GatorCountry.com is going to a run special series this year on the Florida Gators softball team as each Monday we will run a special weekend recap. In that recap we will break down the past week’s games, plus name a player of the week from the past week.
The first edition breaks down this past weekend’s games in Tampa, Florida where the Gators went 4-0 and run ruled all four opponents. The four straight run rules to open a season is a program record that was previously three.
Among the weekend’s victims was No. 2 Michigan who lost to the Gators on Saturday when freshman Kelly Barnhill dominated the Wolverines.
Barnhill wasn’t the only freshman to have a great weekend, as freshman left fielder Amanda Lorenz was the Gators most consistent hitter in Tampa, Florida.
In total Florida played four of the seven freshmen during the weekend tournament.
Results:
Florida defeated Illinois State 11-0 on Friday. Winning pitcher was Delanie Gourley
Florida defeated No. 2 Michigan 8-0 on Saturday. Winning pitcher was Kelly Barnhill
Florida defeated Virginia Tech 8-0 on Sunday. Winning pitcher was Aleshia Ocasio
Florida defeated USF 11-1 on Sunday. Winning pitcher was Delanie Gourley
Offensive leaders:
Freshman Amanda Lorenz walked in her first career at-bat and ended the tournament with a .500 batting average. Lorenz had the Gators first extra base hit when she laced a 3-run double into right field on Sunday against Virginia Tech. The freshman left fielder ended the tournament with five hits, nine runs scored and five RBI’s.
Sophmore Janell Wheaton had a great weekend in her own right, as she had one home run and leads the team with nine RBI’s. Wheaton batted .500 this weekend while playing first base, designate hitter and even catcher at different times this weekend.
New cleanup hitter Taylore Fuller stepped right into the role and hit .571 this weekend, while drawing five walks and getting hit three times. Fuller leads the team with a .800 on base percentage and she drove in three runs.
Pitching:
Tim Walton and Florida Gators softball pitching coach Jennifer Rocha threw all three of the Gators pitchers this weekend. Junior Delanie Gourley got the opening night start and finished the weekend with a 2-0 record. Maybe the most impressive moment of the weekend was when Gourley replaced Kelly Barnhill on Sunday against USF. Gourley inherited a bases loaded jam with no outs and a hitter with a 2-0 count on her. The left-handed hurler was able to work out of the jam without giving up a run. Gourley finished the weekend with a 0.00 ERA and 12 strikeouts in eight innings pitched.
Gourley was dominate but freshman Kelly Barnhill stole the show this weekend when she made her first career start against No. 2 Michigan on Saturday. The freshman didn’t disappoint her No.1 high school ranking as she shut Michigan out for the win. Barnhill pitched on Sunday but got in a little trouble, but still managed to finish the weekend with a 1-0 record and just a 1.00 ERA while fanning five batters.
Sophomore Aleshia Ocasio has kind of gotten lost in the all of the preseason talk but she was her old self this weekend. Ocasio shut Virginia Tech out and finished with seven strikeouts. Ocasio got in a little trouble late in the game but was able to work herself out of trouble with multiple strikeouts.
Player of the week:
Sophomore Janell Wheaton who leads the team with nine RBI’s and 10 total bases. Wheaton hit .500 and had one home run last weekend as well.
This week’s schedule:
Wednesday at home against Jacksonville, doubleheader starting at 5 P.M
This weekend the Gators play in the Diamond 9 tournament in Orlando, Florida.
Friday against UAB starting at 3:30 P.M
Friday against Stephen F. Austin starting at 5:45 P.M
Saturday against Omaha starting at 1:15 P.M
Saturday against Elon starting at 3:30 P.M
Sunday against Jacksonville State starting at 12:15 P.M