ATHENS, Ga. – The Florida softball team fell, 11-1 in five innings, to No. 10 Georgia Saturday afternoon at Jack Turner Stadium. The Gators streak of winning 13-consective Southeastern Conference series ended with today's loss.
Florida (22-3, 3-2 SEC) tallied six hits in the contest and was led offensively by senior
Nicole DeWitt. DeWitt went a perfect 2-for-2 with a walk against Georgia (26-1, 5-0 SEC).
Without registering a hit in the inning, the Bulldogs scored in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead over the Gators. Alyssa DiCarlo scored from third as the Florida defense pursued Alysen Febrey in a rundown between first and second.
Georgia plated their second run of the game in the bottom of the second to take a 2-0 lead. Kendall Burton scored from second with two outs after a Florida committed its second error of the game.
The Gators got on the scoreboard in the third and cut the Bulldogs lead down to 2-1. Freshman
Hannah Adams doubled with one out to start the rally and DeWitt put runners on the corners with a bunt single.
Amanda Lorenz drove in Adams with her single through the left side of the UGA infield.
The Bulldogs struck back for seven runs in the bottom of the inning to extend the lead out to 9-1, which started with a DiCarlo solo home run. Afterwards, freshman
Natalie Lugo entered for her first action of Southeastern Conference play.
Georgia went on to plate six more runs in the inning on five hits and a Florida error.
Sophomore
Katie Chronister relieved Lugo in the fourth inning. After a walk and a pair of hits to load the bases, Chronister settled down to record a pair of strikeouts. The Bulldogs however managed to strike for a pair of runs before the inning was over to extend their lead out to 11-1.
Brittany Gray (13-0) received the win in the circle, while
Kelly Barnhill (11-1) dropped her first decision of the season.
The series finale between the Gators and the Bulldogs is set for tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Jack Turner Stadium. The game will be streamed on the SEC Network, which can be found on WatchESPN.com or the WatchESPN app.
Walton's Words
"Georgia is a good team – offensively, defensively, pitching wise and athletically. They put a lot of pressure on us and we just didn't play very well today."
Notable Notes
- Florida still leads the all-time series against Georgia 38-27 overall and 17-9 on the road.
- This is the first SEC series that the Gators have dropped since 2016 when Alabama took two out of three in Gainesville.
- The Gators entered this weekend with a streak of winning 13-consecutive SEC series.
- Amanda Lorenz reached base safely for the 25th consecutive game after an RBI single in the top of the third inning.
- Last year Lorenz reached safely in 66 of the 68 games played.
- Hannah Adams has reached base safely in 23 of the 25 games play this season after her double.
- Adams has also scored at-least one run in 13 of the last 15 games, which includes scoring one run today against Georgia.
- Senior Nicole DeWitt registered her sixth multi-hit game of the season after going 2-for-2 at the plate with a walk.
- Sophomore Katie Chronister and freshman Natalie Lugo picked up their first career Southeastern Conference action today in the circle.
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