A junior Hannah Rogers (Lake Wales,
Fla.) one-hitter against Drake and a school-record tying, eight-homer offensive
output for the Gators against FAMU helped the No. 4 Florida softball team
improve to 21-1 overall on the year as the Gators topped the Bulldogs 4-1 and
the Rattlers 20-2 in five innings Saturday at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
Florida’s eight long balls against Florida
A&M – including two grand slams – tied a school record for most home runs
in a game, last achieved by the Orange and Blue at Auburn in 2011. A total of
seven Gators connected for bombs against FAMU, including junior Stephanie
Tofft (Lincoln, Calif.), freshman Taylor Schwarz (Palm Beach, Fla.)
and sophomores Jessica Damico (Gray Summit, Mo.), Katie Medina (Downey,
Calif.), Bailey Castro (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), Lauren Haeger (Peoria,
Ariz.) and Briana Little (Middleburg, Fla.). Haeger and Damico also
connected for long balls against the Bulldogs in UF’s first game of the day.
Rogers used a season-best 11 strikeouts four
her fourth career complete-game one-hitter in the 4-1 win over Drake. The
righty walked just two and held the Bulldogs hitless until the top of the
seventh to improve to 9-1 in the circle for the Orange and Blue.
In the Gators’ second game, UF scattered
seven runs in the first inning, three in the second, two in the third and four
each in the fourth and fifth frames to put up 20 runs on 19 hits against
Florida A&M, its most runs since defeating Ball State 21-0 in Clearwater in
March of 2011, and two shy of the school record 22. The Gators’ 19 hits were additionally
two short of the program record 21.
Castro went yard twice against the Rattlers –
the second time in her career with two homers in a game – while Haeger and
Little both smashed grand slams in the match-up to bring UF’s season total to
five. For Little, the grand slam was her second this year after connecting for
one against Jacksonville Feb. 13.
After a Haeger sac fly and senior Kelsey
Horton (Valrico, Fla.) RBI double for the Gators’ first two runs in the
first inning, the Florida quartet of Tofft, Schwarz, Damico and Medina
collaborated for an unprecedented back-to-back-to-back-to-back blasts to
stretch the Florida lead to 7-0 after the top of the first, the first such
strand of bombs since former Gators Kelsey Bruder, Brittany Schutte and Megan
Bush went back-to-back-to-back against LSU in 2011.
With a cushion to work with, game two pitcher
Haeger went to work, finishing the day with seven strikeouts, while allowing
just four FAMU hits and two runs, both of which came in the bottom of the
fourth for the Rattlers. Haeger improved to 7-0 in the circle for the Orange
and Blue.
Castro sent a one-out blast over the
center-field fence to start UF’s second-inning scoring, while a Schwarz RBI
single and Damico fielder’s choice brought home the other two second-inning
scores for the 10-0 Gator lead. In the third stanza, a Haeger base hit set up
Castro’s second bomb of the afternoon, a two-run shot that extended the
advantage, 12-0.
Haeger’s grand slam and team-leading fifth
homer of the season, highlighted the fourth inning for the 16-0 UF lead before
FAMU narrowed it, 16-2, in the bottom of the frame on a Kieifi Myrick RBI
single and Raven Moseley ground out. Little struck for her second grand slam of
the year, UF’s eighth homer of the game, in the top of the fifth to seal the deal
for the Gators. For Tofft, her homer in the first inning marked the first of
her Gator career.
Medina was a perfect 3-for-3 on the afternoon
against FAMU, while Little and Tofft were both 2-for-2. Haeger and Horton both
finished 2-for-4 against the Rattlers, while Castro was 2-for-3 and Schwarz
3-for-4.
Florida A&M starter Jennifer Lindsey
picked up the loss for UF’s seven first-inning runs on six hits to move to 2-9
on the season.
In UF’s first game of the day, a rematch of
Friday’s game between the Gators and Bulldogs, Rogers tossed her fourth career
complete-game one-hitter, fanning a season-best 11 batters in the process.
Rogers threw a no hitter through six stanzas until
Drake’s Nicole Randel chopped leadoff base hit to shallow right field put up
the first and only hit of the game for the Bulldogs. For Rogers, the 11 Ks were
the most for the righty since 11 versus Eastern Michigan last season.
The Bulldogs were first to get on the board
in the top of the first stanza after executing a double steal with runners on
the corners. The Gators countered in the home half of the inning with a
bases-loaded RBI walk from Tofft to knot the contest at one apiece.
The Gators used the long ball in the second
and fifth frames to jump out to a 3-1 cushion for Rogers, as Damico connected for
a solo shot in the second, while Haeger went yard in the bottom of the fifth.
Tofft added to the Florida lead with a
two-out RBI double to the right-center wall for the Gators’ fourth run of the contest
against the Bulldogs.
Freshman Kelsey Stewart (Wichita,
Kan.) also connected for a base hit against the Bulldogs to account for UF’s
fourth of the contest.
Drake starting hurler Jordan Gronewold
shouldered the loss in the circle for the Bulldogs after giving up Florida’s
first run of the game before being relieved by Rebekah Schmidt and then
re-entering and giving up Damico’s solo blast in the second.
