Gainesville, Fla. - The No. 1-ranked University of Florida softball team ran its season-opening win streak to 11 with a doubleheader sweep on Sunday. The Gators shut out Iowa, 8-0 (5 innings) in Game 1 before blanking NC State 3-0 in the second contest. After Delanie Gourley got all three outs in the top of the first via strikeout, Bailey Castro singled through the right side with one out in the home half to score Kirsti Merritt for the game's first run. After the Gators loaded the bases, Nicole DeWitt was hit by a pitch and Taylor Schwarz singled to right-center to raise the UF lead to three. Florida's southpaw racked up three more strikeouts in the second, stranding two runners following a hit and an error. Taylore Fuller boosted the UF lead to 4-0 with a home run to left to lead off the third. After DeWitt singled, the Gators manufactured a fifth run on a two-base sacrifice by Schwarz and a bunt base hit by Kathlyn Medina. A bases-loaded walk to Lauren Haeger scored Medina later in the inning. Fuller was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the fourth, moving up on a groundout and a passed ball before scoring on a wild pitch to make the lead 7-0. In the following inning, Stewart had a one-out single before coming home on a game-winning base hit by Haeger to secure the 8-0 victory. DeWitt had a one-out triple and Merritt was hit by a pitch in the first inning of Game 2, and both came home when Haeger lined a two-run single through the left side. NC State threatened to tie the game in the fourth with runners at second and third following a two-out double, but Florida's senior right-hander got a strikeout to pitch her way out of the jam. The Gators loaded the bases in their half of the fourth on a single by Haeger and walks to Castro and Kayli Kvistad. Aubree Munro then was hit by a pitch to force in a run and make the score 3-0. That was more than enough support for Haeger (5-0), who shut down a potent NC State offense to keep herself and her team perfect on the season. STARS OF THE GAMES * Lauren Haeger: The senior had two hits and two RBI against Iowa, and drove in the Gators' first runs of the NC State game. She also pitched a shutout against the Wolfpack, extending her scoreless streak to 23.0 innings. * Delanie Gourley: The southpaw pitched a three-hit shutout against the Hawkeyes, walking one batter and striking out eight. The sophomore lowered her season ERA to 0.28 * Taylore Fuller: The junior homered against Iowa and reached base two other times via hit-by-pitch, scoring twice during the contest. NOTABLES * During the three games against NC State, Florida pitchers recorded at least two strikeouts in 13 of 21 innings. Against the Wolfpack, the Gators had only two frames against NC State without a K. * In total, UF hurlers struck out 36 hitters (Ocasio - 15, Gourley - 11, Haeger - 10). * Gourley recorded 33 outs during the weekend, of which 19 were strikeouts. * Florida's leadoff batter reached base for 12 consecutive innings from the third inning of Saturday's NC State game through the second inning of Sunday's Iowa game. * The 5-3 double play that Iowa turned to end the second inning marked the first double play turned against the Gators this season. * The Gators were hit by nine pitches on Sunday and 14 during the weekend (Merritt 4, Fuller 2, Castro 2, DeWitt, Herndon, Merritt, Munro, Schwarz, Stewart). Nine different UF players "took one for the team." * Haeger logged her first stolen base of the season in the first inning of the NC State game. The senior now has 11 steals in her career compared to two times caught stealing. * In the three games against NC State, the Wolfpack put just one ball in play over the first two innings of any game. NC State had a fielder's choice on Friday night against Aleshia Ocasio. The 18 outs over those six frames came on 16 strikeouts, one caught-stealing and the aforementioned fielder's choice. WALTON'S WORDS On the versatility of Florida's lineup: "That's the goal when you put together an offense. You want to be able to score and be multidimensional. [You want to] be able to bunt, be able to steal, be able to hit home runs, be able to run [from] first to third and second to home. You take what the other team gives you. We showed a lot of that - not only the versatility, but the toughness and the dynamics to be able to do what we need to do to get on base." On what the Gators are able to do with their lineup when Haeger is in the circle: "We can put together a very dynamic offense when she pitches. That was a nice key. I think it was the first time Aubree's really caught Lauren. I thought the two of them worked well today." On seeing four different opponents next weekend during the Aquafina Invitational: "I want to go back and look at some film and evaluate where we're at and what we need to improve on. Are there any [personnel] changes we need to make? Are we missing anything? That's going to be the key for me - to go back and look at who we are and who we strive to be. As a staff, [we will] try to figure out what are we missing and what can we do better to improve moving forward?" - Florida Head Coach Tim Walton FLORIDA PLAYER QUOTES Junior Utility Player Taylore Fuller On her approach during the at-bat when she hit her home run: "Just staying simple. We've been working really hard on controlling my bat-head, so I've been really trying to do that and drive the ball up the middle." On playing third base this year: "It's definitely different, but it's pretty easy when you have [coaches] supporting you and helping you. So, [playing third is] different for me, but [it's been] a very easy transition." Sophomore Pitcher Delanie Gourley On Florida's performance in the circle this weekend: "We had a great weekend as a pitching staff. I mean, I'm not surprised. We work really hard every day, and I think it was a great weekend to come out and show what we have." On playing at home: "It's so great. Our fans are awesome, and the atmosphere is so fun when you're at home." Senior Pitcher/First Base Lauren Haeger On UF's pitching during the past three days: "I think it was really good. Aleshia [Ocasio] came out and set the tone for us right away for the weekend. She had a great game on Friday and Delanie [Gourley] came out and had a great seven innings. I think it just really set the tone for the hitters and they knew we were going to shut them down." On preparation for shutting down the hitters: "We've been working really hard on making good pitches, quality pitches. No matter what the [strike] zone is, no matter who's batting. Every pitch is quality, and that's always been an emphasis for us. We've just been hitting our spots really well." UP NEXT Florida will host the Aquafina Invitational next weekend at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. The tournament begins Friday, when the Gators will meet Kansas at 4 p.m. ET and Liberty at 6:15. WGGG (1230-AM)<http://www.floridasportstalk.fm/> will have the radio broadcast for both games with Adam Schick (play-by-play) and Megan Bush (analysis) on the call. In addition, live stats links can be found on the schedule page<http://www.gatorzone.com/schedule.php?sport=softb> on GatorZone.com.
