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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Lauren Haeger handed first loss as Florida softball gets knocked out of SEC Tournament

<p>UF's Lauren Haeger pitches during Florida's 5-0 win against Florida State on April 22, 2015, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.</p>

UF's Lauren Haeger pitches during Florida's 5-0 win against Florida State on April 22, 2015, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.

Lauren Haeger’s perfect season in the circle is over.

Haeger came into Friday’s Southeastern Conference tournament semifinal game against Tennessee unblemished with a 24-0 record.

But the senior was handed her first loss of the year as the No. 11 Volunteers (42-14) upset the No. 2 Gators (50-6) 2-1 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, knocking Florida out of the SEC tournament.

Florida was the one seed, while Tennessee was the five seed in the tournament.

The Volunteers opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the fourth inning when Scarlet McSwain flared an RBI single to left field and Tory Lewis squibbed an RBI single through the left side.

The two runs were the only runs Haeger allowed, but they were costly. Haeger struck out six through five innings as she dropped to 24-1 on the season.

In the sixth, Taylore Fuller cut Tennessee’s lead to 2-1 with a solo home run to center. The junior finished the game 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.

Prior to Fuller’s homer, Haeger hit a ground ball to the third baseman and was called out on a close play at first base. If she were ruled safe, Fuller’s homer might’ve been a two-run shot to tie the game.

Regardless, the Gators struggled all game long at the plate, recording just three hits off Tennessee pitcher Erin Gabriel.

Florida’s leading hitter and SEC Player of the Year Kelsey Stewart went 0-for-4 in the loss. Haeger, UF’s RBI leader went 0-for-3 and left five runners on base.

“I felt like today we were taking some pretty decent pitches and swinging at bad pitches,” coach Tim Walton said in a release. “We’ve got to be better at that.”

In the seventh inning, Rainey Gaffin replaced Gabriel in the circle. Gaffin retired the Gators in order in their final inning to seal the Volunteer win.

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Tennessee advances to the SEC tournament championship game against Auburn on Saturday.

Florida will head home and prepare for NCAA regionals, which will take place on May 14-17. The Gators will learn their seed and matchups Sunday at 10 p.m. ET.

Follow Patrick Pinak on Twitter @Pinakk12 

UF's Lauren Haeger pitches during Florida's 5-0 win against Florida State on April 22, 2015, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.

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