The Florida softball team (30-12, 9-5 SEC) swept a
doubleheader with No. 22 Mississippi State (30-10, 4-4 SEC) in Starkville on Saturday afternoon. The first
game of the doubleheader was the Gators’ first win in Starkville since April 30, 1999, breaking a six-game
Gator losing streak at the Bulldog’s home field.
Florida jumped out to an early lead in the
top of the first. With one out, junior Lauren
Roussell (Cerritos,
Calif.) drove a double through
the right side. Senior Kristen Butler
(Orlando, Fla.)
set her 11th home run of the season over the left field fence to give the
Gators a 2-0 jump. Senior Lindsey
Cameron (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) reached first on a throwing error by Mississippi State pitcher Stephanie Comeaux and advanced to second on the play. Junior Melissa Zick
(Tampa, Fla.)
drove Cameron home with a base hit through the right side to put Florida up by three
runs.
Florida junior pitcher Stacey
Stevens (Gainesville, Fla.) got into a jam in the top of the
first, giving up three straight singles to the first three Bulldog batters. She
got out of the inning, giving up only one run though as she forced a pop up to Butler behind the plate
from the fourth batter. A sacrifice fly to right by Callye
Williams score Mississippi
State’s run, but also gave
the Gators the second out of the inning. Stevens walked the next batter to
again load the bases, but then struck out Michelle Kinney for the final out of
the inning, to end the first with the Gators leading 3-1.
The Gators
added another run in the top of the sixth as junior Lacy Howard (League City,
Texas) took the first offering
from Comeaux over the left field fence with two outs
in the inning. Howard’s second home run of the season gave the Gators a 4-1
lead.
Florida added insurance runs in the top of
the seventh. Senior Lindsay Norfleet (Madison, Fla.) pinch hit for senior Stacie Pestrak (Gainesville, Fla.)
and drove a double to left. Pestrak reentered to run
for Norfleet and scored on an error by the Mississippi State right fielder. Freshman Kim Waleszonia
(Fontana, Calif.)
went all the way to third on the play. Waleszonia
came in on a single up the middle from Roussell to
put Florida
up 6-1. Butler
followed with a base hit to center. Sara Hickerson
came in to replace Comeaux in the circle for Mississippi State. Hickerson
hit Cameron to load the bases with only one out in the inning. Zick knocked a sacrifice fly to center to score Roussell from third and give the Gators a six-run
cushion.
Stevens
pitched a great game for the Gators for the win. She struck out seven,
including catching four Bulldogs looking, to improve her record to 12-2 on the
season. Comeaux took the loss to move her record to
14-4.
Florida scored first in game two as well.
In the top of the second, Norfleet drew a walk with
one out in the inning. Freshman Brooke
Johnson (Lakeland, Fla.)
reached base on an error by the Mississippi
State third baseman on a
sacrifice bunt attempt. A Pestrak
bunt single back to the pitcher loaded the bases. Waleszonia
ripped a shot to left to bring in Norfleet for the
1-0 Gator lead.
The Gators
added a second run in the top of the seventh. With one out, Stacie Pestrak reached on a bunt single and advanced to second on
a throwing error by the Mississippi
State first baseman. She
moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Waleszonia
sacrifice fly to left to put Florida
up 2-0.
Freshman
Stacey Nelson struck out four in her third shut out of the season to improve
her record to 9-6 on the season. Ragan Blake took the complete game loss for Mississippi State, moving her record to 16-4 on the
year.
The two
teams will play the final game of the series on Sunday beginning at 2 p.m. ET.
