Three runs.
That is all Florida’s offense managed in two games on Thursday at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, California.
The Gators (20-1) still came away with a 1-0 win against New Mexico (5-10) and a 2-1 victory over No. 20 Oregon (11-4) on the strength of Florida’s pitching and some brilliant plays on defense.
Lugo ties career-high in K’s in extra-inning win
Natalie Lugo set a career-high for strikeouts in a start last Wednesday when she fanned 13 batters in a win over Jacksonville.
She tied that mark just eight days later against New Mexico.
The sophomore shut out the Lobos in seven innings of work, allowing four hits and walking just one batter en route to a Florida win.
However, New Mexico’s Kennedy Ferguson did the same to Florida. The Gators couldn’t score a single run through seven innings either, so the game went to extra innings.
Coach Tim Walton brought in senior Kelly Barnhill to replace Lugo in the top of the eighth. Barnhill struck out three batters to keep the shutout going and was awarded her 10th win of the season.
Jade Caraway led off the bottom of the eighth inning and smacked Ferguson’s sixth pitch of the at-bat for a walk-off RBI double to drive home third baseman Hannah Sipos, who started the inning on second due to the international tiebreaker rule, to win the game for Florida.
Barnhill dominates Ducks
Barnhill came back from being rattled by UCLA on Wednesday to deliver another solid performance against Oregon in Florida’s 2-1 win.
The senior, who improved to 11-1 on the season, struck out nine batters, walked one and gave up three hits in a complete game versus the Ducks.
Florida’s offense continued to sputter in its second game of the day. The Gators batted just .224 in their two games combined and drew only four walks.
Caraway robbed Oregon left fielder Cherish Burks of a home run in the top of the sixth, and the game stayed scoreless until Oregon scored a run in the top of the fifth inning. First baseman April Utecht belted Barnhill’s 2-2 offering over the left-field fence for a solo home run.
The Gators’ offense briefly snapped out of its funk in the bottom of the inning. Caraway reached second on an error by Burks. She touched home two batters later when first baseman Kendyl Lindaman drove a two-out RBI single to tie the game.
Outfielder Haven Sampson came in to pinch-run for Lindaman and scored on an RBI single by right fielder Jaimie Hoover to take the lead.
Barnhill retired the next six Oregon batters to close out the Gators’ second win of the day and their fourth win over a ranked opponent.
The Gators will face two top-five teams tomorrow in No. 2 UCLA and No. 5 Washington and will finish the six-game tournament with a matchup against CSUN.
Follow Brendan Farrell on Twitter @Bfarrell727 and contact him at bfarrell@alligator.org.
Natalie Lugo tied a career-high for strikes (13) in the Gators 1-0 victory over New Mexico.
