In the bottom of the first inning in the second game of No. 1 Florida’s doubleheader against No. 5 Louisiana-Lafayette, cleanup hitter Kayli Kvistad walked into the batter’s box with two runners on base.
With the Gators already up 1-0, the sophomore jumped on a pitch, ripping it down the right-field line.
But Kvistad swung just a hair early and hit the ball foul by only a few feet.
She wouldn’t make that mistake again.
On the very next pitch, Kvistad crushed a three-run home run to right-center field that put the Gators up for good.
Behind a strong offensive outburst, Florida (40-3) swept Louisiana-Lafayette (32-5) on Saturday, taking the games by scores of 5-1 and 14-1.
“We haven’t had a performance like that this season where we’ve been able to maintain it and finally finish it off,” coach Tim Walton said.
“We can’t get complacent.”
Kvistad’s home run was just the tip of the iceberg of UF’s offensive outburst. She went 4-for-6 and drove in seven, raising her team-leading totals in home runs (nine) and RBIs (48).
The offense struck early and often with contributors throughout the lineup.
Florida sent 11 batters to the plate in the first inning and also batted around in the third.
“Trying to get on the board early is what we really worked on today,” Kvistad said.
“It’s just great seeing everyone succeed and everyone coming together offensively,”
The 14 runs scored in the second game marks a season high.
Florida’s five home runs on the afternoon proved to be plenty of run support for pitchers Delanie Gourley and Aleshia Ocasio.
The pair only allowed two runs over twelve combined innings while relinquishing seven hits.
Both rarely got into trouble. But when they did, the damage was minimal.
Gourley was particularly overpowering in Game 1.
She tied a career-high with 13 strikeouts while improving to 12-2 on the season.
“All my pitches were working,” Gourley said. “I was feeling really good. I didn’t even know I hit my career high until after the game, so pretty exciting.”
The series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. A live stream can be viewed on SECNetwork+.
Contact Brian Lee at blee@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @brianlee_17
Kayli Kvistad follows through on a swing during Florida's doubleheader sweep against Jacksonville on Feb. 17, 2016, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
