The Gators proved to be one big tease up until their final at bat.
On Sunday, the nation’s preseason No. 2 team that was picked to win the Southeastern Conference by the league’s coaches was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament with a loss to South Florida.
To taunt Gator Nation even more, coach Tim Walton’s squad staged a comeback this weekend after dismissing three players from the team and dropping their first game to Florida Gulf Coast University. The Gators won two in a row despite a depleted bench just to get shutout in the Regional Championship game.
For the first time since 2006, Florida exited in the regional round and for the first time since 2007, the Gators failed to make the Women’s College World Series.
“The consecutive streak to go to the World Series just tells you how good you are in multiple years in recruiting and how good you are in multiple years in your classes,” Walton said. “It doesn’t mean we’re not as good as now, it just means we weren’t fortunate enough to come through in the end. That’ll hurt.”
Florida had the unfortunate opportunity of going up against USF’s Sara Nevins for the third time this season. Nevins, a USA Softball National Player of the Year Finalist, came into this weekend ranked in the nation’s top 20 in six pitching categories, including third in ERA (0.99) and eighth in wins (25).
The Gators tried to match Nevins with their own ace in Hannah Rogers. The sophomore hurler gave up only one run, which was an RBI infield hit that came in the fourth inning. Rogers was lights out from that point on, but her teammates could not support her at the plate.
Nevins and the Bulls shutdown the Gators offensively, allowing no runs and just five hits in seven innings. Florida also struck out 12 times, three away from tying a season high which was set against Tennessee on March 9.
“If you don’t score runs, you’re not going to win ballgames,” Walton said. “Obviously, you’re not going to win a whole lot of ballgames striking out 12 times.”
The Gators looked as if they were finally going to break Nevins in the sixth though, having the bases loaded and no one out. USF’s Ken Erikson even had to visit the mound, which pumped up the crowd and the home dugout.
But two strikeouts and a groundout later, Florida still had a goose egg on the scoreboard.
“It was exciting to be in that situation,” Michelle Moultrie said. “We didn’t come through but everyone up there was battling. Everyone gave it their all and I think that’s all you can ask for.”
And although everyone else on the team will suit up in the Gators uniform next season, Moultrie will not. In her last at bat in the seventh inning, she struck out to end her career.
“It’s a sad way to go out,” Moultrie said. “But it’s just been a great four years here so you just have to look back at all the things that have gone right and have been good here.”
The recent dismissal of Sami Fagan, Kasey Fagan and Cheyenne Coyle from the team only made Moultrie’s departure even sadder for her.
“It was definitely a distraction for me,” Moultrie said. “It was a big part of our team so it was hard for me. I’m really close to those girls and it’s just a hard thing whenever you lose anyone.”
Despite the turmoil and controversies that haunted the Gators this past weekend, they look forward to reestablishing their dominance in 2013.
“We’re excited at the opportunity to keep getting better,” Walton said. “And I think that’s the goal no matter where you’re at, you got to keep getting better.”
Michelle Moultrie has a slugging percentage over 1.000 for Team USA.
