The Gators were well on their way to sweeping Sunday’s doubleheader and the weekend series from the Rebels in Oxford, Miss., on Sunday. Then the rain started.
Inclement weather had already forced Saturday’s game into a Sunday morning start and caused the field to be covered between the two games on Sunday.
But the weather nearly cost UF a game. Starter Alyssa Bache began the game with four innings of shutout ball before giving up six runs in a rainy fifth frame.
“It started downpouring when I got out there,” Bache said. “The mound was slippery, it was wet, I couldn’t really get a grip on the ball, but I was trying to do the best I could.”
The sophomore saw her ERA rise from 0.79 to 1.78 as the No. 3 Gators (35-3, 10-2 Southeastern Conference) held on to win 8-7 in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader against the Rebels (19-20, 1-11 SEC).
“I think the rain and the situation did affect the game,” coach Tim Walton said. “Thankfully, it didn’t affect the outcome.”
Florida jumped out to an early lead in the final game of the series, scoring a run on a sacrifice fly from sophomore Briana Little. UF tacked on three more in the third on a home run from Taylor Schwarz.
The Gators looked to have the game in hand, as the Rebels had only scored one run in the series at that point. Florida added four in the top of the fifth on a home run from Little, a throwing error by Ole Miss catcher Natalie Martinez and a single by Kelsey Stewart.
With the Gators three outs away from run-ruling the Rebels, Ole Miss turned on the offense.
The Rebels scored two runs on base hits by Brittany Broome and Haley Culley before capping the inning with a grand slam from Allison Brown.
At that point, Walton brought in Hannah Rogers.
“[Bache] only had a couple early walks in the first inning, then she was cruising,” Walton said. “I’ll be the first one to come to her defense: It was really tough conditions for her to pitch in.”
Rogers, who started the first two games of the series, nearly coughed up the lead. After giving up a run in the sixth to close the gap to one, Rogers surrendered a leadoff double in the seventh to first baseman Londen Ladner.
But Rogers buckled down and recorded the final three outs. She picked up a strikeout, a pop up and a groundout to end the series.
“I was probably just a little bit tired,” Rogers said.
Rogers picked up complete-game victories in each of the first two games of the series, including the first contest of the doubleheader.
In Game 1 on Sunday, she struck out six and walked two in seven innings. She asserted her dominance from the first inning on, striking out the first three batters that faced her.
The two wins on Sunday gave Florida its second straight sweep of an SEC team.
“Sweeping somebody is very, very tough in this league,” Walton said. “It was a big, big moment for us.”
Contact Adam Lichtenstein at alichtenstein@alligator.org.
Sophomore Alyssa Bache pitches in the Florida Lipton Invitational. Bache surrendered six runs in four innings of work against Ole Miss on Sunday.
