Special report on the Florida Gators softball team:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Amanda Lorenz belted a pair of home runs and drew a bases loaded walk, which helped propel the University of Florida softball team to a 5-1 victory over North Florida Wednesday, April 5 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
The Gators (34-2, 10-1 SEC) struck first when Lorenz sent the second pitch from Osprey hurler Amanda Blanchard (4-3) over the center field wall. Jaimie Hoover capped off the scoring in the bottom of the first inning with her second SAC fly of the season, which scored junior Nicole DeWitt who reached on an error by Jenna Brownell on a ground ball at third base.
In her second opportunity at the plate, Lorenz extended Florida’s lead out to 4-0 with one swing of the bat. The Moorpark, Calif. native crushed her second home run of the game and team-leading seventh of the season on a 2-1 pitch from Blanchard. Sophia Reynoso scored on the play as she reached earlier in the inning after being hit by the 2-2 pitch from the Osprey hurler.
With the opportunity to swing for the fences as the bases were loaded in the third inning, Lorenz showed her patience at the plate. She worked a full-count walk to plate the Gators last run of the contest, which extended the lead out to 5-0. Lorenz finished the night responsible for four of the five runs driven in by the Gators.
Junior Aleshia Ocasio (7-0) received the start in the circle for Florida and pitched effectively for the complete-game victory. Ocasio was efficient as she threw just 69 pitches, 50 for strikes, on the night and scattered five North Florida hits.
Two of those hits came in the fifth inning when North Florida scored their lone run of the contest on a double Mary Rodriguez drove in Ashley Niesman on a double down the left line.
Next up for the Gators is an SEC showdown against No. 19 Georgia. The three-game series is scheduled to start April 8, at 4 p.m. inside Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
Coaches Corner
On the defensive performance today versus North Florida…
“We take a lot of pride in our defense, fielding ground balls and our ability to limit our opponents from having extra outs in innings. I thought we did a good job of making the routine plays look pretty routine today.” – Tim Walton
Notables
- Amanda Lorenz extended her reached base streak out to 36 games with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning.
o The last Gator record a similar reached base streak in a single season was Kelsey Stewart in 2014.
o Lorenz’s two home runs is also the first time a Florida player has two home runs in the same game since Kayli Kvistad against Mississippi State April 22, 2016.
- On National Walking Day, Kayli Kvistad drew a pair of walks.
o Kvistad leads the nation in walks and entered today’s contest with a 1.23 walks per game average and has 45 on the season.
- Florida has only allowed one run or less in 29 of the 36 games played this season.