Highlights

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 1 Florida dropped its opening game of the 2017 SEC Tournament 2-0 to No. 19 Ole Miss at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.

A timely two-RBI double down the line in right field by Dylinn Stancil gave Ole Miss (38-18) a 2-0 lead in the top of the initial inning of play.

Elantra Cox reached on a high-chopper to Nicole DeWitt in the infield for the first hit and Kylan Becker reached via a rare defensive miscue by junior Aleshia Ocasio at third.

A SAC bunt by Ashton Lampton moved the pair over for the first out and starter Delanie Gourley (18-4) struck out Sarah Van Schaik for the second out before Stancil's decisive hit that scored the two unearned runs.

From there Gourley and the Gators (50-6) went on to retire the next eight Ole Miss batters and didn't see a threat from the Rebels until the fifth inning when they loaded the bases. A pair of fielder's choices, one to Gourley in the circle and the other to Reynoso at shortstop, ended the threat to keep the score 2-0.

Sophomore Kelly Barnhill relieved Gourley in the sixth and produced back-to-back three up and three down innings.

The Gators offense only managed a pair of hits but consistently put the ball in play throughout the contest and broke through with their first hit in the fourth inning. Junior Kayli Kvistad singled to center field on a 0-1 count.

With two outs, Janell Wheaton ripped a shot back to Ole Miss starting pitcher Kaitlin Lee (18-0) that nearly put the Gators into scoring position but instead was retired for the final out.

Wheaton found a hole in the Rebels defense in the seventh for her first hit of the game with two outs. Ocasio ended the game with a pop fly to Paige McKinney at shortstop of the final out.

Coaches Corner
Overall thoughts on today's game and moving forward…
"I think the biggest thing to take away from today's game is that Ole Miss came out and played a good game. They got that one hit and that's what it's all about when you get down to post-season type games with post-season type atmospheres. It's going to come down to one hit, they got it and we didn't – so give them a lot of credit. I thought Delanie (Gourley) did good and I thought we swung the bat pretty average. We need to get better if we are going to make a late charge into the post-season." – Tim Walton

Notables

• The Gators tallied their 28^th game of the season with 10 or more strikeouts and fourth game of the season against the Rebels. The duo of Gourley and Barnhill struck out 11 Ole Miss batters.
• In the top of the seventh inning Barnhill struck out the side.
  • It's the 40^th time this season that she has struck out the opposing side.
• Florida still maintains a 48-9 overall record over Ole Miss and a 24-27 record in the SEC Tournament.

 
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