Following almost a two hour rain delay at
Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium, the No. 3 Gator softball team (28-3, 4-2 SEC) worked
quickly, using three runs in the first inning and eight in the third to enforce
an 11-0 run-rule over USC Upstate (21-3, 5-1 A-Sun), the Gators’ ninth mercy
rule and 11th shutout of the season. Junior ace Hannah Rogers (Lake
Wales, Fla.) and sophomore hurler Alyssa Bache (Clearwater, Fla.)
combined for one-hitter, holding the Spartans hitless on the evening until the
fifth.
Rogers received the start and earned the
victory in the circle for the Orange and Blue Wednesday, improving to 15-2
overall after recording seven strikeouts in four hitless innings of work,
before Bache completed the game with a scoreless frame of her own, allowing a
single hit with two Ks. The effort marked the 13th combined one-hitter in
Florida history and the first since the same Gator duo shut out Gardner-Webb in
five innings last March.
Reigning SEC Co-Player of the Week sophomore Lauren
Haeger (Peoria, Ariz.) paced the Gator attack, driving in four runs with a
2-for-3 night at the plate, connecting for a double and homer in the third
inning.
Florida used a pair of two-out RBI hits from
sophomore Briana Little (Middleburg, Fla.) and junior Stephanie Tofft
(Lincoln, Calif.) in the bottom of the first frame to jump out to an early
3-0 lead on Upstate.
Rogers swiftly went to work in the circle on
the defensive end for the Gators, punching out two Spartans in the first frame,
one in the second, and two in the third and fourth innings each in an efficient
44-pitch outing.
The Orange and Blue kept the bats going in
the bottom of the third as the Gators hit around, stringing together an eight-run,
five-hit stanza to go ahead of the Spartans, 11-0. Florida first used an
infield single from freshman Kirsti Merritt (Lake Panasoffkee, Fla.), followed
by a Haeger two-run shot to left field to go ahead, 5-0. Haeger’s bomb marked
her team-leading 11th of the season for Florida, her third consecutive game
with at least one blast.
Next up, Little drew a walk with no outs on
the board to set up a sophomore Bailey Castro (Pembroke Pines, Fla.)
two-run jack for the 7-0 Gator lead, chasing Upstate starter Sam Poarch from
the circle in favor of Anna Miller. The Gators then drew two consecutive walks
before sophomore Katie Medina (Downey, Calif.) cashed in with a RBI
single to right field for the 8-0 UF advantage.
Freshman Kelsey Stewart (Wichita,
Kan.) was then pegged with a Miller pitch to juice the bags for Merritt, who
was able to drive in a run following an Upstate defensive miscue for the 9-0
lead that left the bases loaded. Haeger registered her second extra-base hit of
the frame with a two-RBI double to deep right center to take the Gators up the
final 11-0 margin following the third stanza.
Following a scoreless fourth for both teams,
Bache came on in relief in the circle for UF in the top of the fifth to close
things out for the Orange and Blue. Dana Landers connected for Upstate’s first
hit of the game, a double to left center, in the top of the fifth, but Bache
was effective retiring the final three batters in order – including two
strikeouts – to cap off Florida’s 28th win of the season.
Poarch moved to 1-1 on the season in the
circle for the Spartans, while she and Miller combined for four Ks on the
evening. Poarch was charged with five hits and four earned runs, while Miller
gave up two Gator hits and three earned runs in the mid-week contest.
NEXT UP
The Gators will next play host to SEC Western
Division opponent Arkansas in a three-game set in Gainesville March 22-24 at
Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Game times between the Gators and Razorbacks are
6 p.m., 3 p.m. and 1 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
