Special to GC
Tampa, Fla. - The University of Florida softball team completed a sweep of its five games at the USF Softball Classic with wins on Sunday against Jacksonville University and USF. Florida run-ruled the Dolphins 9-0 (5 innings) in the opener before overcoming a two-run deficit in the seventh inning to beat the Bulls 10-5. Senior Lauren Haeger (2-0) one-hit JU in the opening game, facing one batter over the minimum and allowing no walks while striking out seven. In the nightcap, freshman Aleshia Ocasio worked 4.2 innings in relief of Delanie Gourley, surrendering just one unearned run and keeping the Orange and Blue within striking distance to pull off their last-inning comeback. No. 1 Florida (5-0) had two baserunners in the top of the first against JU as Kelsey Stewart singled and Haeger walked, but both Gators were stranded. The Dolphins had a leadoff single in the home half, but UF forced the runner out at second before turning an inning-ending double play. The Orange and Blue opened up a four-run lead in the second. After Nicole DeWitt drew a leadoff walk and moved up one base on a foulout, Taylor Schwarz walked before Stewart doubled to center to score DeWitt. That set the table for Kirsti Merritt, who launched a three-run home run to center field to give Florida a 4-0 advantage. JU had a baserunner on a one-out error in the home half, but Haeger stranded her with at first, recording two strikeouts in the frame. Kayli Kvistad drew a leadoff walk in the third, setting up a two-run home run to center off the bat of Bailey Castro that raised UF's lead to six. DeWitt walked again following the homer, and she came around to score three batters later on Schwarz' double to right. Armed with a seven-run lead, Haeger struck out the side in the bottom of the inning. Merritt led off the fourth with her second home run of the game down the left-field line. Florida had two more baserunners in the inning on a walk and an infield single, but both were stranded. The Gators' senior right-hander set the Dolphins down in order in the home half. Pinch-hitter Aleshia Ocasio roped a leadoff triple to right to start the fifth, and she scored two batters later on an infield single by Justine McLean, who came in during the previous inning as a defensive replacement for Merritt. Haeger retired the Dolphins 1-2-3 in the home half to seal Florida's 9-0 win. The Orange and Blue left two runners on base in each of the first two innings of Game 2, while Delanie Gourley had a perfect first. The southpaw got some help in the second when Aubree Munro threw out one runner before Gourley stranded another to keep the game scoreless. UF loaded the bases in the third on a walk, single and hit-by-pitch, and Taylore Fuller got the Gators on the board with a sacrifice fly to center to score Merritt. The Bulls also put three runners on, scoring their first run on a walk and adding a second on a Florida throwing error following a pitching change that saw Ocasio relieve Gourley. USF's momentum continued with a two-run single through the middle as the Bulls extended their lead to 4-1 after three innings. Schwarz hit a leadoff home run to left-center in the fourth, cutting Florida's deficit to two. Ocasio retired the Bulls in order in the bottom half. Fuller was hit by a pitch in the fifth, but she was stranded at second. USF had a leadoff bunt single to start its half of the inning, but the Gators' freshman hurler induced two groundouts and got a strikeout to keep the Bulls off the board in the frame. Florida had two runners on with two outs in the sixth after Stewart singled and Merritt walked, but USF forced a groundout to end the inning. The Bulls had a leadoff single through the right side in their half before Ocasio retired the side with a sacrifice and two strikeouts. After a leadoff walk to Castro to start the seventh, Fuller crushed a game-tying home run to straightaway center that knotted the score at four. A hit batter and two walks loaded the bases before Kathlyn Medina's bunt single scored a run when the Bulls' catcher dropped the throw. Stewart reached on an error, allowing two more runs to score and giving Florida a 7-4 lead. During the next at-bat, Merritt launched a three-run home run to left-center to run the Gator lead to six. Following a single and two fielder's choices, USF cut the Florida lead to five with an RBI double to left. But the Gators allowed USF to get no closer as Ocasio got Out No. 21 on a strikeout. NOTABLES * Florida improved to 13-0 all-time against Jacksonville, including 10-0 under Tim Walton. * The Gators raised their all-time record against USF to 40-13, with a 19-2 mark during Walton's tenure. * The Orange and Blue now are 24-1 since the 2010 season when playing in Tampa/Clearwater on the opening weekend. * UF outscored its five Tampa opponents 46-6. * Florida pitchers gave up no earned runs during the weekend. * Haeger's one-hitter against JU was the 17th in Florida history. * Merritt has four multi-homer games since the start of 2014, which leads the team during that span. * Castro's first home run of the season came in Florida's fifth game; last season, she hit her first homer in her 19th appearance. * The senior's blast was her second career home run against the Dolphins (last: Feb. 13, 2013, at JU). * Becca Shipper and Megan Reed both pinch-hit in the 5th against JU, logging their first career at-bats. WALTON'S WORDS On Kirsti Merritt's production at the plate with three home runs on the day: "Today, she had good counts to hit with in a lot of cases. Overall, I think she swung at better pitches today than she did yesterday and maybe even on Friday." On the poise of Aleshia Ocasio to pitch well in relief: "We hadn't had her in that kind of moment before, so it was nice for her to be able to come in. I thought she pitched well. We made a couple nice plays that we weren't able to finish. But overall it was good to see her in that kind of position." On the team's mindset that allows the Gators to overcome late deficits: "They've been doing that since I've been here. It's just what we do. It goes to the mentality of what we do in offseason training. If there are any outs left in the game, we're going to fight to the end. It doesn't matter the score or the situation. We've just got to get runners on base and get to the next batter. That's a mentality - it's something we have to practice. It's not something you can wake up and decide you're going to do. It's something that we train hard at, to be tough outs [and] tough competitors. You've got to get us out 21 times to win the game." - Florida Head Coach Tim Walton UP NEXT Florida will travel to Jacksonville on Wednesday to face the Dolphins for the second time in three games. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. ET. WGGG (1230-AM)<http://www.floridasportstalk.fm/> will have the radio broadcast, with Corey Brooks and former Gator All-American Megan Bush on the call. In addition, a live stats link can be found on the schedule page<http://www.gatorzone.com/schedule.php?sport=softb> on GatorZone.com.