With one swing of the bat, Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium fell into a stunned silence.
Florida’s normally frenzied fans gazed in disbelief as Florida International first baseman Kasandra Castle pummeled a two-run homer to right field, giving the Panthers a three-run lead in the first.
Castle’s shrieks of delight filled the dead air as she greeted her teammates at home plate.
It was a tale of two games on Wednesday night, as the No. 4 Gators (28-4) split a doubleheader with FIU (16-19) by respective scores of 9-0 and 5-0.
The night began with a no-hitter from Florida pitcher Aleshia Ocasio as well as nine runs crossing the plate for UF’s offense.
In the second contest, the Gators’ pitching staff gave up five runs on nine hits while their offense was shut out for the first time in 2018.
The difference was the Panthers’ pitching.
The first matchup featured Allison Muraskin, a freshman making her first collegiate start.
The game that followed saw FIU ace Shannon Saile — who came into Wednesday tied for fifth in the nation in strikeouts (159) — enter the circle.
“That’s a postseason type of pitcher,” UF coach Tim Walton said of Saile.
Saile struck out nine batters and only gave up three hits in a seven-inning complete game against the Gators.
In the home-half of the first, UF left fielder Amanda Lorenz doubled off the right field wall in the leadoff spot, notching the sixth straight leadoff at-bat where she reached base safely.
However, Saile retired the next nine out of 10 batters she faced, keeping UF from threatening FIU’s lead.
And in the top of the second, the Panthers extended the gap. With runners on first and second, center fielder Jackie Schoff squeezed a line drive down the left-field line that trickled into the corner. Schoff’s double allowed both runners to score and put FIU up 5-0.
The visitors solidified their victory with a couple of defensive web gems.
After a one-out walk in the bottom of the fifth by Lorenz, UF third baseman Nicole DeWitt shot a line drive toward right field, but second baseman Venessa Gallegos extended out her body to make a leaping catch. Gallegos then fired to first to get Lorenz in time for inning-ending double play.
On the other side of the diamond in the bottom of the sixth, FIU third baseman Tori Jones stole an out in foul territory. Jones caught a foul pop-up while simultaneously jumping down the stairs of UF’s dugout.
Florida was far more fortunate in Game 1 as Ocasio threw her second career no-hitter, the team’s seventh of the season.
The senior from St. Cloud, Florida, threw a near perfect outing, striking out six in five no-hit innings. Her only blemish came with one out in the fifth inning when she walked FIU catcher AnnMarie Cooker.
Ocasio kept the Panthers off the bases by keeping the ball out of the air. She forced seven ground balls and only two fly outs, one of which came in foul territory.
Meanwhile, Lorenz set the pace for the Gators at the plate. The junior sparked the offense in the bottom of the first and third by taking leadoff walks and came around to score the only runs of both innings.
She and Ocasio also contributed to a seven-run fourth inning. The Gators batted around the order, registering RBIs from Lorenz, DeWitt, Ocasio and freshmen Jordan Matthews and Danielle Romanello.
“I’m really excited with the no-hitter. I think it’s pretty cool,” Ocasio said. “But all-in-all, we’re just going to have to do better next time. We just couldn’t bounce back, but we’re going to get better.”
Follow Mark Stine on Twitter @mstinejr and contact him at mstine@alligator.org.
Senior Aleshia Ocasio tossed her second career no-hitter Wednesday night against FIU.
