Florida Gators softball defeats Texas A&M

Special report on the Florida Gators softball team:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida softball team opened the series against Texas A&M with a 6-1 victory at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium Saturday evening. Kelly Barnhill was electric once again as she limited a potent Aggies offense to just one run on two hits.

Fort the seventh time this season, Barnhill registered more than 10 strikeouts as she handed the Aggies (29-5, 3-1 SEC) their season-high with 12 on the day.

The Gators (25-3, 5-2 SEC) opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when freshman Jordan Matthews drove home Amanda Lorenz and Nicole DeWitt on a single up the middle. Lorenz and DeWitt registered back-to-back singles to start the game and advanced into scoring position on Kayli Kvistad’s groundout to the left side of the Aggies defense.

Senior Janell Wheaton capped the scoring in the first with her second home run of the season to extend the lead out to 4-0.

Florida looked poised to score again in the bottom of the third after reaching on back-to-back walks, but Texas A&M foiled the plans. Aleshia Ocasio ripped the ball right to Tori Vidales at first base, she then stepped on the bag and fired to second to complete the triple play.

The Gators offense struck again in the fourth thanks to an RBI double from pinch hitter Jaimie Hoover. Hoover plated Hannah Adams who reached earlier in the frame with a leadoff single to right field.

Lorenz extended the Florida lead out to 6-0 with a single through the left side that scored Hoover.

Barnhill (13-1) worked 4.1 innings before she gave up her first hit of the game in the top of the fifth inning. Despite the one out hit from Payton McBride, Barnhill bounced back to close out the frame with back-to-back strikeouts.

The Aggies foiled the Gators shutout attempt in the top of the seventh after a solo home run by Sarah Hudek that narrowed the lead down to 6-1. Barnhill went on to close out the game with her 11th and 12th strikeouts.

Florida and Texas A&M will return for the second game of the series tomorrow at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

Walton’s Words

On Kelly Barnhill being able to slow down a stout Texas A&M lineup…

“I think that her style of pitching and the way she changes speeds, but then also still locate the rise ball in and out, up and down allows her to be effective. It’s tough for any team to swing off her and I think they obviously saw how hard it was to get on time and square the ball up. Give her a lot of credit, I thought Kelly did a really good job of locating and getting ahead in the count today.”

On the outfielders making strides in their defensive play…

”I think that the greatest part about this game is that you can be really good offensively, you can be really good base running wise, you can be really good at a lot of things, but you can always get better at something. With what coach (Aric) Thomas has done in the outfield and the pride that they are showing, the amount of reps they are getting and the daily routines really has made a difference. I see them out there working and not just working and wasting time, but actually getting better on all of the things you see us do in the game. They are actually practicing that stuff and making quality plays. Amanda Lorenz is having a phenomenal year out in left field and is making outstanding plays left and right every day.”

Notable Notes

· The Gators extended their all-time series lead over the Aggies to 14-4.

· Florida scored in the first inning for the 20th time in 28 games play this season after scoring four.

o It’s also the 19th time this season that the Gators scored four or more runs in a single inning.

· After going 2-for-3 at the plate today, Amanda Lorenz has reached base safely in all 28 games played so far this season.

o Last season Lorenz reached base safely in all but two games.

o Today was her 11th multi-hit game of the year.

· Kelly Barnhill registered 10 or more strikeouts for the seventh time this season.

o She dealt 12 in tonight’s game, which was a season-high for Texas A&M.

o It’s the 10th time this season that Florida has registered 10 or more strikeouts as a team.

· Hannah Adams has now scored in 16 of the last 18 games played.

o She finished 1-for-2 at the plate with a run scored.

· Jordan Matthews tallied her sixth multi-RBI game of the season.

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.