Florida softball freshman catcher Taylore
Fuller (Trenton, Fla.) launched UF’s third grand slam of the weekend in the
second inning and junior Kelsey Horton (Valrico, Fla.) hit the Gators’
fifth homer of the series with a solo shot in the sixth, but Mississippi State
held on for a 6-5 win in the series finale between the Gators (38-4, 12-3 SEC) and
Bulldogs (24-14, 3-9 SEC) Sunday at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
The Bulldogs put up five runs on seven hits
in the second inning for the 5-0 lead early, but Florida didn’t back down,
putting up a four spot on Fuller’s grand slam in the bottom of the second before
Horton brought UF within one run in the sixth with her seventh blast of the
year.
Mississippi State lefty Stephanie Becker
earned the start for the Bulldogs Sunday, her second against the Gators this
weekend, before being replaced by Alison Owen in the circle in the bottom of
the third. Owen (13-6) worked 5.0 innings to pick up the win.
Fuller, junior Stephanie Tofft (Lincoln,
Calif.) and sophomore Jess Damico (Gray Summit, Mo.) each blasted their
first career grand slams this weekend, bringing UF’s season total to 11.
Despite dropping the finale, the Gators added their fifth SEC series win after
taking victories Friday and Saturday against the Bulldogs, no-hitting MSU in
the series opener and using Damico’s grand slam for the game-winner Saturday.
Horton led UF at the plate through the
weekend series against Mississippi State with a .667 clip (4-for-6), including
a double, two homers, five RBI and a team-tying four walks. Freshmen Taylor
Schwarz (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and Fuller hit .286 and .250 through the
conference set, respectively, as UF’s second and third batting average leaders
on the weekend.
Horton was 2-for-3 at the plate Sunday with
two runs and one RBI, while Fuller was 1-for-3 with a run scored and four RBI.
Tofft and Schwarz both additionally turned in 1-for-3 performances for the
Gators’ five hits.
Florida used the efforts of the entire Gator
pitching staff throughout the span of the series, as junior Hannah Rogers (Lake
Wales, Fla.) tossed her first career complete-game no-hitter Friday before
picking up the save Saturday. Rogers earned the start Sunday, while sophomore Alyssa
Bache (Clearwater, Fla.) came on for 3.2 innings of relief and classmate Lauren
Haeger (Peoria, Ariz.) came on for the final 1.1 to close out the contest.
Rogers (22-3) picked up just her third loss
of the season after State’s five runs and seven hits in the second.
Similar to Saturday’s contest, Mississippi State
jumped out to an early lead with a five-run, seven-hit second inning to go
ahead of the Gators, 5-0, on a Briana Bell home run and Erin Nesbit, Jessica
Cooley and Logan Foulks RBI base hits, but Florida didn’t falter, posting a four-run
second frame themselves on Fuller’s first career grand slam.
Facing their largest deficit of the season,
UF went to work in the second, as Horton and Schwarz led off the home half of
the inning with consecutive base hits and sophomore Briana Little (Middleburg,
Fla.) walked to load the bases. After a pop up for one down, Fuller stepped in
and battled, jacking a 3-2 Becker offering over the left-field fence to bridge
the gap, 5-4, with her second long ball of the year.
State was feisty, though, adding a sixth run
on a Loryn Nichols RBI single in the top of the third, but Florida’s sharp
defense had a play at the dish when the Bulldogs tried to plate two on the play,
resulting in a 6-4 ballgame after the third under Bache’s watch.
With zeros on the board through the fourth
and fifth, the Gators brought on Haeger in the top of the sixth to change the
look for the third out in the frame on a Tofft grab in foul territory through
the fence by the Gators’ dugout, while Florida used yet another long ball in
the series to inch closer to the Bulldogs on a Horton solo shot in the bottom
of the inning to narrow MSU’s lead, 6-5.
With a one-run ballgame heading to the
seventh, the Orange and Blue turned a clutch 6-4-3 double play for two outs
before a defensive miscue, but the Gators rebounded when Fuller gunned to
sophomore shortstop Katie Medina (Downey, Calif.) to catch Bell attempting
to swipe second for the third out.
In the home half of the stanza, Owen was
effective, forcing three up three down to UF’s 7, 8 and 9 hitters on a foul
out, pop up and fly out to preserve Mississippi State’s third conference win
and first victory over the Gators since April 26, 2007.
