KICKING-BACK DAY
Florida coach
Tim Walton has tried it both ways, so he knows.
"It's a great spot to be in," he said.
He's talking, of course, about having Saturday off at the Women's College World Series. Only two teams are afforded that luxury. In the case of 2017, Florida (57-8) and defending national champion Oklahoma (58-9) — who have combined to win the four previous WCWS (two for each)— are off Saturday after winning itsThursday and Friday games. The Gators and Sooners will wait to see which two of the six teams escape elimination day at USA Hall of Fame Stadium to join them in softball's version of the Final Four.
By the time UF comes face to face with its next opponent — either UCLA (48-14) or Washington (50-13) — Sunday at 1 p.m., that team not only will have played one more game, but more than likely that team's best pitcher, be it UCLA's
Rachel Garcia or Washington's
Taran Alvelo, for example, will have thrown one, maybe two more games by necessity just to survive.
And whether it's the Bruins or Huskies, they'll have to beat Florida twice.
Meanwhile, UF sophomore ace
Kelly Barnhill, now 26-3 and a 0.34 ERA on the season, has 11 scoreless WCWS innings already under her belt after the Gators crushed A&M and LSU by a combined 15-0. Barnhill rested Saturday.
"She's been awesome," junior catcher
Janell Wheaton said of Barnhill, whose ERA in OKC is 0.00 to go with 13 strikeouts. "It's quite another level these past couple days, especially now with our offense working. She feels more comfortable. She's throwing harder. Her ball is coming more. She's been phenomenal."
And, of course, Walton has his mega-trump card at the ready in
Delanie Gourley (21-4, 0.67), who relieved Barnhill for one inning in Thursday's 8-0 defeat of the Aggies and needed six pitches to retire the side. The Gators have options.
A great spot, indeed.
OFFENSIVE AWAKENING
Wheaton absolutely tortured a ball over the left field fence in the sixth inning Friday, a solo shot that marked the first NCAA Tournament homer of her career.
"It was a great feeling. It doesn't happen very often for me," said Wheaton, whose homer was just the fourth of her season and 11th in her time as a Gator. "You want to win for the team, but doing it here, hitting a home run in the World Series, that's a dream."
An inning later, the Gators got four runs on four hits to put the game away.
Kayli Kvistad skied a two-run shot to right,
Aleshia Ocasio gapped a double and Wheaton brought home another run with a sacrifice fly to right for her second RBI of the game; her second two-RBI game in as many nights.
UF got off the plane in Oklahoma City having scored more than two runs just once over its previous nine games against opponents from Power Five conferences. The Gators batted .229 through their first seven NCAA Tournament games and were shutout twice. They hit just .167 in squeaking past Alabama in the Super Regional last week at Gainesville in managing just 11 hits in three games, with five coming from
Amanda Lorenz.
In two games here, UF is hitting .386 and eight different players have hits.
What's going on?
"Nothing is different," Wheaton said. "We're just feeling great in the box and Coach Walton is doing a great job communicating what to expect from the different pitchers we face."
The UF dugout erupts as Chelsea Herndon's two-run double lands down the right field line.
LELE, THE HITTER/FIELDER, OPENING SOME EYES
Ocasio, who last took part in the WCWS as a starting pitcher in 2015, is 3-for-6 in the two games, with a three-run homer against A&M and that ripped double against the Tigers. She also made a stunning catch in foul territory Friday, spilling into the photographer's well (legs popping in the air) and also turned a couple big force outs when the game was still very much a contest.
In the post-game news conference, Walton got a couple questions about Ocasio and her journey from the circle to an everyday position player. He recalled the story of how Ocasio, who was a do-everything star in high school and club, came to her coach after last season and asked to do more than just pitch.
"She wanted to hit more," Walton recalled. "I said, 'Hey, you're going to double your at-bats next year, so don't worry about that.' I think two days later she sent me a text message that said, 'Hey, I only had 41 at-bats. I hope I get more than 80.' I told her, to be honest with her, that defense was the key, I wanted her to take fly balls in the outfield, right and left, take ground balls at second and third, and then also do some work over at first base."
It's going pretty well so far. Ocasio is now hitting .320 for the season, which is third highest on the team. She also has 172 at-bats to date.
[Click here to ready a story about Ocasio's transition from pitcher to every-day player that ran in FloridaGators.com in April]
Chelsea Herndon
SHE DIGS OKC
Senior outfielder
Chelsea Herndon was 0-for-12 in NCAA Tournament play when she lined a double down the right field line in the fourth to bring home the first two runs of the game.
Clearly, she likes it here. In 2014, Herndon hit a pinch-hit, walk-off grand slam in UF's opening-round 11-0 "mercy rule" trouncing of Baylor.
Which was better?
"Oh now, that's tough," she said. "I'd have to say [this] hit because there was no score at the time. The grand slam was awesome, but this was something that got us started. And I was struggling, so it was just a good motivator all the way around."
40 ZEROES
The shutout of LSU was Florida's 40th shutout of the season, which set a team record, pushing past the previous mark of 39 when
Stacy Nelson and
Steph Brombacher were putting up zeroes during the 2009 season. Those 40 are also the most shutouts by a Division I team since Arizona's 41 in 2007.
It's a credit to Barnhill, Gourley and company, but a true testament to
Jennifer Rocha, who is regarded as the best pitching coach in the country.
"I know it sounds silly, but it's obvious. When our pitching staff shuts people out, we win," Walton said. "Really proud of not only their preparation, but their work ethic, their confidence in not only themselves, their catcher, their defense, and our pitching coach, They do a really good job of planning."
UCLA LOSES ASSISTANT COACH
UCLA and Washington will play late Saturday night with the winner advancing to the semifinals to face the Gators. Should that team by UCLA, the Bruins will be without their top assistant and pitching coach, former Olympian and ASA Hall of Famer
Lisa Fernandez, who was ejected from her team's 8-2 win over Texas A&M Saturday for arguing a call at home plate.
While, um, debating the play, a fiery Fernandez bumped the home plate umpire. Contact with an umpire brings an automatic two-game suspension. Fernandez will serve the first game Saturday night against the Huskies.
Should the Bruins advance, Fernandez will have to sit out the UF game, but would be eligible to return if UCLA were to win and force a Sunday night elimination game with a championship series berth on the line.
In the event the Bruins lose Saturday night, the suspension will role over to the 2018 season opener.
