A walk is rarely the most important play of a softball game. But during Saturday’s matchup between Florida and Alabama, bases on balls played a crucial role.
Behind starting pitcher Kelly Barnhill as well as nine walks from UF’s offense, the No. 4 Gators defeated the No. 15 Crimson Tide 6-1 at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
Florida left fielder Amanda Lorenz took four pitches to draw a leadoff walk from Alabama pitcher Alexis Osorio in the top of the first inning.
Lorenz had scored every time this season when she started a game with a walk entering Saturday. That trend continued against the Crimson Tide.
Four at-bats after she took a base on balls, Lorenz stood on third with the bases loaded and second baseman Hannah Adams at the plate. The freshman drove in Lorenz for the first run of the contest.
Then, right fielder Aleshia Ocasio picked up the first of her team-leading three RBIs on the day after she grounded out to Crimson Tide second baseman Demi Turner. Turner tagged Adams as she advanced toward second, but couldn’t flip the ball to first to get Ocasio in-time for a double play, giving UF a 2-0 advantage.
In home half of the first, Barnhill backed the Gators lead by striking out the side. Her day featured seven strikeouts and three hits as well as five walks in two hit batters in a 128-pitch complete game.
However, Alabama (24-10, 5-5 SEC) pulled an unearned run back in the bottom of the second after Barnhill hit leadoff batter Reagan Dykes and walked another with one out. Left fielder Merris Schroder grounded back to Barnhill on the next at-bat, but the junior pitcher made an errant throw to first that allowed Dykes to score from second.
In her next 2.2 innings, Barnhill allowed only one more base runner, setting up the fifth inning for Lorenz and the offense to extend the lead.
In the top of the frame, Lorenz poked a leadoff single to start the inning and was followed by walks from seniors Nicole DeWitt and Kayli Kvistad to load the bases. Designated player Jordan Matthews lined a single into right field to score Lorenz for her 35th RBI of the year. Two batters later, Ocasio hit a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 4-1.
Barnhill walked two and hit a batter to load the bases in the bottom of the fifth but worked her way out of the jam with a two-out fly ball.
The Gators (33-5, 8-2 SEC) iced the game in the seventh inning with another two-run inning.
Ocasio launched a fly ball to right field and converted her second bases-loaded sacrifice fly. Shortstop Sophia Reynoso picked up her 18th RBI of the season on a single to left field.
Barnhill gave up a walk and a double in the bottom of the frame, but she also picked up a strikeout, outing two more batters to finish the game.
The Gators will try and clinch the series in tomorrow’s rematch at 3 p.m. featuring Ocasio in the circle.
Follow Mark Stine on Twitter @mstinejr and contact him at mstine@alligator.org.
Left fielder Amanda Lorenz has come around to score every time she has drawn a leadoff walk to start the game.
