After four innings of no offense for the Auburn Tigers, Kasey Cooper finally made solid contact.
Her line drive flew over the head of Gators first baseman Kayli Kvistad and rolled into right field. The hit gave Auburn some hope, and ended Kelly Barnhill’s bid at a no-hitter.
Barnhill responded accordingly, retiring the next three batters and earning her seventh and eighth strikeouts en route to a season-high 16 strikeout night.
“I didn’t even know it was 16 until someone told me earlier,” Barnhill said. “I just try to go batter by batter. It’s awesome that it was 16. Strikeouts are fun.”
The No. 2 Gators rode Barnhill’s hot arm and spurts of offense to take Game 2 of a three-game series against No. 4 Auburn by a score of 7-0.
Barnhill retired 21 of the 25 batters she faced.
The sophomore’s strong performance was her seventh double-digit strikeout outing on the season. Despite owning an ERA of 0.23, good for second lowest in the nation, Barnhill was able to improve on that mark.
“At about the third inning I said, ‘Man, I’m glad she’s on our team today,’” Florida coach Tim Walton said. “When she’s pounding the zone like she was today, it’s pretty fun to go out there.”
Chelsea Herndon got the scoring going early in the game for Florida. In the second inning, the senior knocked a roller into center field that brought home Aleshia Ocasio and opened the scoring.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Herndon utilized her bat a bit differently, hitting a ball high to left field and bringing home Ocasio yet again. The sacrifice gave the Gators a 2-0 lead.
Consistently solid pitching from Barnhill throughout the first five innings put Florida in the driver’s seat offensively.
Sophomore Tigers pitcher Makayla Martin couldn’t find an answer for Florida’s offense in the bottom of the fifth. The Gators ripped off five runs in the inning.
Herndon proved to be resourceful again, bunting a ball that brought home Jaimie Hoover. After some miscommunication on the throw for Auburn, Ocasio ran for the plate a third time, this time crashing into the home plate umpire and touching the plate just in time to expand UF's lead for the final time.
“I just really tried to stay focused,” Herndon said. “Not mess up in my head too much or think too much. If I saw a good pitch, just take a hack at it.”
With the win, Florida has won 21 games in a row and shut out 20 opponents on the year.
The Gators also won their second straight against the Tigers after losing their previous two last season by a combined score of 7-5.
Barnhill moved to a perfect 11-0 on the season and has only lost one start of her 27 career games.
“That’s one of the best performances I’ve seen,” Walton said. “Especially when you look at the caliber of team she faced. To be able to neutralize their bats says a lot about her stuff today.”
This match clinches the series for Florida, but the Tigers will seek revenge to close out the series tonight at 7 in Gainesville.
Contact Skyler Lebron at Slebron@alligator.org or follow him on Twitter @SkylerLebron.
Kelly Barnhill pitches during the second game of UF's doubleheader sweep of Jacksonville on Feb. 27, 2016, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
