The No. 3/4 Gator softball squad used three
extra-base hits to open the series with SEC Eastern Division rival No. 18/19
Kentucky with a 7-4 victory at the UK Softball Complex Friday evening. The
Orange and Blue improved to 40-4 on the season and chalked up their 13th SEC
victory to improve to 13-3 in league play and 7-2 (.777) over top-25
competition this season, tops in the league.
Florida put up two runs quickly in the first,
thanks to a junior Stephanie Tofft (Lincoln, Calif.) two-run double,
while sophomore Lauren Haeger (Peoria, Ariz.) struck with a three-run
bomb in the fifth, followed by senior Kelsey Horton’s (Valrico, Fla.)
two-run blast for insurance in the seventh.
The second game of the series
Saturday will air live on ESPNU, UF’s second appearance on the ESPN family of
networks this season, with Cara Capuano and Cheri Kempf on the call. First
pitch between the Gators and Tigers Saturday is slated for 1 p.m.
Horton went 2-for-3 at the dish for the
Gators, while Tofft and freshman Kelsey Stewart (Wichita, Kan.) were
both 2-for-4 Friday, as six different Gator batters found the hits column in
the series opener. Haeger’s three RBI paced the squad, while Horton and Stewart
botch scored twice for Florida.
Junior ace Hannah Rogers (Lake Wales,
Fla.) worked her 16th complete game of the season to improve to a SEC-leading
23-3 in the circle for the Gators. The righty gave up just three earned runs on
seven UK hits, walked five and fanned four through the seven-inning contest
opposite Wildcat hurler Lauren Cumbess.
Cumbess (8-4) shouldered the loss in the
circle for Kentucky (7.0 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 7 K), but accounted for two
Wildcat hits and two of three RBI for the home team on the night offensively.
A Tofft two-run double plated Florida’s first
two runs of the game in the top of the first, setting the tone for the Orange
and Blue for the series-opening match-up. Stewart first led off with an infield
bouncer before Horton drew a one-out walk to set up Tofft’s team-leading 13th
double of the season. For the UF third baseman, Friday’s double marked her
second straight game with a two-RBI two-bagger.
The Wildcats then countered with a run of
their own in the bottom of the second on a Cumbess solo home run for a 2-1
ballgame.
After zeros on the board for both squads in
the third and fourth frames, Haeger struck next with a three-run bomb, her
team-leading 13th of the season and first since a March hot streak. The top of
the Gator lineup set the table for the sophomore designated player, as Stewart
led off the bottom of the fifth with a single up the middle before freshman Kirsti
Merritt (Lake Panasoffkee, Fla.) beat out a bunt for a base hit to put
runners on first and second for UF, no outs to set up Haeger’s bomb.
Haeger blasted a 2-2 Cumbess offering to left
field to extend the Florida lead, 5-1, helping the Gators put up a three spot
in the top of the frame, but a resilient Kentucky squad didn’t back down.
Cumbess battled for the Wildcats in the home
half of the fifth, using a RBI double to right to narrow the Florida lead, 5-2,
while Kentucky used an Ansley Smith RBI bloop single to shallow left and a
Maisie Steed sacrifice fly to plate two runs in the bottom of the sixth,
bringing UK within two runs, 5-4.
Horton handled business in the top of the
seventh, using a two-run jack to left for the 7-4 Florida cushion heading to
the bottom of the stanza. Rogers worked quickly, retiring the Wildcats in order
in the home half of the frame for UF’s 13 SEC victory – her 23rd win in the
circle this season.
