The Gators, en masse, gather to greet Aleshia Ocasio at home plate after her three-run homer in the fourth inning of Thursday's opening game of the Women's College World Series.
Gators' Bats Break Out in WCWS Opener
Thursday, June 1, 2017 | Softball, Chris Harry
UF scored runs in all four of its innings on the way to shutting out Texas A&M 8-0.
— Florida coach Tim Walton last Saturday after watching his team collect just four runs and 11 hits in a three-game Super Regional against Alabama.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Regarding an offense that had been struggling over the last month, Tim Walton swears his Florida coaching staff did not nothing differently to prepare his Gators for the Women's College World Series. To his players, the subject came up no more than usual.
He was not going to put any added pressure on them.
"I think I said the other day, it's just going to come down to players and if they can handle the moment," Walton said.
How are they doing so far?
The top-seeded Gators struck for three hits and a pair of runs on a two-run single up the middle from junior catcher Janell Wheaton in the first inning of Thursday's WCWS opener against Texas A&M. They got two more when junior second baseman Nicole DeWitt went opposite field for a bases-loaded single in the second. UF scratched out another run in the third, then three more in the fourth on third baseman Aleshia Ocasio's three-run homer. The Gators weren't required to bat in the fifth, thanks to the eight-run "mercy rule" that put an end to an 8-0 wipeout in the tourney opener at USA Hall of Fame Stadium.
Florida's eight runs were its most in the last 10 games against opponents from Power Five conferences and moved the Gators (56-8) into the winner's bracket where they'll face 13th-seeded LSU (48-20) Friday night at 7. Win and UF is in the tournament semifinals.
"I think we wanted to make a statement," Ocasio said.
On the heels of Walton making little to no statements on the subject, no less.
Players taking ownership. That's huge for this team. The Gators, everyone knows, are built on the stellar pitching of Kelly Barnhill and Delanie Gourley — the two teamed up for the four-hit shutout, by the way — and defense. When you have two pitchers with negligible ERAs (Barnhill 0.35; Gourley 0.67), you only need a couple runs to be successful.
Getting them in bunches, especially here in OKC, is an awfully encouraging sign.
"I don't think we were frustrated," said DeWitt, a .324 hitter who came into the game with just three hits in her last 25 plate appearances. "We all know what we can do up to bat. We had points of the season where we were just hitting the ball like crazy, so I think we're just sticking with what we know how to do."
The Gators roughed up Aggies starter Trinity Harrington for five hits and four runs through two innings, then knocked around reliever Samantha Show for three more hits and four runs in just 1 1/3 innings. The top of UF's order — Amanda Lorenza, Kayli Kvistad, DeWitt, Ocasio and Wheaton — combined to go 6-for-9, with seven RBI, six runs scored and five walks.
To make a run in OKC, it's just a fact that you'd better win Game 1. The Gators played (and hit) with that kind of urgency.
"It was good to see them step up and really kind of create a normal atmosphere at the plate," Walton said. "I think the key is when you have a shut-down pitcher like Kelly Barnhill or a shut-down pitcher like Delanie Gourley, get them a lead early and it makes everybody feel a lot more comfortable and the swings can open up a little bit."
Yes, the 2-0, then 4-0, then 5-0 and ultimately the 8-0 cushion made things awfully comfortable for the Gators on a very warm morning. No so much for the Aggies.
"You have to play a great game to beat them," A&M coach Jo Evans said.
In the top of the fifth, with UF needing three outs to finish the game two innings early, the Aggies got the leadoff runner on base when Sarah Hudek singled. No big deal, but Walton's wheels were turning. He went to the mound and pulled Barnhill in favor of Gourley. Not that he was all that concerned with an A&M comeback, but more with an eye toward Friday and the option, should he want it, to trot Barnhill back out there again to face an opponent that has yet to see her this season.
After the first batter Gourley faced popped a meek single to right, she struck out Ericka Russell and then got Keeli Milligan to line into a double play to end the game.
One hour, 47 minutes was all it took, with very little drama along the way. Hitting and scoring while the other team does neither will do that.
"I think the expectations [for the season] were that we were going to come out and kill the ball, and we don't," Walton said, "But I think that overall we've had stretches where we've been really, really good offensively and I think it's come down to just a little bit of contagious hitting … like you saw today. We're capable of that."
Clearly.
Players Mentioned
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