No. 1 Florida saw Jaclyn Traina in the circle Friday when its three-game series against No. 9 Alabama began. She gave up only two hits as UF lost 4-2.
When she started again Sunday in the deciding game of the series, the Gators hoped to adjust and take home the win.
They didn’t.
Florida dropped its first Southeastern Conference series of the year after falling 7-0 to Alabama at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium on Sunday. The loss was UF’s second shutout of the season and was its largest margin of defeat since losing 10-1 against ‘Bama in the SEC Tournament Championship game on May 12, 2012.
In her two starts, Traina limited Florida (30-4, 5-4 SEC) to four hits and two runs while striking out 10 batters.
“She’s a good pitcher,” senior Stephanie Tofft said.
“She throws hard for sure. I think we just had trouble making adjustments in the box. It just wasn’t a good weekend for us.”
Alabama (27-5, 8-1 SEC) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after sophomore first baseman Leona Lafaele hit a home run to deep center field off of a Hannah Rogers fastball.
“Three to nothing sounds like nothing, but in softball that’s a lot of runs,” coach Tim Walton said. “That was probably more the difference than anything to me.”
Freshman Delanie Gourley came in to relieve Rogers in the third, but the left-hander had mixed results.
Despite keeping the Crimson Tide scoreless through her first two innings, Gourley gave up four runs in the fifth and sixth frames.
With Alabama leading from the start and Traina keeping Florida batters at bay, the Gators could not find a spark.
“It’s just tough coming back after getting down in the first inning right away,” Tofft said. “We can do it for sure, but it’s definitely tough against a good pitcher.”
Tofft was just one of five Florida batters who could not plate a hit against Traina in either of UF’s two losses and was one of two who didn’t log a hit throughout the series.
She plans to change that as the Gators continue on with their SEC schedule.
“After this weekend, I’m not happy with my swings, so I will be coming in to do extra work,” Tofft said. “I’m sure everybody on the team will. Our team works, so I’m sure everybody will be doing their own work and getting better in the cages.”
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Hannah Rogers pitches during Florida’s 8-0 win against Indiana on Feb. 21 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
