GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Kelly Barnhill hurled her third complete-game no-hitter of the season in a 6-0 victory over No. 23 Kentucky Friday evening at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
Barnhill (10-0) now has three complete-game no-hitters, a combined no-hitter and a perfect game through 12 starts. The only blemish in the contest for the Marietta, Ga. native was a walk to lead off the second inning by Jenny Schaper.
Florida's (20-1) patience at the plate showed in the first inning as the team drew four walks against Kentucky (15-4) starter Erin Rethlake (4-3).
Jordan Matthews drew the fourth walk to give UF a 1-0 lead and prompted the replacement of Rethlake with Autumn Humes in the circle.
Janell Wheaton immediately extended the lead to 2-0 after she sent an 0-1 pitch through the right side of the Kentucky defense.
Later in the same inning,
Jordan Roberts extended the lead out to 4-0 with her single through the left side of the Kentucky infield. The Gators pushed the lead out to 6-0 after Kentucky third baseman Abby Cheek's errant throw resulted in a collision at first between
Alex Voss and Mallory Peyton while also allowing Wheaton and Roberts to score.
Florida was poised to score again in the fifth after a trio of singles by
Nicole DeWitt,
Kayli Kvistad and Matthews. Kentucky was able to escape the inning after Wheaton flied out to shallow center field and Roberts was retired on strikes.
The Gators and the Wildcats will square off again Saturday at 6 p.m. on the SEC Network.
Walton's Words
On Kelly Barnhill's performance to open up conference play…
"She set the tone for us in the first inning, came out and really got in and out of the strike zone very well with her rise ball. I was very pleased with the way she set the tone for us today.
On manufacturing runs in the first inning to get ahead of Kentucky early…
"Obviously when you can be as patient as we are and get walks, then follow up that up with the base hits by Janell (Wheaton) and Jordan (Roberts) it really helps. I thought
Jordan Matthews did a really good job with her base running to see that little pop fly down and score from second, but I thought overall our swings were pretty good. We hit the ball hard a couple of times and they made some good plays, but to be able to take a series we are going to have to swing the bat a lot better tomorrow.
From the Players
Kelly Barnhill
On her performance tonight and what was working for her in the circle…
"My rise ball was just working. Tonight was the best that I've felt all season - even better than when I pitched that perfect game. I just felt really connected with my pitches. Janell was really solid behind the plate and the defense was making plays behind me too. It was just a really fun game for me to pitch, probably the most fun I've had in a while out on the mound."
Notable Notes:
- Florida improved to 50-14 all-time against the Wildcats.
- Florida scored six runs in the first inning against Kentucky.
- It's the 15th time this season that the Gators have scored in the first inning.
- UF has now scored four or more runs in an inning 19 times out of 21 games played.
- Amanda Lorenz extended her reached base safely streak to 21 games.
- Lorenz reached in all but two games for the Gators last season (66-of-68).
- Kelly Barnhill struck out the Kentucky side in the 3rd and 7th inning.
- It's the 14th & 15th time this season that Barnhill has struck out the side.
- Barnhill tallied 13 strikeouts in the game against the Wildcats.
- It's a season-high for the Wildcats. They entered with a previous high of five at Ohio (Mar. 3).
- Tonight was the fifth time this season Barnhill tallied 10 or more strikeouts in a game.
- Hannah Adams scored the first run of the game after reaching on a four-pitch walk.
- Adams has now scored for the Gators in the last 11-straight games.
