The rain seemed to dampen more than just the field Tuesday night.
For No. 4 Florida (34-6, 14-3 Southeastern Conference), Tuesday’s doubleheader was shortened to just a single 8-3 loss to FIU (30-15, 11-5 Sun Belt Conference) in front of the few fans who weathered the rain at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
Freshman Ensley Gammel shouldered the loss for the Gators, dropping her record to 10-1 on the season. Gammel gave up five runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings of action.
“We didn’t pitch very well,” UF coach Tim Walton said. “Not by lack of effort but just not locating our pitches and not doing as good a job as we needed to.”
FIU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, scoring on a double steal in the top of the first.
After UF answered back with two of its own in the bottom of the inning, FIU tied the game with an RBI double in the top of the second and then took back the lead with a solo home run from Ashley McClain in the third.
The Golden Panthers’ offense consistently padded their lead, adding two more runs in the fourth to extend their lead to 5-2.
Corrie Brooks cut the deficit to two when she led off the fourth with her seventh home run of the season. But, as was the case in every other inning, the Gators were only able to muster one hit.
After the fourth inning the rain started to fall, leading to slippery softballs and control issues for both sides.
What followed was a scoreless fifth before FIU tacked on three more insurance runs in the sixth against relief pitcher Erin Schuppert, who walked three in the frame.
The Gators got leadoff runners aboard in the sixth and seventh but never got anything going after that, ensuring the 8-3 defeat.
“When you’re so used to winning so many times, there’s really no answer for it,” Walton said. “We work hard, we play well, we hit some balls well today and did some good things, and defensively we made a couple nice plays.
“They want to win, they’re hungry, and there’s no quit.”
After playing through the rain for the last hour of Game 1, it was decided that the forecast was too foreboding to attempt to squeeze in a nightcap. No makeup is being scheduled.
