Gators Worlds Away From Last Time They Faced Tigers
Saturday, May 30, 2015 | Softball, Chris Harry
OKLAHOMA CITY -- When LSU came to Gainesville to open the Southeastern Conference season, the Tigers and their big bats mashed and smashed the Florida Gators for 27 runs over a three-game series, winning twice. Coming into that weekend, UF had given up just 28 runs total in starting the year with 27 victories.
So there was LSU again Friday night, in the second round of the Women's College World Series, rapping three straight singles in the first inning to load the bases with no outs against Gators ace Lauren Haeger. Was anyone on the field for UF thinking back to March 14 when the Tigers tagged the Gators for nine in the first inning?
Nope.
Quite the opposite actually.
“I felt OK,” Haeger said. “I was hitting my spots. A couple balls got through the infield soft. That happens. I felt fine.”
Plus, she had her defense. And her defense, as always, had her.
Clean-up hitter Sahvanna Jacquish lashed a hard grounder to third that Taylore Fuller backhanded and fired to catcher Aubree Munro for a force out. One down, bases still loaded.
No problem.
Gators coach Tim Walton didn't think twice. He backed up his infield in anticipation of the double play. Shortstop Kathlyn Medina extended her thumb and pinky on her right hand that shouted in Haeger's direction.
“Get me a ground ball,” Medina said. “I'll get you two.”
Pretty confident, given the dicey circumstances, right? Pretty clairvoyant, also.
LSU's Kellsi Kloss, who hit a game-winning grand slam back in that series back at Pressly Stadium, rapped a hard shot to short. Medina fielded it cleanly, tagged Bianka Bell running for third, then fired to first to double up Kloss. End of inning. No damage done.
Haeger, the recently crowned NCAA Player of the Year, then put down 18 of the next 20 Tigers, smashed her second home run in as many days to help win her 30th game and handed LSU just its third shutout in 64 games this season, a 4-0 victory that moved the Gators one win away from their second straight national championship series.
“The greatest day off at the College World Series is a Saturday off,” Walton said. “It's a great feeling to have to be beaten twice.”
First baseman Taylor Schwarz shouts after taking shortstop Kathlyn Medina's throw to complete a double-play that ended a scoreless LSU first inning that began with the bases loaded and nobody out.
Indeed, the Gators (57-6) will have Saturday to themselves -- to practice, relax, hang with family, go on a team outing, shop, whatever -- while the WCWS bracket is chopped in half. When UF returns to Hall of Fame Stadium on Sunday they'll do so knowing they have to will lose two games in the same day to be kept from the best-of-three title series.
Florida now has shutouts in six of its seven NCAA games, including against the Tigers (51-12) tonight, who came to OKC armed with seven starters hitting .322 or better, plus two batting over .400. Their worst hitter in the lineup was at .270.
They managed just five singles against Haeger and only two base runners the final six innings. That's a far cry from the 27 runs and 34 hits collected in that three-game series of two months ago; a series in which Haeger did not start any of the games, but did get knocked around pretty good in relief.
“This is a different team we're facing,” LSU coach Beth Torina said. “Lauren Haeger is in a different place right now.”
More like a different world that she's inhabiting by herself. Her teammates, though, are feeding off her clubhouse confidence, productivity at the plate and assassin-like mentality in the circle.
The Gators had 10 hits Friday, including a solo homer from freshman Nicole DeWitt, while stranding 11 runners on base. All American Kelsey Stewart opened the game with a triple off the right field wall, as UF proceeded to load the bases -- and fail to score.
At the time, it seemed like an ominous sign, given LSU's penchant for offensive firepower; it seemed even more foreboding when the Tigers loaded the bases with no outs in their first at bat.
Unless you wore a Florida uniform, that is.
Freshman Nicole DeWitt unleashes a solo home run in the sixth inning that pushed UF's lead to 3-0.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight,” junior catcher Aubree Munro said. “They're a good team. They play with a lot of energy. We play with a lot of energy. I knew it was going to be kind of tight and we were just going to probably feed off each other a little bit and try to break each other's momentum. I figured it would actually be a more low-scoring game than a high-scoring game.”
For LSU, it was a no-scoring game.
For Florida, winners of seven straight at the WCWS, it was a no-Saturday game.
Like Walton said, they're the best kind.
