After No. 1 Florida lost its Southeastern Conference opener on Friday against Ole Miss and had its 22-game winning streak snapped, coach Tim Walton wasn’t sure how the team was going to respond.
“You never know what you’re going to get,” the ninth-year coach said. “When you have an undefeated season and you lose a game, you really don’t know the morale and what kind of shape you’ll get in the next day.”
Following a game where the Gators were held to three hits — their lowest output of the season — and struck out a season-high 12 times, the team rebounded at the plate in the ensuing two games to win the series against the Rebels.
In those two contests, Florida outhit Ole Miss 17-10 and generated nine more runs in the outings.
“Your first loss, that’s tough, especially in the first game of SEC play,” junior Lauren Haeger said.
“It motivated us more than anything to have a little bit more intensity, to have more at-bats.”
Haeger and sophomore Kelsey Stewart thrived in the first SEC series of the season, totaling seven of Florida’s 11 RBIs. Stewart, who is the only Florida batter to reach base in every game this season, led the team with seven hits in the three games.
But even though Florida’s offense, which ranks in the top five among SEC teams in most statistical categories, has flourished when the team leads early, Walton wants to see improvement at the plate in closer games.
“When you’re down, it’s hard to swing the bat and our team showed it,” Walton said. “But when you’re ahead, it’s a lot easier to swing the bat and our team showed it.
“So I think we’ve got to do a better job of getting runs and leading early.”
Gourley flashing leather: Although pitchers generally rely on their defense to make plays, Delanie Gourley made a key fielding play of her own against Ole Miss on Sunday.
With Rebels shortstop Haley Culley on second base and one out in the sixth frame, Allison Brown hit a ground ball to Gourley’s feet.
Instead of making the throw to first for an easy out and letting Culley move to third, Florida’s freshman left-hander tossed the ball to Stephanie Tofft at third base to tag Culley out and eliminate the pressure of a runner in scoring position.
“We’ve been working on my fielding a lot, a lot,” Gourley said.
“I knew she was the head runner and we had a small lead. I didn’t want to risk anything, so I thought I’d just check her and there she was.”
Added Tofft: “It was a very smart play on her part. It’s definitely something we work on in practice, so she did it perfect. (She) checked the runner and we got the out, so it worked out great.”
Gourley’s play was an added bonus to her performance in the circle. In her first career SEC start, the Lakeside, Calif., native pitched her fifth complete game and second solo shutout of the season.
In her 11 appearances in the circle, Gourley is averaging a team-best 1.08 strikeouts per inning and boasts a 4.38:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 53 innings pitched.
Although Gourley was content with her performance on Sunday, she knows that there is room for development.
“There’s always improvements that need to be made,” Gourley said, “but overall I was pretty happy with how I did.”
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
Lauren Haeger swings during Florida’s 2-0 win against Ole Miss on March 9 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
