Sophomore Jaimie Hoover is 3-for-3 in regional play with seven RBIs and a home run. She had two RBIs in UF's 10-2 victory over Ohio State on Saturday.
UF pinch hitter Jaimie Hoover sprinted across the bases in the bottom of the second inning. She knew the pitch smacked to dead center field was destined to leave the ballpark, but she couldn’t wait to round the bases and greet her teammates.
“I knew it was going out, but I was just so excited I just ran,” Hoover said.
Florida’s starting pitcher, junior Kelly Barnhill, was obviously excited about receiving run support. She was first to greet the sophomore slugger at the plate with a huge hug.
Hoover matched a career-best with a five-RBI performance and led the Gators (51-8) offensively during their 8-0 victory over the Bethune-Cookman in Gainesville on Friday night.
“She’s the strongest, most athletic player we have on the team,” UF coach Tim Walton said. “(It’s) proven in the weight room, and she does a lot of things well. I’m happy for her to have that moment. “
However, the Wildcats (31-25) couldn’t muster any offense of its own.
Barnhill and senior Aleshia Ocasio combined for a no-hitter. Both pitchers struck out the side at least once in the joint performance. Barnhill downed each batter on strikes in the second and third innings en route to nine-straight strikeouts, and Ocasio achieved the feat in the top of the fifth.
The two combined for 14 strikeouts total, four of them looking, and allowed only one walk.
A weather delay in the top of the third stagnated Barnhill’s performance by 47 minutes. She lasted 1.2 more innings before being pulled for Ocasio to start the fifth. Walton wanted to get both pitchers action with in case more untimely weather interrupted play on Saturday.
“We came in with the game plan to get both pitchers some innings tonight,” Walton said. “With the extra day of rest and tomorrow’s forecast, I didn’t want to go too long with Kelly, and I didn’t want to go too long waiting for Aleshia to toe the rubber as well.”
After Hoover’s homer in the home half of the second, she came right back in the third and delivered another clutch hit.
Facing right hander Alexis Bermudez with two outs and the bases loaded, the Suwanee, Georgia, native knocked a single back up the middle, scoring teammates Ocasio and Janell Wheaton and sending sophomore Sophia Reynoso to third.
On the next at-bat, Hoover swiped second base. Her steal triggered a throw to third from Wildcats catcher Taylor Sherritt in an attempt to catch a running Reynoso, but the errant toss trickled into foul territory and allowed the UF shortstop to score, bolstering the Gators lead to 6-0.
Bermudez was pulled in favor of freshman Victoria Guzman after 2.2 innings of work. Guzman didn’t allow any runs until the sixth inning, but the ones she let in were critical.
After walking leadoff batter Amanda Lorenz, UF third baseman Nicole DeWitt seemed to be hit by a pitch, but the umpire called it back saying it struck her bat. She returned to the plate and pulled a home run over the right -field wall, ending the game by merit of an eight-run mercy rule.
“I was working on staying middle… I didn’t stay middle on that one,” DeWitt said.
You can follow Mark Stine on Twitter @mstinejr or contact him at mstine@alligator.org.
