TAMPA -- The Gators walked into USF Softball Stadium knowing that Saturday’s doubleheader against No. 19 Michigan and No. 7 Arizona was going to be their toughest test at the USF Opening Weekend Invitational.
One win would be respectable. Winning both would be huge.
They walked out with two wins and proved that they belonged at the top.
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Junior Jaime Hoover was in a duel with a pitcher who she seemingly couldn’t touch. Hoover was hitless against Michigan’s Meghan Beaubien, who already had 11 strikeouts.
On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Hoover drove the ball into center field over the outstretched glove of Michigan center fielder Natalie Peters, driving home two runs and giving Florida a 4-0 lead in the top of seventh inning. Hoover’s double also effectively put the game out of reach.
“Yeah, I did strike out (earlier), but I felt like I saw her well, and I knew I was going to have my moment with her,” Hoover said.
Florida’s offense was just good enough against Beaubien as Florida shut out the Wolverines 6-0.
Pitcher Kelly Barnhill went all seven innings, gave up zero runs, struck out five and only three Wolverines got on base the entire game. Her performance also gave the Gators’ offense more breathing room to figure out Beaubien.
Florida put runners in scoring position all game but had trouble converting that into runs until Hoover’s two-RBI double in the seventh inning.
It started in the first inning when Florida had runners on first and second with two outs. Sophomore Danielle Romanello was out on an infield fly, and Hoover struck out to end the inning.
Florida opened the scoring in the second inning.
Jordan Roberts was hit by a pitch, and Jade Caraway came in to pinch-run. Sophia Reynoso’s bunt moved Caraway to second, and a wild pitch from Beaubien advanced Caraway to third. Freshman Hannah Sipos picked up both her first hit and her first RBI on a single to center that plated Caraway to make it 1-0.
An RBI triple from Kendyl Lindaman in the third inning gave the Gators a 2-0 lead. Florida didn’t score again until the seventh.
After Hoover brought home Lorenz and Haven Sampson, Roberts reached first on a throwing error, scoring Hoover. Reynoso walked, Jordan Matthews loaded the bases on a single and Amanda Beane, pinch-running for Roberts, scored on a sac fly in the Gators’ four-run seventh inning.
“It was a great game, I think playing a top-ranked team, it was a good team win,” Barnhill said. “We had some great hits, I think our defense worked really well, still working on getting my best stuff.”
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The biggest question surrounding the Gators heading into the season was how they would perform when Kelly Barnhill isn’t in the circle.
But if Saturday’s second game was any indication, the Gators should be fine when they’re resting their ace pitcher.
Freshman Danni Farley had the surprise start against No. 7 Arizona, and she and sophomore Natalie Lugo combined to allow only two runs over six innings. Home runs from Danielle Romanello and Jordan Roberts carried the offense to a 3-2 win.
Farley quickly retired the side in the first, and Florida scored two runs from a two-run dinger from Romanello in the bottom of the inning.
However, the freshman ran into trouble in the second. She gave up a one-out solo home run to Dejah Mulipola and then a single and a walk. Farley escaped the inning by forcing back-to-back ground outs.
The Gators extended their lead back to two with a solo home run from Roberts off Arizona starter Taylor McQuillin in the bottom half of the inning.
Farley found herself in trouble again in the next inning when she allowed consecutive singles with one out. Coach Tim Walton pulled his freshman starter and replaced her with Lugo, who got the Gators through the inning.
From there, it was a pitchers’ duel between Lugo and McQuillin. The only run scored after Roberts’ home run was another Arizona dinger from Malia Martinez to make it 3-2. McQuillin finished with six strikeouts over six innings, while Lugo had three in her 3.2 innings pitched. Barnhill closed the game by retiring three of the final four batters.
“I thought Natalie Lugo was the key to the victory today,” Walton said. “(She) answered the challenge today, gave us what we needed.”
Follow Brendan Farrell on Twitter bfarrell1@alligator.org and contact him at @Bfarrell727.
The Gators softball team swept its doubleheader on Saturday against Michigan and Arizona. Pitcher Kelly Barnhill went all seven innings against the Wolverines. She gave up zero runs and struck out five.
