GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The best pitcher in all of college softball (one of the best in the world, some say) had basically thrown No. 1-ranked Florida's chances in the Super Regional opener against Alabama into right-field foul territory.
Twice, actually.
Sophomore flamethrower
Kelly Barnhill devoured Crimson Tide batters through the first four innings until a trio of routine defensive plays — simple bunts back to the circle — ate her up and ultimately sent the
Gators to a 3-0 defeat Thursday night in front a dejected mass of 1,800 at Pressly Stadium. Barnhill's back-to-back throwing errors, which were preceded by a pivotal mental mistake, accounted for all the game's runs and put UF on the brink of elimination from the NCAA Tournament.
So how did Coach
Tim Walton deal with his dejected superstar?
He gave Barnhill a hug and left her with a very important thought.
"We're going to need you if we're going to win this Super," Walton told her.
That is a fact. If the Gators (53-8) can survive Friday night's elimination game against the tough-as-nails Tide (46-16), they will call on Barnhill for the decisive third game Saturday night.
But there is something the Gators will need even more to get there: offense.
Just two games after being shut out in last week's regional by Brandi Needham, a very good pitcher from Oklahoma State, UF was limited to just three hits, stranded eight runners, struck out eight times and failed to get a hit with a runner on base against Bama superstar Alexis Osorio. Next up, the Tide will roll out Sydney Littlejohn, armed with a 17-8 record, a 1.28 ERA and part of a Bama pitching staff that has thrown 28 consecutive scoreless innings in NCAA play.
Now, it's hit or go home, ladies.
"If we don't hit with runners in scoring position, we're not going to win," said UF leadoff hitter
Amanda Lorenz, who had two of her team's three hits (both singles), plus a couple walks. "We need to be better at that and that's what we'll work on [Friday]."
Florida got the leadoff runner on in four of the first five innings, with nothing to show for it. In the bottom of the fifth, after Bama's big inning, the Gators loaded the bases but Osorio got clean-up hitter
Janell Wheaton to pop out to short left field to end the threat.
"It's no secret," Walton said. "We've been struggling in those situations for a while."
Half of UF's eight losses this season have come by shutout, including the last three, dating to a 2-0 defeat against Ole Miss in the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Because the Gators have been so dominant in the circle they've been able to withstand the offensive struggles and ultimately outlast the opposition. Part of that equation, however, has been outstanding defense.
And that's what made the fifth inning meltdown so baffling.
"You coach this game long enough you're going to see things you've never seen before," Walton said.
Barnhill was on fire heading into the fifth, having given up a check-swing single to start the game while striking out nine of the first 12 she faced.
But then she walked the leadoff batter, her first free pass of the game. The next hitter, Reagan Dykes, bunted back to Barnhill, who fielded the ball cleanly, but hesitated a split-second before trying to throw out pinch-runner Mari Cranek at second. Safe. Next came another bunt back to the pitcher, this one by Chandler Dare. Again, Barnhill gobbled it up, but she airmailed the throw to first, well over the glove of second baseman
Nicole DeWitt, who was covering the bag. The ball scooted down the right field line and outfielder
Aleshia Ocasio couldn't field it cleanly enough to throw out Dykes, who scored all the way from first. Tide 2-0.
The next batter bunted back to Barnhill, who sailed another high throw to first (not even close) and Dare scored easily from second.
When she was eventually chased in the sixth, Barnhill had allowed just one hit and struck out 11, but her two errors not only matched her season high but accounted for all three unearned runs.
"We always say the bigger the game, the bigger the tournament, the bigger the opponent, the better execution has to be," Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said. "She was just mowing us down those first four innings. You never know what will spark an inning."
On this night, it was a walk and three straight bunts, each of which could have led to outs.
Instead, they collectively led to a consoling embrace of a player who is a very big reason the Gators are on this big stage.
"It's hard for me to be critical of her performance," Walton said. "She had 11 strikeouts and gave up one hit."
Unfortunately, his own box score had a similar look, which only magnified the miscues on defense.
And the issues on offense.
