Gourley is perfect in Florida Gators softball win

Special report on Florida Gators softball:

FULLERTON, Calif. – Senior Delanie Gourley stole the show in the opening game of the Judi Garman Classic at the Anderson Family Field on the campus of Cal State Fullerton Thursday, March 2. The Lakeside, Calif. native threw just 62 pitches and struck out 12 Hawkeyes in the 8-0 victory over Iowa.

Gourley faced the minimum of 15 batters in the run-rule effort to improve to 7-1 on the season. Only a trio of Hawkeyes were able to connect and put the ball into fair territory for the Gators (16-1) defense, none of which was threatening enough to cause concern.

In the top of the second inning, Iowa catcher Brooke Rozier was the first to put the ball into play after four straight strikeouts from Gourley. Rozier sent a high popup to second baseman Nicole DeWitt, which was easily handled despite the suns position in the sky for a noontime contest.

Freshman third baseman Jaimie Hoover made the second defensive stop of the contest on a grounder looking for the 5-6 hole from Cheyenne Pratt while DeWitt handled the 4-3 putout in the fourth for the other two.

Offensively, the Gators were efficient on the bases as the team left only five stranded while scoring eight runs on just seven hits.

Hoover led the charge, as she was one of three Gators to go 2-for-2 at the plate but led the team with a trio of RBIs. Hoover drove in runs via a bases loaded hit-by-pitch in the first, a single up the middle in the second and an infield base hit to the shortstop in the fourth.

Catcher Janell Wheaton and Amanda Lorenz were the other two Gators to go perfect at the plate in the first game. Wheaton also accounted for seven putouts while freshman Jordan Roberts tallied five after catching the final two innings of play.

Florida returns to action in the Judi Garman Classic against Long Beach State at 8:30 p.m. EST. Fans can listen live on WGGG (92.1 FM/1230 AM) & WMOP (100.1 FM/900 AM) or watch the live web stream provided by FloSoftball.com.

Notables:

  • Today’s perfect game against Iowa was the first for Gourley in her career.
    • It was the first perfect game by the Gators since Stephanie Brombacher achieved the feat against N.C. State on Feb. 12, 2011.
    • It’s only the sixth overall perfect game in program history and Gourley is now the fourth individual to throw a perfect game for the Gators.
      • Chelsey Sakizzie | Bethune-Cookman (4/5/97) & Iowa State (3/7/98)
      • Jenny Gladding | Missouri (2/7/04)
      • Stephanie Brombacher | USF (3/25/10) & N.C. State (2/12/11)
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.