The end of Sunday’s game may have marked the end of the Gators’ toughest week.
In the series finale against No. 9 Georgia (29-7, 8-4 Southeastern Conference), No. 4 Florida (31-4, 12-2 SEC) scored the most runs it has since a 6-0 win against Arkansas on March 23. However, like the team's previous three games, Sunday’s 6-3 win was no cakewalk.
For the fourth time in a row, the Gators dug themselves an early hole by allowing their opponents to get on the board first. But after a couple of stifling games where it could not make the comeback, UF’s offense found its rhythm on Saturday and it carried over to Sunday.
Sophomore Cheyenne Coyle once again contributed at the plate for the Gators. Coyle went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI -- similar to her 2-for-3 day on Saturday, when she also knocked one over the fence to give her team a much needed offensive boost.
“We struck back as soon as possible,” Coyle said. “The longer you wait to come back and score those runs, it’s going to be harder. So definitely if you find a way to score runs in the earlier innings rather than in the seventh inning and if you strike right away, it takes a lot of pressure off.”
Coach Tim Walton’s squad has looked like two different teams in the past four games. In losses against USF and Georgia, UF failed to bounce back after falling behind. But on Saturday and Sunday, Florida rallied behind timely hitting and clutch pitching.
“It’s really hard to come back, especially against top-10, top-20 teams,” Walton said. “The better the pitching, the harder it is to come back. But we were very focused and determined and if you have determination, then it takes you a long ways.”
Rather than strike an empty threat in the seventh inning as the Gators did in the first two games of the series, they gave themselves time by making their comeback in the fifth inning on Saturday and fourth inning on Sunday.
With the win, the Gators now improve to 3-2 when trailing after three innings. However, they are 0-3 when trailing after five innings.
Freshman Lauren Haeger played a pivotal role in the team's fifth SEC series win with her performances in the circle and at the plate. Haeger tied the game in the fourth Sunday with her eighth homer of the year. She also earned the victory Saturday by holding the Bulldogs to one run in five innings.
“I knew I could hit the pitcher,” Haeger said. “So I focused on getting a good pitch and Cheyenne gave me the confidence that we could come back. We were down, but I knew we could come back.”
Florida trailed in only four games entering Wednesday, but has doubled that number in the past four games.
“We’ve got a lot of learning to do,” Walton said. “We’ve got a lot of improvements to make and we have a lot of things to get better at. I’m hoping we can tweak a lot of things and get the most out of our players as we go down this last backstretch.”
