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Thursday, March 28, 2024

UF sweeps No. 23 Kentucky in conference-opening series

<p>Left fielder Amanda Lorenz tied up the score in the bottom of the fifth inning with a 3-RBI triple in Florida's 5-3 victory over LSU.</p>

Left fielder Amanda Lorenz tied up the score in the bottom of the fifth inning with a 3-RBI triple in Florida's 5-3 victory over LSU.

The UF softball team took the field on Sunday without one of its senior leaders and the walk-off hero from Saturday night’s thriller against Kentucky.

First baseman Kayli Kvistad sat out with the flu as normal catcher Janell Wheaton filled in and marshaled the Gators’ defense behind ace Kelly Barnhill, who pitched in her second outing of the weekend after no-hitting the Wildcats Friday night.

“They were just working really hard behind me today,” Barnhill said. “(Kentucky) did a really good job making adjustments from Friday, they put the bunts down, but it didn’t end up hurting us in the end.”

No. 2 Florida (22-1, 3-0 SEC) completed the sweep of the No. 23 Wildcats (15-6, 0-3 SEC) in the weekend series and took a 4-0 victory at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.

The junior came back with another complete-game shutout. She captured her 11th win of the year and struck out nine, allowing only five base runners all afternoon.

Stellar defense behind Barnhill (11-0) kept Kentucky off the scoreboard when it got players on.

Left fielder Amanda Lorenz ran down a fly ball in foul territory in the second inning. She kept the ball from sailing over the wall and stole an out for her pitcher.

“It was really cool to see that hard work paying off because we work on that all the time (in practice),” Lorenz said. “I think that was more exciting for me than any home run I’ve hit.”

After Barnhill gave up her only walk of the day with one out in the top of the fifth, catcher Jordan Roberts caught UK’s Lauren Johnson stealing to clear up the bases.

With one out and a runner on first in the sixth, it appeared Kentucky second baseman Alex Martens had a hit up the middle. But UF shortstop Sophia Reynoso came out of nowhere to scoop up the ball, step on second and fire to Wheaton at first for an outstanding double play.

UF faced off with Kentucky pitcher Autumn Humes for the second time in the three-game series as well, and for the second time, the Gators jumped on Humes early.

Second baseman Hannah Adams led off the game with a walk, her seventh leadoff base on balls this season. Third baseman Nicole DeWitt followed with a sacrifice bunt to advance the freshman to second and put her in scoring position. With two outs, cleanup hitter Jordan Matthews dropped a blooper just inside the left-field line. Adams scored from second and gave the Gators a first-inning lead for the 16th game this season.

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Florida zeroed in on Humes again in the bottom of the third.

Adams and center fielder Alex Voss started the frame with back-to-back strikeouts, but DeWitt sparked a Gator attack with a double to center field that just caught the top of the wall.

Then, Lorenz launched a 2-1 pitch to the opposite field, knocking the bright yellow ball off the top of the scoreboard in left-center field and rounding the bases to give UF a three-run lead.

Reynoso also contributed offensively in the bottom of the inning with runners on the corners.

With one out and a 2-2 count, she laid down a sacrifice squeeze bunt, scoring pinch runner Haven Sampson and capping off the contest.

“Just getting another win in the SEC is a big deal. Just getting a sweep in this league is hard to do,” Lorenz said. “We’re just excited about that, going to carry the momentum in practice and focus on the next game coming up.”

Follow Mark Stine on Twitter @mstinejr and contact him at mstine@alligator.org.

Left fielder Amanda Lorenz tied up the score in the bottom of the fifth inning with a 3-RBI triple in Florida's 5-3 victory over LSU.

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