Like a pesky mosquito that won’t go away, Florida International bugged Florida all day.
But the Gators survived their wounds to pull out a couple victories in their doubleheader against the Panthers.
Florida came out of the gates strong in the first matchup, scoring six unanswered runs in the first three innings. But FIU didn’t let UF off the hook that easy as it rolled out four runs in a seemingly never-ending fourth inning.
“I haven’t seen that before where we’re up 6-0 and give up four,” coach Tim Walton said. “But [FIU] is good, they fight. They definitely don’t take anything for granted. The score really doesn’t matter. Just give them credit.”
The fourth was an ugly inning for starter Hannah Rogers and the rest of the Gators. Rogers gave up five hits and threw a wild pitch, which resulted in Walton pulling Rogers after the frame.
“[FIU] was finding any hole they could hit, even if it wasn’t a hard hit, they were just putting them in the holes,” Rogers said. “You just have to be mentally tough; just know you can go out there and get them and know you’re better than them. But they are going to come out fighting like any other team.”
In relief of Rogers, freshman Alyssa Bache tossed three innings of shutout softball to ease the worries of her coach and teammates. Bache’s success in the final half of the matchup secured Rogers’ 23rd win of the season as well as Bache’s second save.
The run support for Florida’s pitchers came from a couple of familiar faces and a couple fresh ones as well.
Michelle Moultrie and Sami Fagan were both productive at the top of the lineup, combining for three RBI and three on-base appearances.
More surprisingly, freshman Briana Little smacked her first career home run in no-doubt three-run shot to left. And junior Samantha Holle took advantage of just her 20th at-bat of the year when she knocked in the final run in the Gators’ 7-4 victory.
Little was only in the game because Walton gave Bailey Castro the day off. But she made the most of her opportunity.
“I’ve told her that when she’s ready to play, I’ll play her,” Walton said. “Tonight she was ready to play. You could argue [Little’s home run] was a game-changing at-bat, 3-0 vs. 6-0.”
In the second of the two games, Florida finally separated itself from its in-state rival.
Like in the first matchup, the Gators got off to a hot start. But in the second go-around, they didn’t let up or let the Panthers retaliate. Instead, freshman Lauren Haeger pitched her fourth complete-game shutout of the year while having plenty of offensive support from her teammates.
Florida scored at least one run in every inning, including a four-run outburst in the fourth that put the game out of reach. Haeger helped herself in the fifth with what she called the longest home run she hit this season. The homer off Haeger’s bat officially run ruled the Panthers and ended the game 9-0 in five innings.
“We have a lot of fight in us,” Haeger said. “We have a lot of heart. We definitely want to win every single game. It’s great to know your team won’t give up.”
