Hannah Rogers came into Friday’s game with bad memories of Lexington, Ky.
The junior pitcher made her first appearance on the road against Kentucky since the Wildcats shelled her for 24 runs in three games in 2011.
The right-hander picked up a complete-game victory on Friday as No. 3 Florida (40-4, 13-3 Southeastern Conference) took the opener of a three-game series against No. 18 Kentucky (30-11, 8-5 SEC) by a score of 7-4 at the UK Softball Complex.
Rogers was spotty in her first game since Mississippi State scored five; runs against her on Sunday. She allowed the leadoff batter to get on base in five out of seven innings, and gave up four runs in her outing.
Luckily for the Gators, the offense showed up early.
Florida put up two runs in the first inning when third baseman Stephanie Tofft drove in second baseman Kelsey Stewart and right fielder Kelsey Horton on a double to left-center field.
After the Wildcats scored a run in the bottom of the second, the Gators added some insurance in the fifth inning.
Sophomore Lauren Haeger, who came into the game with only two hits in her previous 22 at bats, broke out of her slump with a three-run homer. The Gators would need all of those runs, as Rogers surrendered a run in the fifth and two in the sixth.
Horton took Kentucky pitcher Lauren Cumbess deep in the top of the seventh after Haeger walked to give Florida its second three-run lead of the game.
Rogers came in to pitch the seventh inning and had her cleanest frame of the day, setting the Wildcats down in order to secure the victory.
The Gators and Wildcats play the second game of the series Saturday at 1.
Contact Adam Lichtenstein at alichtenstein@alligator.org.
Sophomore pitcher and first baseman Lauren Haeger swings during Florida’s 6-5 win against Tennessee on March 15 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Haeger hit her first home run since March 22 in the Gators' 7-4 win against the No. 18 Wildcats.
