The Gators proved to be fool’s gold in their annual trip out west.
No. 1 Florida (10-1) mustered up enough juice to outlast No. 16 Texas A&M in a 6-4 win, but met their match against No. 5 Washington. The Huskies came back to hand the Gators their first loss of the season in a 5-2 loss.
Sophomore Hannah Rogers led the charge when her team arrived in Palm Springs, Calif., pitching a complete game against the Aggies. Through the first six innings, Florida looked like the best team in the nation.
However, coach Tim Walton’s squad hit the wall when Rogers faced the Texas A&M lineup in the top of the seventh. The Aggies’ bats came alive in their most desperate time and produced, as a 6-1 game quickly shifted into a 6-4 contest when Rogers let her guard fall for the first time all season.
Despite the scare, Rogers was able to close out yet another game for her sixth win of the season. A shaky ending to the game led immediately to the second game of the Gators’ doubleheader against the Huskies.
Walton put freshman Lauren Haeger in the circle to face Florida’s toughest opponent of the young season.
In a rematch of the 2009 College World Series National Championship, Washington jumped out to an early lead with a sacrifice fly in the top of the first. For the first time all season, the Gators were behind on the scoreboard.
However, freshman Katie Medina came through in the third with an RBI triple in front of family and friends who made the drive from nearby Downey, Calif. With the game tied, another freshman, Sami Fagan, knocked across Florida’s second run of the game.
After the third, the Gators’ bats remained silent. The Huskies stormed back and reclaimed the lead in the fifth with two more runs.
The next inning, Washington tacked on two more insurance runs against freshman reliever, Alyssa Bache, to bring the game to its eventual final score of 5-2.
Florida’s potent offense that averaged 8.8 runs per game in its first 9 games, could only manage eight total runs in its first two games of the Cathedral City Classic. Leaving 12 runners on base was the dagger.
In addition to the silent bats, Florida’s arms were out of character in California. The Gators gave up as many runs Thursday (nine) as they did their first nine games combined.
The Gators play BYU today at 1 p.m., followed by No. 8 Texas at 3:30 p.m.
