WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
FLORIDA 8, TEXAS A&M 0
WHAT HAPPENED: The top-seeded Gators brought their offensive "A" game to the opening day of the Women's College World Series and easily rolled to victory over their fellow Southeastern Conference sisters at USA Hall of Fame Stadium.
Janell Wheaton knocked in two runs with a base-loaded single in the first,
Nicole DeWitt did the same in the second and
Aleshia Ocasio smashed a three-run homer in the fourth to provide more than enough offense. Meanwhile, sophomore
Kelly Barnhill hurled four shutout innings, then gave way to senior
Delanie Gourley -- presumably to save Barnhill for some second-round work Friday -- for the final three outs to dispatch the No. 9-seed Aggies in the first meeting between the two league rivals this season. The game was stopped after five innings due to the eight-run "mercy" rule.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Given that Barnhill's ERA coming in was a NCAA-best 0.36, the 2-0 lead the Gators gave her in the first inning was a pretty good start. But when DeWitt rapped a two-out, bases loaded single in the second, UF's advantage swelled to 4-0. Only once this season had Barnhill given up more than one earned run (that was in a 3-1, 11-inning loss at Florida State). DeWitt came into the game having gone just three of her previous 25, though one of those hits was a huge two-run homer in UF's 2-0 regional clincher vs. Oklahoma State.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: The Florida bats were the stars of this show. Read on.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: With eight runs on eight hits, UF's offensive output marked just the second time the Gators had scored at least four runs in the previous 10 games against a high-major opponent, a run that began with a 5-1 loss in the final regular-season series at Tennessee on April 30. It was Florida's first run-rule outcome at Oklahoma City since
Hannah Rogers and the Gators crushed Baylor 11-0 in Game 1 of the 2014 series on the way to their first national title.
UP NEXT: The Gators (56-8) advanced into the winner's bracket where they'll face the winner of Thursday's other early session game, either No. 5-seed UCLA (47-13) or No. 13 seed LSU (47-20), with the survivor of that one avoiding Saturday's brutal elimination day. That next game for UF will be Friday at 7 p.m.
