Defensive miscues almost resulted in No. 1 Florida dropping its first game of the season to No. 4 Oregon at the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic.
A third-inning throwing error by catcher Aubree Munro gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead, but a Lauren Haeger home run and a solid outing in the circle by Hannah Rogers allowed the Gators to manage a 2-1 win in eight innings on Friday in Orlando.
“Two of our biggest games of the year have gone into extra innings against two top-5 teams,” coach Tim Walton said in a release. “It says a lot about the way we prepared and accepted the challenge and found a way to win.”
From the beginning, the game looked like it was going to be won in the pitching circle. Through the first two innings, both teams had a combined one hit compared to four total strikeouts.
Oregon (15-2) capitalized on Munro’s throwing error — one of three Florida committed during the game — with the Ducks’ Nikki Uduria scoring from second base on the blunder. Rogers struck out the following batter to limit the damage to only one run.
Florida (17-0) responded quickly in the fourth inning. Facing a 1-0 count, Haeger slammed a ball deep to left center field to tie the game and record her team-leading sixth home run of the season.
Once the Gators tied it up, Rogers took care of the rest. The senior shut down the Ducks in the final five innings of the game. For the game, Rogers threw 116 pitches, striking out eight batters while walking only one in her sixth complete game of the season.
“She’s throwing to all different parts of the zone,” Walton said. “She’s throwing the ball up, she’s throwing the ball down, she’s throwing the ball in and out. Today she didn’t throw as many of her off-speed pitches as she’s been using lately. I think she’s done a good job of being able to pitch to her strengths, and also pitching to our opponents’ weaknesses. She’s been able to exploit some things that she sees out there.”
Florida plays a doubleheader on Saturday, facing off against Fordham at 1:15 p.m. and Ohio State at 5:45.
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
