Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Biggest at-bat of the game. 

Those were Tim Walton's words, not mine. He said as much in the postgame news conference following top-seeded Florida's season-saving 2-0 victory Friday night over Alabama in Game 2 of their Super Regional. Obviously, Florida's coach knew it was Amanda Lorenz's two-run homer in the third inning that set up Saturday's 5 p.m. winner-take-all Game 3 for the right to send one these two pitch-heavy teams to the Women's College World Series next week in Oklahoma City. 

But Lorenz doesn't get to the plate with two outs in the third if No. 9 hitter Justine McLean doesn't battle for and leg out a two-strike swinging bunt to give UF its first base runner of the game. To that point, Crimson Tide pitcher Sydney Littlejohn sat the Gators down in perfect order. So not only was Florida's fastest player on first, but its best hitter was stepping into the box. 

Amid these UF offensive struggles — just five hits Friday; only three in Thursday's 3-0 loss; a shutout loss in last week's regional against Oklahoma State — Walton just wants to see his hitters fight and, ultimately, turn the lineup over to the top of order for Lorenz (.389), Nicole DeWitt (.320) and Kayli Kvistad (.386). 

So McLean did her job just by hitting the ball about six feet. 

"We haven't had that," Walton said. 

They hadn't had a lot of what Lorenz delivered next. She fell behind Littlejohn 1-2, then fouled the fourth pitch off her knee, grimacing in pain as the UF trainer sprang from the dugout. After about 90 seconds, Lorenz stepped back in. In pain. 

"It hurt until the next pitch," she said. 

Lorenz transferred the pain to a LIttlejohn fastball — and the Alabama dugout — by smashing her homer over the right field fence and sending the crowd of 2,283 into a frenzy. The Gators had a lead, albeit a small one. And momentum. 

"We didn't give them a whole lot to cheer about early in the game," Walton said. "But once Justine got on base, we got them up a little bit." 
 
From there, it became "The Delanie Gourley Show," which has basically been in reruns for the last four seasons. Seriously, all this diminutive lefty does is flummox hitter after hitter, with an enchanting smile on her face, when it matters the most. Walton used one word to describe her. 

"Steel," he said. 

I think that's how he meant it. 

Then again, Gourley is tough as "steel" when it comes to the most pressure-packed of moments, a trait she's been demonstrating since she was the pitcher of record in UF's WCWS-clinching victory over Alabama in 2014. 

"I love her composure. She doesn't seem to get rattled by anything," Tide coach Patrick Murphy said. "She doesn't give you any freebies." 

Gourley, now 21-4, fired her third straight shutout in this NCAA Tournament, limiting Bama to four hits, fanning eight and walking two. She allowed base runners in each of the last four innings, but each time worked herself out of a jam. Her gutsiest moments came after a leadoff walk in the sixth and a 3-0 count to the next hitter, which she then worked to full and got three straight popups to end the inning. 

There wasn't much doubt Gourley was going to do her thing. If the Gators were going to live to see Saturday they needed to score runs. 

Take a bow, Amanda. 

"I screamed so loud and jumped so high," Gourley said of watching Lorenz's homer. "Every time she comes to bat I have a feeling something big is going to come from her. It had our team up the whole game." 

And will have them playing a Game 3. 

Look for a Kelly Barnhill-vs-Alexis Osorio rematch of Game 1, when UF's Barnhill was throwing gangbusters until her two throwing errors led to three unearned runs. Osorio was lights-out in thoroughly frustrating the Gators and putting them on the edge of elimination. 

Florida is still on that edge, but Alabama is standing there, too. 

"We're still the underdog," Murphy said. "We're the No. 16 seed and they're the No. 1 seed, so the pressure is all on them."

Walton didn't take the gamesmanship bait.

"I don't look over at them and see a 16 seed, so that doesn't really matter," he said. "It's Alabama-Florida and the winner goes to the College World Series." 

And if it takes a swinging bunt to help get you there, so be it.