Chelsea Herndon doesn’t get much playing time.
The Carrolton, Texas, native is hitting just .156 in 32 at-bats this season.
Other than the occasional outfield start or pinch-running appearance, the junior has been mostly relegated to the bench — a utility player on the nation’s top-ranked team.
So when Herndon gets playing time, she has to make the most of the opportunity.
She did just that on Saturday.
With the Gators up 6-3 in the top of the seventh against Texas A&M, Herndon pinch hit for Aleshia Ocasio.
She didn’t take long to make an impact.
On the first pitch of the at-bat, Herndon crushed a home run to left-center, the fourth of her career and first since a walk-off against Baylor on May 29, 2014.
Behind Ocasio’s complete game, home runs from Chelsea Herndon and Nicole DeWitt and 2-RBIs each from Kirsti Merritt an Kayli Kvistad, No. 1 Florida (47-3, 17-3 Southeastern Conference) defeated No. 18 Texas A&M (34-16, 6-14 SEC) by a score of 7-3 on Saturday afternoon in College Station.
“If you asked the majority of our players on our team who they would want to come off the bench and hit in a myriad of situations, it would be Chelsea. I think she’s got the right kind of demeanor and the right kind of approach,” coach Tim Walton said in a release.
“That’s a cool feeling and for her to do that in her home state was special.”
With the victory, Florida has now won every series but one against conference opponents, losing only to Alabama.
Despite the win, Florida struggled to hit effectively with runners in scoring position, stranding 10 runners.
“We had a lot of chances to score some runs,” Walton said.
“We weren’t able to take advantage of some opportunities early in the game, but late in the game we finally had some good pieces of hitting and were able to spray the ball all around. We had some great at bats from Amanda Lorenz, Kayli Kvistad and Nicole DeWitt.”
Florida will go for the sweep tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.
The game can be seen on the SEC Network +.
Contact Brian Lee at blee@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @brianlee_17
Chelsea Herndon swings during Florida’s 8-0 win against Indiana on Feb. 22 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
