Florida Gators

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OKLAHOMA CITY – The second-seeded Florida Gators defeated the No. 7-seed Georgia, 11-3, in five innings in the opening game of the Women's College World Series.

The Gators found themselves down 2-0 going into the bottom of the first inning, but the offense kicked into full gear, scoring five runs in the first frame and not looking back from there.

Florida hit three home runs in the game: Aleshia Ocasio's three-run shot, Jordan Roberts' two-run home run and Hannah Adams' solo shot. This was Florida's 17th multi-home run game and is only the third time this season that the Gators have hit at least three homers in a game.

Ocasio had a strong showing in the circle for the Gators, going five innings, allowing only three runs and striking out seven. During her five innings, she issued only one walk and allowed seven hits.

The Gators advanced to the WCWS winner's bracket and face the winner of No. 3 UCLA/No. 6 Florida State at 9:30 p.m. EST on ESPN.

How It Happened

Inning	Score	Play
Top 1st	0-2	With one runner on base, Justice Milz put a two-run home run over the fence to put Georgia up 2-0 early in the game.
Bottom 1st	2-2	Jordan Matthews once again proved her dominance in pressure situations, hitting a two-run double to score DeWitt and Kvistad and knot the game at 2-2.
Bottom 1st	5-2	With Wheaton and Matthews on base, Aleshia Ocasio decided to help herself out in the circle, sending a three-run home run over the right field fence to give Florida the 5-2 lead.
Bottom 2nd	6-2	With the bases loaded, Janell Wheaton batted into a fielder's choice to score Amanda Lorenz and put Florida up 6-2.
Top 3rd	6-3	Alyssa DiCarlo homered to center to bring Georgia to within three runs.
Bottom 4th	8-3	In a pinch-hit situation with one runner on and two outs, Jordan Roberts blasted a two-run shot over the flags in center field to give Florida the 8-3 lead.
Bottom 5th	9-3	Hannah Adams led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo shot to right field, putting Florida up 9-3.
Bottom 5th	10-3	With the bases loaded, Georgia walked Kayli Kvistad to score Sophia Reynoso from third and put the Gators up 10-3.
Bottom 5th	11-3	The game-winning run came after Janell Wheaton was hit by a pitch, scoring Jaimie Hoover from third and run-rule the Dawgs.

 
Standout Statistic
Florida broke the NCAA DI record for most walks in a season after having drawn eight in this evening's game. The team now has 356 walks on the year. The previous record was held by Auburn with 349 walks drawn over 70 games played during the 2016 season. This is the Gators 65th game of the year.

Notable Notes

• The Gators improved to 6-3 in their opening game of the WCWS and now hold a 26-14 overall record on the grand stage.
  • This is also the fifth time that the program has opened the WCWS against a Southeastern Conference opponent. UF holds a 14-3 record against SEC competition at the WCWS. The last time the Orange & Blue was defeated in the opening game of the WCWS was May 30, 2013 in a 9-2 decision to Tennessee.
  • The team now holds a 2-2 record as the No. 2 seed at the WCWS.
• Amanda Lorenz broke the UF single-season walks record, which fellow teammate Kayli Kvistad set with 67 in 2017.
  • Lorenz drew two walks and now has 68 walks on the season.
  • The Moorpark, Calif. native is also closing in on the UF single-season records for doubles and runs scored. The records are currently held by Ashley Boone (19 doubles) and Kelsey Bruder (79 runs).
• The Gators are now 5-0 on Thursdays during the 2018 season
• Florida is 18-6 on the year with more than 2,000 fans watching games
• The game was Florida's 17th multi-HR game of the year and it was only the third time all season that the Gators have hit at least three home runs
• Fifth time in Florida's 40 WCWS appearances the Gators hit three or more home runs. The Gators' all-time high of four home runs came in a 16-2 win versus Alabama in 2011 WCWS semifinal action. This is the fourth time the Gators hit three home runs, with the last coming in a 14-4 loss to Arizona State in the first game of the 2011 WCWS Championship series.
• UF improved to 28-8 against ranked opponents and 21-4 when playing on television.
• Janell Wheaton tallied a pair of RBI in the contest and has now produced her fourth-straight game with an RBI - three of the four times have been multi-RBI performances.
• The 11 runs scored in tonight's game ties for the second most runs scored by the Gators in a WCWS game.
  • The Gators defeated Baylor 11-0 in five innings in the opening round game of the 2014 WCWS.

Next Up
The Gators face the winner of UCLA/Florida State on Friday at 9:30 p.m. EST in the winner's bracket of the WCWS. The game will air on ESPN.

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