Florida Gators softball clinches series against Auburn

Special report on the Florida Gators softball team:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Freshman Amanda Lorenz, sophomore Nicole DeWitt and senior Taylore Fuller all hit home runs and recorded a combined eight RBI in Sunday’s series-clinching win, as No. 1 Florida downed No. 3 Auburn, 8-5.

UF has continued its streak of not dropping a series in Auburn, Ala. since 2005 and opens Southeastern Conference play with a series win for the first time since 2014.

Kelly Barnhill started in the circle for the Gators, but it was sophomore Aleshia Ocasio (9-0) who relieved the freshman and stole the show. After Auburn scored three runs in the third on a pair of homers off the freshman, Ocasio took over and tossed the final four innings and allowed just one run, while striking out four.

Auburn gained its first lead of the series in the first inning when AU’s Emily Carosone took Barnhill deep to right. The bomb was the first Barnhill had allowed in her short career.

Florida got that run back in the second when Fuller recorded an RBI single to left, which scored Janell Wheaton who walked earlier in the inning.

In the third, Kirsti Merritt continued her hot streak with a two-out double off the right field wall, and Lorenz followed her by hitting the second home run of her career.

The blast gave Florida a 3-1 lead, but Auburn had an answer.

The Tigers recorded a pair of home runs in the bottom of the third when Kasey Cooper hit a two-run blast to right and Carlee Wallace notched a solo shot to left.

Undaunted, Florida responded in the fourth.

After sophomore Kayli Kvistad and Fuller led off the inning with a pair of walks. Auburn changed pitchers to Rachel Walters, who surrendered Kvistad’s game-winning home run last night, and it was déjà vu all over again.

On the second pitch she threw, DeWitt launched a three-run homer to give Florida a 6-4 lead.

The Gators never looked back.

UF and AU traded runs in the fifth and Fuller scored the final run of the day when she hit a solo homer off the scoreboard in left.

News & Notes
Florida’s 26-0 record is the second-best start to a season in school history. UF began the 2015 season 28-0.
UF has now opened SEC play with a series win for the first time since 2014 when UF took two out of three from Ole Miss.
UF has now outscored its opponents this season, 175-21.
A season ago, UF had a plus-181 run differential (208-27) through 26 games.
Florida’s 21 runs allowed through 25 games is tied for the fewest in school history through this point in any season.
UF’s 2009 squad allowed 21 tallies through 26 contests and Florida’s last two NCAA Championship teams had allowed 34 (2014) and 27 (2015) runs, respectively.
The Gators have made just 11 errors this season and currently sport one of the best fielding percentages (.983) and earned run averages in the nation (0.79). For comparison, Florida had committed 18 errors in its first 26 contests and had a fielding percentage of .972. UF went on to record its best fielding percentage (.981) and commit just 33 errors, which were both school records
Florida’s senior class is now 199-28, which currently ranks ninth among four-year class records in program history.
Sitting eighth on this list is UF’s 2008 graduating class that went 204-75 throughout its four seasons.
Taylore Fuller, Kirsti Merritt, Aubree Munro, Taylor Schwarz and Kelsey Stewart are trying to catch UF’s 2011 class which boasted a 238-33 mark during their four years.
This is a matchup of the 2015 SEC regular season champs vs. the SEC tournament champs. Since softball’s inception in the SEC in 1997, this type of series has occurred eight times. The reigning tournament champs have won that series four times, the regular season champs have earned three series victories and UA and UT split a doubleheader in 2008.
Florida became the fourth team to win this series after being the SEC regular season champs a season ago.
Hitting Streaks:
Kayli Kvistad – six games (career long)
Justine McLean – five games (ties career long)
UF did not allow a stolen base on Sunday, remaining the only team in the SEC who has allowed only one stolen base in 2016.
Florida recorded its 14th double play of the season in the second inning when Taylore Fuller stepped on third and threw to first thwart an AU rally in the second.
Sunday was the first time this season that UF had hit three home runs in one game.
Amanda Lorenz’s homer was the second of her career.
Nicole DeWitt’s long ball was the fifth of her career and third this season, surpassing her season total from a year ago.
DeWitt is just 2 for 11 in her short career against Auburn, but both hits were huge. Her first hit drove in the game-winning run at the Women’s College World Series last season and tonight’s gave Florida the lead and momentum towards clinching the series.
Taylore Fuller recorded a pair of RBI bringing her season total to 20.
This is her third-straight season with at least 20 RBI.
The senior also hit her 31st career home run in the seventh inning.

Coaches’ Corner
Head Coach Tim Walton:
On all the home runs in the game…
“I think you just have to give credit to the hitters on both teams. When a pitcher made a mistake, each hitter made the other team pay. It was clear on all the replays on TV that those were all no doubt home runs.”

On Nicole DeWitt’s go-ahead home run…
“That was a big at bat. They made a pitching change and we talked about bunting in that situation to move the runners over, which would leave it to Justine [McLean] and Aubree [Munro] to drive those runs in. We also talked about going for it. And we did. To be honest, we went for exactly what happened. We wanted Nicole [DeWitt] to drive the ball into the gap or hit a home run. We needed it. Based off how their offense was hitting, in that situation, I felt like we couldn’t just try for one run. Nicole took a chance and obviously put a great swing on a good pitch.”

On Aleshia Ocasio…
“I’m very pleased with how she’s been able to change speeds, change her pace and her location. Her competitiveness has been really good too. I’m just really happy with the way Aleshia [Ocasio] has been able to give us the momentum back in these two games. It’s comforting to have someone come in and do a great job like she’s done.”

Series History
UF holds a 37-18 edge on AU in the two schools’ all-time series.
This weekend marks Florida’s first visit to Auburn, Ala. since 2013 where the Gators are 16-10 all-time against the Tigers. Florida has not lost a series at Auburn since 2005.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.