Florida Gators

OKLAHOMA CITY — Just a few weeks ago, as his best offensive player drew closer to the end of a magnificent career, Florida softball coach Tim Walton was asked what made Amanda Lorenz such a great hitter. Explanations of her makeup and mechanics were requested. 

Walton talked about Lorenz's competitive spirit, internal fortitude, toughness and grit ("She just hates making outs"), in citing the intangibles. When it came to breaking down the bat-meets-ball part, Walton praised Lorenz's balance and (this is important) the uncanny flat swing that has put her in position to become the all-time UF leader in batting average; the only Gator ever to hit .400 for a career.

"A lot of good pitchers throw rise balls, some throw change-ups, but she has such a flat swing that she has the ability to stay in the zone longer than most," Walton said. "So for her, hitting .400-plus is not something that's really surprised anyone; not with one of the flattest swings in all of college softball. With the game on the line, who do you want up? I don't know too many people who aren't going to choose Amanda Lorenz. And she wants to be the one stepping up there, too." 

And so it was, on Sunday, in the decisive Game 3 of UF's Super Regional against Tennessee, Lorenz stepped into the batter's box with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning. Who knew how much workhorse starting pitcher Kelly Barnhill, already with 23.1 innings in the books for the Super weekend, had left? The Gators' last 15 batters had been set down in order when Lorenz, who scored her team's lone run back in the first inning, dug in. 

What was that question again? The one about the game being on the line? 

Who do you want up? Lorenz, probably reaching with that gorgeous and flat swing for a slightly outside pitch, punched a double down the left-field line. Two batters later, after an intentional walk and a groundout, Lorenz was at third base with the potential winning run. 

Jaimie Hoover's two-out, walk-off single brought a bouncing, fist-pumping Lorenz home and sent Florida to the Women's College World Series for the third straight year and 10th time in the last 12 seasons. 

They don't call her "Mandy Softball" for nothin'. 

"I don't know anyone who has more passion for the game than Amanda Lorenz," fourth-year junior shortstop Sophia Reynoso said. "Softball is life for her." 

Walton sought out Lorenz in the celebratory aftermath of that dramatic victory. 

"Nothing could be more special than watching you run around the bases and score the run to go to Oklahoma City," he told her. 

In her last game at Pressly Stadium, no less. 

Now, fittingly, Lorenz's college career, whatever is left of it, will end at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium, where Thursday night the fifth-seeded Gators (49-16) will take on 13th-seeded Oklahoma State (43-15) in one of four opening-round WCWS games. Lorenz will bring a season's average of .419 into the tournament, along with a career average of .406 that come next week figures to make the Moorpark, Calif., product, three-time first-team All-American and 2018 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year the program's all-time leader. 

Lorenz would bypass standout Kelsey Stewart in the career-average category. Stewart hit .391 over her four seasons, and also won NCAA titles in both 2014 and 15. 

As far as Lorenz is concerned, a national championship is the only thing she is playing for. 

"I don't care about any records," said Lorenz, who sits in the career top 10 of virtually every meaningful offensive statistical category in the UF books. "I wanted to come to Florida to become a better person, a better softball player and hopefully make some of my teammates better along the way." 

Making memories just happened to be a byproduct of all those things. Now she has a chance to make more on the game's grandest stage. 

The top five hitters by average at the WCWS 

Average	Player	School	NCAA Divsion I Rank
.446	Kelli Godwin	UCLA	9th
.435	Sydney Romero	Oklahoma	15th
.420	Reyno Carranco	Arizona	24th
.419	Amanda Lorenz	Florida	26th
.419	Caleigh Clifton	Oklahoma	27th

Lorenz famously committed to Walton as an eighth-grader — he took one look at her swinging in the batting cage at a club tournament and was smitten — then blossomed into the No. 1 prospect in the country. She arrived in Gainesville in the fall of 2015, barely three months after UF won a second straight NCAA title, started all 63 games in left field and batted .403 with 48 RBI. 

