For the second time in the Women’s College World Series, No. 5 seed Florida faced 13th-seeded Baylor.
And for the second time, the Gators came out victorious.
Behind a mix of solid defense, small-ball offense, and quality pitching, Florida (53-12) took a 6-3 win over Baylor (49-16) at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium to advance to its third WCWS championship series in program history.
“The little things win games here in the College World Series and just proud of our kids for believing in us and believing in themselves and in their abilities and not trying to do too much,” coach Tim Walton said. “Here we are getting a chance and an opportunity to play for a national championship.”
Senior Hannah Rogers pitched her sixth complete game of the postseason and third in Oklahoma City, giving up five hits and three earned runs en route to her 29th win of the season.
The Gators showed some of their best defensive prowess early in the contest, highlighted by a Kathlyn Medina induced doubled play in the second inning and a Stephanie Tofft diving grab down the third base line in the third.
“It's kind of a reaction thing,” Tofft said. “We practice really hard every day; all of our defense works really hard. I think our defense is a big part of why we win.”
After two scoreless innings, Florida tacked on the first run of the game in the third when Tofft scored Kirsti Merritt on an RBI double to left-center field.
The Gators would pile on four more runs over the next two innings. In the fourth, junior Briana Little hit a leadoff triple and scored two at-bats later on an Aubree Munro squeeze bunt.
In the fifth, Florida added three more on a bases-clearing double by Taylor Schwarz, who was then tagged out trying to reach third base.
“I got up there and I didn't think about bases loaded,” said Schwarz, who was 0 for 7 at the plate during the Women’s College World Series before ripping a hit to right-center field that gave Florida a 5-0 lead. “I didn't want to get it in my head at all, I was just like, if she's going to throw it right there, I'm going to swing at it. She just happened to throw me an outside pitch, and I just stayed on it.”
After pitching five consecutive shutouts, the Rogers saw her scoreless streak snapped at 37.1 innings — including her first 32.1 frames in NCAA play — when Baylor shortstop Jordan Strickland ripped an RBI double down the left field line that scored pinch runner Justine Young. Baylor plated two more runs in the fifth when leadoff hitter Kaitlyn Thumann hit a single to right field.
But Florida’s ace regained her composure, retiring the final six batters in order to advance the Gators to the championship series for the first time since 2009.
“Hannah pitched a wonderful game and had a wonderful regular part of the World Series, I guess, the pool play part,” Walton said. “Now we begin the championship.”
Florida will face No. 2 seed Alabama in the finals, with the best-of-three series starting on Monday at 8 p.m. Alabama swept its half of the bracket, defeating No. 7 seed Oklahoma, 14th-seeded Kentucky and No. 1 seed Oregon by an aggregate 10-2 score
The Gators are 1-2 this season against the Crimson Tide, dropping a three-game series in Gainesville from March 21-23. Alabama senior Jaclyn Traina — who pitched all 21 innings for the Tide in NCAA play — was the starting pitcher in both of Florida’s losses, allowing the Gators to plate just four hits and two runs while striking out 10 times in those contests.
Florida is 0-4 in the WCWS Championship Series, going two-and-out against Arizona State in 2011 and dropping the first two contests against Washington in 2009. The Gators lost those four contests by a combined 32-8.
But the Gators are not going to let the past deter them.
“At the end of the day,” Walton said, “you still have to have the right personnel in the right spots to be able to execute.”
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Florida pitcher Hannah Rogers, Taylor Schwarz, front, and Kelsey Stewart, right, celebrate after defeating Baylor 6-3 on Sunday.
