WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
FLORIDA 5, WASHINGTON 2
WHAT HAPPENED: Senior
Delanie Gourley made her first career WCWS start and threw a two-hit, 10-strikeout gem at the sixth-seeded Huskies and led the No. 1-seed Gators into the national championship series for the third time in the last four seasons. Gourley, the diminutive lefty, got all the runs she needed after two innings, courtesy of a trio of RBIs from first baseman
Kayli Kvistad, who parked a solo home into the right-field bleachers in the second at-bat of the game and a two-run single in the second. UF's 4-0 lead through two innings basically sapped the drama out of sold-out ASA Hall of Fame Stadium before Washington had come to bat for a second time. For Florida, the offensive surge continued with seven hits, as the Gators ran their three-game WCWS run total to 20. The Huskies' two runs, both unearned, came with two out in the bottom of the seventh after Kvistad failed to field a throw from shortstop on a routine infield grounder that would have ended the game. UW's next batter,
Julia DuPonte, followed with a two-run homer.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Kvistad's first-inning homer was big, but it was her two-run single in the second inning -- it pushed UF in front 4-0 -- that pretty much doomed the Huskies, who were unlikely to score four runs (much less more than four) against Gourley; not to mention the prospect of
Kelly Barnhill and her 70-mile-per-hour riseball
rested and
at the ready in the bullpen. The Gators began the inning with a leadoff walk by
Chelsea Herndon. One out later,
Justine McLean beat out an infield single and
Amanda Lorenz followed with an RBI single up the middle, with the runners advancing into scoring position on the throw home. Kvistad then stepped in and grounded a hard single past second base to score both McLean and Lorenz. The rout was on.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: For Gourley, amazingly, it was her first start at the WCWS. She was the winning pitcher in UF's clinching victory over Alabama in the 2014 NCAA title series and pitched two huge scoreless innings of relief in Game 1 of the 2015 series win against Michigan, registering a save. She also was called on to throw the fifth inning in Thursday's "mercy-rule" 8-0 defeat of Texas A&M. Now, toss in Sunday's elite performance and Gourley is a combined 2-0 and allowed just three hits over nine innings with a save and 0.00 ERA in her career at OKC. She also ran her season's record to 22-4 and season's ERA to 0.62.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: Three games here -- against A&M, LSU and Washington -- and the Gators have won by a combined score of 20-2 and have yet to surrender an earned run. UF was one out away from its 41 shutout this season, which would have tied the all-time NCAA mark set by Arizona in 2007, but the Gators surely will live with the result.
UP NEXT: The Gators (58-8) will open the 2017 NCAA championship series Monday night against defending reigning champ Oklahoma (58-9) or Oregon (54-7), who play the second semifinal game. The Ducks need to beat the Sooners twice Sunday to gain a spot in the finals. As for UF, the palace intrigue for Game 1 will focus on whom UF coach
Tim Walton will send to the circle. Actually, pretty safe bet it'll be Barnhill (26-3, 0.34 ERA), who by game time will have gone nearly 72 hours without throwing a pitch.
