla.) drew her team-leading 18th walk of the year. Both
moved into scoring position on a fly out and Little scored on a Howard wild
pitch to take UF ahead, 13-0.
Sophomore righty Alyssa Bache (Clearwater,
Fla.) came on to finish the shutout in the fifth for UF, tossing an inning of scoreless
relief to close out the Gators’ first conference victory.
Mavromat shouldered the loss for Auburn to
move to 5-2 on the season, while Florida faced three different Tiger pitchers
on the day. Emily Carosone, Brooke Lathan and Tiffany Howard accounted for AU’s
three hits.