"As a freshman, I remember her first being kind of nervous, not wanting to step on anyone's toes, and kind of always trying to please people," said Stewart, who was a senior on that 2016 team and is now a member of Team USA. "She was probably more of a follower, which is natural for a freshman. I've only seen her on TV, but just watching it's obvious she's not like that anymore." 

Florida infamously lost in the Super Region at home in 2016 to SEC rival Georgia on a walk-off home run. The defeat was devastating and the post-game clubhouse reflected as much. 

On his drive home that night, Walton got a text message from Lorenz. 

This will never happen again.

Promise made, promise kept. Now the Gators are back in the World Series for the third straight year, with the 2019 road to OKC a little different. Florida, which went a pedestrian 12-12 in league play, has struggled to hit the ball all season, finishing last in the SEC in team batting average, what with just two players over .300. UF will enter the WCWS hitting .264, which ranks 179th among Division I teams. The next closest team still around? That would be seventh-seeded Minnesota at 73rd (.288). 

None of this, of course, has to do with Lorenz, who in 2019 ranks 26th nationally and has the fourth-highest average at the World Series, to go with 11 homers, 57 runs, 41 RBI, 62 walks and a slugging percentage of .721. 

Where the eight teams at the WCWS rank by runs per game average 

NCAA Division I Rank	WCWS Team	Runs Per Game
1st	Oklahoma	7.67
4th	UCLA	7.00
7th	Arizona	6.73
13th	Alabama	6.27
21st	Oklahoma State	5.98
35th	Washington	5.49
37th	Minnesota	5.48
116th	Florida	4.63

In the second game of Super Region, Lorenz set the SEC record for career walks, a mark that now stands at 238. League pitchers have been warned about giving Lorenz anything too close, what with that swing of hers. Apparently, she has an eagle-eye to match.

"That's nothing but a total respect thing," Walton said of the walks record. "If you go back and look at Amanda Lorenz as a freshman, she was a complete hacker. She didn't have a plan. She just swung. … It's a really cool thing. I'd rather her have the hits record, but you take what they can give you." 

In return, Lorenz has given the Gators these offensive numbers and UF all-time rankings: first in on-base percentage (.549); second in hits (248), doubles (58) and total bases (509); third in slugging (.685), runs scored (248) and triples (12); sixth in homers (41).

But maybe best of all, she's led the program in enthusiasm and fervency the last three years. 

"She's just an amazing friend, teammate and person, someone who is self-less and wants the best of everybody," Reynoso said. "We've endured some tough times this season — tough for us — but every time things weren't going right, Amanda was right there asking what we had to do to be better; what we needed; how she could help. After a tough game, the first person to speak up after Coach Walton is Amanda. She told us, 'We're going to figure this out.' She just encouraged us to keep fighting and figure out a way to get it done."

Now, look where they are. Lorenz isn't crazy about her nickname, and she was considerably less crazy about it the night at Pressly Stadium this season when the crowd started a chant.

"MAN-DY SOFT-BALL!
"MAN-DY SOFT-BALL!" 
"MAN-DY SOFT-BALL!"

Her teammates thought otherwise. 

"It fits," senior centerfielder Alex Voss said. "We see what she puts into it. She's a grinder who never wants to leave the field and we all feed off that. It's just been amazing to have that kind of person and player on this team." 

And with that gorgeous, flat swing, to boot. 

After using it to make contact for that game-winning run, walk-off moment Sunday, Lorenz was on Cloud 9. Talk about leaving the home field in style.  

"I couldn't be more proud of this team, for this season, and the trials it has presented," Lorenz said. "We've trusted each other and stayed in our family. I couldn't have asked for anything more than the lessons God has taught us with all we've been through. To be here for this moment and end our careers at KSP, that's the stuff you dream of as a kid. Storybook ending. I'm just really thankful. Can you tell I love this place?" 

Yes. It was a match made in orange-and-blue heaven. But here's betting she loves OKC, as well.  

Soak it up, "Mandy Softball." You were made for this place, too.