Florida Gators

NCAA SUPER REGIONAL / GAME 3  
FLORIDA 2, TENNESSEE 1 

WHAT HAPPENED: Junior Jaimie Hoover stroked a two-out, line-drive single to left to score Amanda Lorenz from third in the bottom of the eighth inning for a thrilling walk-off win in Sunday's NCAA Super Region rubber game at Pressly Stadium and sent the Gators to the Women's College World Series for a third straight year. Florida ace Kelly Barnhill, making her third straight of the series, was in total command and nursing a 1-0 led for nearly the entire game before serving up a leadoff solo homer to UT's Haley Bearden on the first pitch of the seventh inning. The game went into extra innings and remained knotted at 1-1 when Lorenz, UF's best hitter, lashed a one-out double down the left-field line in the eighth, breaking a string of 14 straight batters set down by UT starter Ashley Rogers. The Lady Vols opted to intentionally walk Kendyl Lindaman, the team's second-best hitter, to arrange forces at each infield base. Hannah Adams' ground out to first advanced both runners and brought Hoover to the plate with two outs. Hoover, who had struck out her three previous plate appearances, ripped a Rogers change-up for a no-doubt shot that brought home Lorenz and sent the crowd at KSP into a frenzy, what with their second walk-off-to-the-WCWS moment in as many years. Florida grabbed the lead in the first, when Lorenz led off by padding her Southeastern Conference record for career walks. Two batters later, Adams popped a ball to where dirt met grass behind second base, but a miscommunication between UT shortstop Aubrey Leach and second baseman Kaitlin Parsons allowed the ball to drop. Sophia Reynoso's two-out single to right brought Lorenz home from second to push the Gators in front 1-0 and gave Barnhill a quick lead to work with. The Lady Vols mounted a couple threats later; the first in third inning when they had runners and second and third with two out, but Barnhill got Amanda Ayala to fly out to center. In the sixth, UT had runners at first and second, one out and its second best hitter, Chelsea Seggern (.373) at the plate. The Lady Vols, though, tried to execute a double steal and the speedy Leach was gunned down at third by catcher Jordan Roberts. With the tying run at second, Barnhill (34-11), who allowed just four hits, struck out Seggern on a failed checked swing. Then came Bearden's big fly in the seventh that set the stage for Hoover's heroics in the eighth. 
WHAT IT MEANS: The Gators are headed to the WCWS for the third straight year and 10th time in the last 12 seasons. UF improved to 20-6 all-time in 11 home Super regionals, having advanced from KSP in 10 of its 11 times hosting. The Gators may not be a great hitting team (far from it, actually), but they put themselves in position to win games, especially with a certain blonde in the circle and great defense. And as long as they have Barnhill, the Gators will be in games. 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: What a great feeling it must have been for Hoover, who stepped in batting .247 with three ugly strikeouts against Rogers, to deliver for her team with merely everything on the line. The entire UF dugout emptied and chased Hoover for a mob scene at second base. Good for her. 

STAGGERING STATISTIC: Barnhill worked all eight innings, giving her 23 1/3 for the series, and threw 383 pitches in roughly 44 hours and three Super Region games. Her postseason stats now show an 8-1 record, five runs allowed (all earned), 27 hits, 60 strikeouts, 18 walks and an ERA of 0.59. 

UP NEXT: Florida (49-16) will leave Monday for Oklahoma City, site of the WCWS, where the Gators will join Alabama, Arizona, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, UCLA and Washington in the field of eight. UF's opening-round opponent Thursday will be OSU (44-15), which ousted defending national champion Florida State in the Tallahassee Super Regional, and will basically be playing a home game, what with the Stillwater campus about 60 miles from USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium. The Cowgirls, seeded 13th, are coached by Kenny Gajewski, who was UF coach Tim Walton's assistant coach (and a longtime best buddy) from 2012-15, with the latter two seasons ending in Florida's two NCAA titles.