Sunday March 25, 2012No. 4 Gator Softball Sweeps Razorbacks Sunday, 5-0
Fayetteville, Ark.
Fayetteville, Ark.
The No. 4
Florida softball team made it five-straight sweeps over the Razorbacks Sunday
with a 5-0 victory at Bogle Park to wrap up the
three-game set. Junior Kelsey Horton (Valrico,
Fla.) went 2-for-2 with one run and a RBI, senior Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) went
2-for-3 with three runs and a RBI and freshman Lauren Haeger (Peoria, Ariz.) was 3-for-4
on the day.
Moultrie
carried the Gators through the weekend, going 8-for-11 (.727) with three
doubles and two homers, good for a 1.545 slugging percentage and .750 on-base mark. Throughout the three-game set, Florida rallied for six
doubles and four home runs, while scoring 14 runs, compared to Arkansas’ two. Not
far behind, Haeger went 7-for-10 in Fayetteville
(.700) with a double, her team-leading ninth of the 2012 season, and a homer to
complete the series.
Freshman righty
Alyssa Bache (Clearwater, Fla.)
earned the start in the circle for the Orange and Blue Sunday, while sophomore
ace Hannah Rogers (Lake Wales, Fla.)
came on in relief in the bottom of the third. Bache worked the first two
innings, allowing three hits and walking two with no runs, while Rogers worked
the final five innings to earn the win and improve to 16-1 on the year with six
strikeouts, while walking three and allowing two hits to complete the game.
Florida
jumped out of the gates early Sunday with a 1-0 lead in the top of the first,
thanks to a Haeger base hit that sent Moultrie
scampering for home after connecting for a one-out single of her own.
After
giving up two hits and walking one to load the bags in the bottom half of the
first, Bache worked her way out of a jam, forcing a pop up and a line out for
the final two outs to halt the Arkansas threat in the first frame.
The Gators
continued to produce in the second inning, as Horton led off with her fourth
double of the year to get things started, while classmate Ensley Gammel (Bakersfield, Calif.) drew
a walk. Next up, sophomore Kasey Fagan (Dunnellon,
Fla.) dropped a sac bunt to advance both runners into scoring position. A Jessica Damico (Gray Summit, Mo.) fly
out put two outs on the board, spurring a Razorback pitching change from
Chelsea Cohen to Kimmy Beasley in the circle, but
turned the Florida lineup over.
A Beasley
wild pitch allowed Horton to race home from third for the 2-0 advantage and a
pop up ended the inning, but not before the Gators added to their lead.
After a
three-up, three-down performance for Bache in the bottom of the second, UF
added a run with a Moultrie solo shot in the third frame, her second homer in
as many days, making it eight for UF’s only senior
this year. The Razorbacks were persistent in the bottom half of the inning,
drawing a leadoff walk, followed by a base hit, as the Gators opted to bring in
Rogers to finish it out.
The righty
forced a pop up to Damico at second before fanning two Razorback batters
swinging to bring up the fourth, but after a scoreless fourth stanza for both
squads, Florida tacked on another run thanks to a Horton RBI single through the
left side to plate freshman Briana
Little (Middleburg, Fla.), pinch running for Haeger,
to extend the lead, 4-0, in favor of the Orange and Blue.
The Hogs
loaded the bags again in the bottom of the fifth with three walks, but Florida
was able to escape after Rogers forced a pop-up to sophomore Cheyenne Coyle (West Hills, Calif.) at
short.
A quick
sixth inning brought up the seventh and final stanza, where UF added an
insurance run on a Coyle groundout that plated Moultrie for the 7-0 win.
Chelsea
Cohen (11-9), Friday and Saturday’s starter for the Razorbacks, also earned the
nod Sunday and shouldered the loss after 1.2 innings, allowing UF’s first two runs on three hits. Cohen walked one and had
no strikeouts before Kimmy Beasley came on to finish
the game for Arkansas. Beasley gave up six hits, three Gator runs, walked three
and fanned four in through the final 5.1 innings.
The Gators
will return to the diamond Wednesday for a mid-week tilt with USF in the second
meeting between the two teams this season. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and
the contest will air live on FS Florida. The Bulls and Gators met earlier this
year Feb. 12 in Tampa as part of the USF Fairfield Inn & Suites Tampa North
Tournament, a game the Gators won 3-2 in eight innings for their first
extra-innings victory of the season.
After
hosting the Bulls Wednesday, Florida will head to Athens for a weekend series
at Georgia March 30-April 1.
For all game notes, stats and recaps,
be sure to visit www.GatorZone.com/softball
following every game this season. Gator fans can follow Florida’s competition
this year through online stats, on GatorVision.tv and
live locally and online on the radio at WYGC-104.9, 105 The Game, with the call
by play-by-play announcer Adam Schick and color analyst Megan Bush.
Links for all live action are available at GatorZone.com.
For in-game updates on all the action, follow the Gators on Twitter @GatorZoneSBall and check UF’s
official softball Facebook page HERE
for updates on competition.
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