Lauren Haeger had a tough time against Wisconsin in the sixth inning on Sunday.
After striking out seven batters through the first five innings, the junior right-handed pitcher walked three Wisconsin batters after Nyah Rodman reached first base on a fielding error, allowing the Badgers to get their first run of the game.
But Haeger rebounded in the seventh, striking out two of the final three batters en route to her first career solo no-hitter and a 5-1 victory for No. 4 Florida to start its final day in Tampa.
“She was throwing the ball hard, and I thought her location was good,” coach Tim Walton said in a release. “She looked like she was pitching; she didn’t look like she was throwing. … I thought she was probably the better of the four pitchers.”
In the 21st complete game of her career, Haeger tied her career high by notching 11 strikeouts against Wisconsin (2-2). The Peoria, Ariz., native has 18 strikeouts and a 1.08 ERA in 13 innings this season.
Florida followed its victory against Wisconsin by shutting out Bethune-Cookman 8-0 in five innings to cap its sweep at the USF Wilson-DeMarini Tournament.
“I thought that as a team, we played pretty well together,” Walton said. “You really can’t get too overly critical on the first weekend. Six wins was the goal and that’s what we were able to accomplish.”
Freshman Delanie Gourley, making her second career start, held the Wildcats (0-5) to one hit in four innings pitched while striking out five of the 15 batters she faced.
In the three games she played in during the tournament, including Florida’s 9-4 win against No. 5 Michigan in extra innings on Saturday, the left-handed pitcher struck out 12 batters and only walked two on her way to starting her collegiate career with two wins and a save.
The Gators (6-0) scored all eight of their runs against the Wildcats during the second inning. Senior Stephanie Tofft, who was hitting just .083 before she stepped up to the plate against Bethune-Cookman, hit a home run to right field to start the Gators’ rally.
Sophomore Kelsey Stewart led the team with four RBIs on Sunday, hitting a two-run home run in the fourth inning against Wisconsin and a two-RBI single against Bethune-Cookman.
The second baseman logged a hit in five of Florida’s games on the USF Softball Field.
The Gators leave Tampa after winning their games by a combined score of 40-13.
Sophomore Taylor Schwarz, who finished last season batting .266, leads Florida batters who have at least 10 at-bats with a .500 batting average, eight RBIs and two home runs.
Sophomore Aubree Munro also had a breakout weekend in Tampa. The Brea, Calif., native leads the team with three doubles while hitting .400 and seven RBIs.
After playing six straight games on the road, Florida will play its first home game on Wednesday, facing Jacksonville University at 6 p.m.
Despite the team’s strong performance, Walton believes the team has room for improvement as the season moves along.
“The biggest question marks for me as a coach is what kind of offense are we going to run and run consistently,” Walton said.
“Even though we scored quite a few runs this weekend, my only frustration was the lack of consistency offensively from our whole team. We had some really special individual efforts, but as a team, I thought that offensively we were just OK.”
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Lauren Haeger pitches during Florida’s win against Mississippi State on Apr. 6, 2013, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
