Florida’s lone home tournament of the season was cut short.
All the games slated for Day 3 of the Lipton Invitational were canceled due to rain.
Through the first two days at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium, No. 1 Florida (16-0) played two games against Troy and Indiana, winning all four by a combined score of 26-3.
The Gators found the majority of their success in the pitcher’s circle, giving up only 10 hits through the four games while striking out a combined 27 batters.
“The main thing you have to do is make sure you’re giving everybody enough innings to keep them sharp,” coach Tim Walton said. “The rotation has been good. We’re not over-pitching anybody. We’re giving everybody an opportunity to throw complete games, but what (Lauren) Haeger and Hannah (Rogers) and Delanie (Gourley) have been doing is fantastic. They’re really using their defense and getting strikeouts when they need to.”
Rogers pitched two shutouts in the tournament, including her third career solo no-hitter in the Gators’ 8-0 five-inning win against the Hoosiers on Saturday, improving her record to 6-0.
In her home debut, Gourley continued the success she showed in her first four starts. In Florida’s 3-1 win against Indiana on Friday, the freshman left-handed pitcher gave up only four hits while striking out a career-high nine batters. On the season, Gourley has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.44:1 and is holding batters to a .196 clip through her first five games.
“Delanie made pitches when she had to,” Walton said. “Other than a couple of the infield hits, I thought she really pitched well and was ahead a lot. She was ahead in her pitch counts a lot. She showed some good composure and she probably didn’t realize that the winning run was sitting at home plates three times in a row.”
In her lone game in the circle, Haeger was perfect through 6.2 innings. In Florida’s 12-2 win against Troy on Saturday, the junior right-handed pitcher had four strikeouts and did not allow a single batter to reach base with one out to go. Haeger ended the game by giving up two hits — including a two-run homer by Troy’s Michelle Phelps — before ending the game.
Haeger holds team-best marks among starting pitchers in ERA (1.03) and opponent’s batting average (.100).
While the Gators were successful in the circle throughout the Lipton Invitational, the team had mixed results at the plate. On Friday, Florida was limited to a .217 clip after logging only 10 hits and striking out eight times.
“I wasn’t too pleased with how we swung the bat,“ Walton said. “But then again, I think I’m going to have to give a little credit to the way Troy pitched and the way Indiana pitched.
“Both pitchers were hitting their spots and weren’t giving in to our hitters.”
But after the poor performance on Friday, Florida made a fast turnaround in its rematches against Troy and Indiana on Saturday, registering 23 hits and 20 runs during the two games.
Sophomore Kelsey Stewart was the lone Florida batter to log a hit in all four contests. The second baseman managed eight hits, seven runs and four RBIs during the tournament.
The Wichita, Kan., native leads the team with 21 runs scored — one run fewer than all of Florida’s opponents this season — and is tied with Haeger with a team-leading 18 RBIs.
Stewart is also third on the team with a .393 batting average, behind only sophomore Aubree Munro (.395) and freshman Justine McLean (.412).
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Hannah Rogers pitches during Florida’s 8-0 win against Indiana on Feb. 21 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
