A day after failing to put a single run on the board, the Gators came out of the gates charging Saturday.
Sophomore Cheyenne Coyle stood out from the crowd in Knoxville, Tenn., when she knocked in three runs on two hits, including a home run. Coyle’s outburst was a drastic turnaround from Friday, when Florida’s offense sputtered.
Powered by Coyle’s offensive performance, the Gators took down the Volunteers 5-2.
It wasn’t just Coyle who shined against Tennessee though. The rest of the Florida lineup collected nine hits while just striking out just twice. Coach Tim Walton’s squad did all this against Ivy Renfroe, the older sister of Friday’s starter, Ellen Renfroe, who struck out 15 Gators in a 1-0 win.
Florida struck fast with Coyle’s solo shot in the first but Tennessee retaliated with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. That was the only blemish shown by sophomore Hannah Rogers, who came out for another shot against one of UF’s Southeastern Conference rivals after losing to UT the night before.
Rogers (12-1) pitched five innings while giving up just those two runs on seven hits, but only fanned a season-low one batter.
Walton brought in freshman Lauren Haeger to close out the final two innings, and she did so without surrendering any more runs or hits. Although the Vols were silenced from the second inning onward, the Gators kept swinging.
Haeger’s performance in the circle was important for Florida’s win, but so three hits and one RBI at the plate. Senior Michelle Moultrie also came through Saturday with two hits of her own in the No. 2 hole in the lineup.
The Gators’ five runs matched their season-high in runs scored against a top-ten team, with the other coming against No. 8 Texas in a 5-1 win Feb. 24.
The rubber match between UF and UT will take place at noon on Sunday.
