Going All the Way: Haeger, Gators Deliver When it Matters
Sunday, May 17, 2015 | Softball, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The instant the ball was launched from Lauren Haeger's bat, the green light came on.
“I wasn't going to stop her,” Florida coach Tim Walton said.
That would be Kirsti Merritt, UF's tough-as-nails centerfielder who was on first base with two outs in the top of a scoreless eighth inning when Haeger, the national player of the year candidate who was pitching yet another gem, reached for an outside pitch from Florida Atlantic's Amanda Wilson -- also pitching a gem, by the way -- and powered the ball into the right-field alley.
Just an inning earlier, the Gators had loaded the bases with only one out and come away with nothing. So this was all-or-nothing time for the NCAA Tournament's overall No. 1 seed.
And Merritt was moving.
“It's one of my strengths, my speed,” Merritt said. “It's always good to hear Coach say, 'Go! Go! Go!' ”
And “Go!” she did, all the way home, standing up, with the Pressly Stadium crowd cheering wildly for what turned out to be the decisive and lone run in a 1-0 win that spared the Gators of playing an elimination game. Instead, Florida will be home again for next weekend's Super Regional against Kentucky (32-24), with the winner advancing to the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Maybe it was only right that Haeger did all for her team. Not only did her double win the game in extra innings -- she leads the team with 63 RBI -- but Haeger gave up just two hits and struck out five in moving to a sparkling 26-1 in the circle this season. Credit also yet another terrific effort from the UF defense, which did not allow a run in three games this weekend (as they did in regional play last season) and extended Florida opponents' scoreless streak in regionals to 51 straight innings, dating to 2013.
Walton called it a “gutty and gritty performance.”
And, yes, he was talking about both teams.
FAU coach Joan Joyce, whose team ousted both fourth-seeded Florida A&M and second-seeded Hofstra on Saturday to reach the championship round, was asked for a post-game statement.
“Damn,” was all she said before giving way to a smile.
Yeah, the Owls (39-19-1) were awfully good Sunday, especially Wilson (8-5), who befuddled
the Gators all afternoon with a trio of pitches and solid command that kept UF's batters off balance.
Florida had just two hits entering the eighth when Kelsey Stewart blooped a one-out single to right. The next batter was Merritt, who reached on a fielder's choice groundout, bringing Haeger to the plate with two outs.
She'd done it all day on the mound. Heck, she'd done it all all season for the Gators. So it surprised no one when she did it again Sunday when it counted most. The UF fans did not want to stick around for a dreaded second “if necessary” game -- an elimination game -- so a lot of folks in the ballpark were on edge.
Haeger wasn't one of them.
“Not nerve-racking at all,” she said. “That's my favorite thing in the whole entire world is to be out there in situations like that. The crowd was in it. Everyone was in it. Everyone was hyped. That's why I came here for situations like that. I didn't come here not to be nervous. It was really fun.”
The double that bounced off the wall and gave the Gators the lead was fun.
The 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth and the ensuing high-fives afterward were funner.
Next weekend, they'll shoot for funnest thing of all.
