After starting 53 games and hitting 11 home runs in 2013, Briana Little has seen less time on the field this season.
The junior outfielder has started just nine games in 2014, taking on more of a reliever role to start the season.
But that didn’t stop Little from making the most of her chances at the plate against Florida A&M and NC State this past weekend.
The Middleburg native went 3 for 3 at the plate during the Gators’ 9-0 win against the Rattlers on Friday and hit her second home run of the season in their 10-0 thumping of the Wolfpack on Saturday.
“I just came ready to play,” Little said. “Whether I was playing or not, I was ready. I was going to get a hit, that’s what I planned on doing.”
Little’s home run against NC State, a three-RBI slam to center field, capped off a Florida first inning that drove in five total runs.
“I saw her in her stride and she was mid-stride when she got into her leg a little more. You could tell it was a slower pitch, and she just let it fly,” coach Tim Walton said. “In a worst-case scenario, you’re looking at that as being a run … So I’m thinking, ‘Alright. We got a good swing, an elevated pitch.’ And she just smoked it.”
Little’s performance at the plate in Florida’s nonconference shutouts boosted her batting average to .375 — second only to Kelsey Stewart’s .387 — and gives her a team-leading slugging percentage of .594 in her limited time.
“With more at-bats, that brings more confidence,” Little said. “I was just going to keep swinging the bat hard and looking for good pitches.”
On the weekend, the Gators posted a .455 team batting average, and three players had multi-hit games in both contests.
“It gives you confidence,” sophomore Kirsti Merritt said. “Whatever team you’re coming up against, you play them like any other team. Just going out there and hitting and playing defense the same. Going out there and being able to hit with runners in scoring position is really boosting our confidence.”
Added Walton: “This is such a mental game. It’s important when you look up there and see that many runs and that many hits, you typically don’t look in the dugout and see that many down faces of kids who have not been successful. It’s highly contagious and highly mental, that’s for sure.”
Walton also spent the weekend experimenting with his starting lineup, allowing some players who have been on the bench to be a contributing factor to the offense.
In addition to Little making two starts this weekend, junior outfielder Jessica Damico earned her third start of the year Friday.
Damico started 59 games through her first two seasons at UF, but she has entered only 28 so far this season, with the majority of those appearances coming as a pinch runner or a seventh-inning substitution in the outfield. In her start on Friday, the Gray Summit, Mo., native notched her first hit of the season and swiped her fifth bag of the year.
“For Jess, obviously, she played quite a bit last year and we’ve gone to maybe a little bit of a different offense in some ways with playing a couple of the freshmen and the left-handed at-bats,” Walton said. “So that’s been the biggest difference in the number of at-bats she’s had, is that we’ve gone to a different style.”
Walton liked giving players such as Damico a chance in the lineup and said that despite their lack of playing time, some spots in the lineup aren’t locked up as the regular season starts to wind down.
“There are still a couple jobs that haven’t been won, and we’re not going to let them be won,” Walton said. “We’re going to continue to rotate and go with who’s doing well at practice, go with who’s doing well in games.”
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
Briana Little bats during Florida’s 2-0 win against Ole Miss on March 9 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Little has hit well despite limited playing time this season.
