Softball Stuff: Walton Knows He Erred, No Need to Remind Him

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The game had been over maybe 30 minutes, but the moment — and, no, not the big one — was still rattling around in the Florida coach Tim Walton's head Saturday night.

His team was headed to the Women's College World Series, again, buoyed by freshman Jordan Matthews, who swatted a three-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh for a 5-3 victory in the decisive Game 3 of its NCAA Super Regional series against Texas A&M. Matthews' heroics erased a two-run seventh rally by the Aggies that gave them a 3-2 lead.

And that's what Walton was still beating himself up about when he came to the post-game press tent. He waited for his players to leave the podium and immediately pointed a finger at himself, at the same time wagging one, proactively, at UF fans.

Walton's message: No need bombarding him with criticism; he knew he screwed up.

"I don't need an email, a text or a tweet," Walton said. "I should have, obviously, put Kelly Barnhill back in the game. That's an obvious statement. It's a dumb move on my part."

The Gators led 2-1 with two outs in the A&M seventh when Aleshia Ocasio, who replaced Barnhill one inning earlier and pitched her team out of a bases-loaded/no-out jam, surrendered a single to Sarah Hudak. That brought up Tori Vidales, who the night before bombed a three-run homer off Ocasio that proved the difference in a 5-4 Game 2 win for the Aggies that forced a decisive elimination game.

Walton and pitching coach Jennifer Rocha had decided earlier Saturday that, if the circumstance arose, Ocasio would not face Vidales again. Yet, in the heat of the moment, for some reason, they decided otherwise.

Vidales, of course, hit a two-run homer to put the Aggies ahead.

Maybe it was because he knew he'd dodged a bullet from his gun, but whatever the reason, Walton felt compelled to address the issue (quite passionately, in fact) before it was even asked.

"We felt we could pitch around Vidales there. We didn't. Dumb move on my part and I'll take complete responsibility for it," Walton said. "You can easily second-guess yourself, and I'm completely second-guessing myself. We'd talked about the scenario, what we wanted to do, and knew it to a tee — and we didn't do it. So, bad coaching move. I give our players a lot of credit for picking up the coaches on that. So don't tweet me, don't text me, don't call me. I'm just telling you, that's what [the fans] do. These people are freaking crazy. Get a life. Celebrate the kids' moments. Don't put it on Twitter. Don't text me or call me and think we're going to have a nice, wonderful conversation about it. I'm getting ready to reply back, because I'm sick of it already."

Walton went on to praise Ocasio for how she entered the game earlier — her team up 2-0 — and rescued the Gators when the Aggies, after touching up Barnhill for consecutive singles and a walk to load the bases, threatened to break things open. Ocasio struck out the first two batters she faced, with a runner scoring on a third-strike wild pitch, and got the third out on a fly ball.

When Hudak stepped up in the seventh, Ocasio had retired all five batters she'd faced, four by strikeouts.

"Now, we get another opportunity to live and learn with that kid, and put her in a better situation," Walton said. "She pitched her butt off with the bases loaded. Butt. Off. Proud of her. But five outs was all she needed. Should've made a change."

Everyone got that?

ON TO OKC

Next up, another Southeastern Conference tussle. This one, with even higher stakes.

The Gators (54-9), the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament, will face seventh-seeded Georgia (45-11) in Thursday's opening-round play of the WCWS at 7 p.m. in Oklahoma City. The Bulldogs swept Tennessee in their Super Region, but needed eight innings to walk-off the Volunteers for a 2-1 win Saturday.

Georgia, ranked No. 9, was the lone opponent during the 2018 series to defeat UF in a three-game series. The Gators lost 5-4 and 11-1 in the first two games at Athens on March 16-17, then took the finale 5-1 on March 18. UF, though, went on to capture both the SEC regular-season and postseason tournament titles.

Anyone recall the last time the two met in NCAA play?

It was May 27, 2016 (exactly two years ago today) that Georgia's Kaylee Puailoa stroked a two-out, pinch-hit homer off Ocasio to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 win and Super Region crown, a gut-wrenching play for the Gators, whose two-year run as reigning national champions came crashing to an end.

PINCH HITS

Regarding the Walton/Ocasio issue, it's worth pointing out that A&M coach Jo Evans faced a dilemma that may not have been exactly similar, but in the metaphorical ballpark. After the Aggies went up 3-2, Evans opted to remove relief pitcher Payton McBride, who in appearing in all three games had limited the Gators to just one run and five hits in her 5 2/3 innings. Evans reinserted Trinity Harrington, who had started all three games, pitched 14 innings and given up 10 runs on 16 hits and walked 12. She walked two of UF's first three batters in the seventh, got a strikeout, then faced Matthews. While Walton was lamenting his strategy, Evans was probably doing some second-guessing of her own on the way back to College Station, as well. … Junior left fielder Amanda Lorenz, the 2018 SEC Player of the Year, went 5-for-6 in the Super series, with five walks, a hit-by-pitch, three runs scored, a homer and three RBI. Her on-base percentage, based on that 10-for-11 weekend, was .909. Her lead-off walk in the bottom of the seventh put the tying run at the plate and ramped up the noise at Pressly Stadium, as well as the pressure on Harrington. Lorenz was at second when Matthews jacked her homer. … Senior first baseman Kayli Kvistad also drew a mega-clutch walk, two batters after Lorenz in that seventh. Hers was the winning run across the plate on Matthews' homer, and obviously kept the line moving. Kvistad may be mired in something of a hitting slump — seven for her last 47 (that's .149) over the previous 19 games — but she has 20 walks during that span and keeps adding to her all-time career record, which now stands at 184. … Senior catcher Janell Wheaton went 0-for-7 in the NCAA regional last weekend, but against the Aggies was a collective 5-for-8, with five RBI, including the walk-off, bases-loaded walk in Game 1.

BONUS PERSPECTIVE POLICE BEAT
(i.e. "Twitter Patter")

Sorry, folks, but just couldn't resist.

Coaches are held accountable. Players are held accountable. Even senior writers are held accountable. This space is dedicated to holding the fans on Twitter accountable. At times, we'll also recognize those who "get it" and acknowledge those who offer entertaining social media fodder, or (God forbid) the proper perspective. [Note: If you're completely unreasonable and wonder why you don't show up here, it's probably because you've been muted or blocked, and thus in "Perspective Prison." I'm the cop, judge, jury and warden of that legal system, by the way.]

I know it's blasphemy to question coaches around here sometimes, but Walton has to re think the approach his team takes at the plate.
— Gator1 (@Gators1205) May 26, 2018

Maybe he'll "re think" it on the flight to Oklahoma City.

Stunned the staff allowed Ocasio to pitch at Vidales after what happened yesterday.
— Clayton Coffman (@_Coffman_) May 26, 2018

The staff, apparently, was stunned, also. Great to learn that kind of lesson in victory, as opposed to the alternative.

I agree. Base running was awful too.
— Myers (@jmyers1515) May 27, 2018

Some over-aggression early on, perhaps, but did you like how Matthews circled them at the end?

Think they can do something on offense now?
— Kevin Haenszel (@TheKlassicKevin) May 26, 2018

Yes.

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Softball Stuff: Walton Knows He Erred, No Need to Remind Him

Players Mentioned

Kelly Barnhill

Sarah H

Kayli Kvistad

Amanda Lorenz

Jordan Matthews

Aleshia Ocasio

Janell Wheaton

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Softball Stuff: Walton Knows He Erred, No Need to Remind Him

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Players Mentioned

Kelly Barnhill

Sarah H

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