After Florida relinquished a 4-0 lead to Alabama during the top of the fifth, Kirsti Merritt fueled UF’s offense with a home run to left field.
The freshman outfielder plated a three-run homer in the sixth as the No. 1 seed Gators knocked off the eighth-seeded Crimson Tide in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals 8-4 Thursday afternoon at John Cropp Stadium in Lexington, Ky.
For the contest, Merritt racked up five RBI and tallied three hits in four at-bats.
“My last at-bat, I was really in the zone,” Merritt said. “I was seeing the ball really well. I was seeing the balls, seeing the strikes. So when that pitch came, I knew it was it.”
Florida’s offense found success early against Alabama. In the first inning, Merritt reached base when the ball went through Alabama shortstop Danae Hays’ legs. Junior Stephanie Tofft followed with a single off of third baseman Danielle Richard’s glove.
The next at-bat, Alabama pitcher Leslie Jury walked sophomore Lauren Haeger to load the bases with one out at the bottom of the first.
The Gators took a 1-0 lead when sophomore Briana Little was walked on four straight balls to score Merritt. But with the bases still loaded, senior Kelsey Horton struck out looking and freshman Taylor Schwarz grounded out.
During the fourth inning, with runners on second and third, Stewart singled to third base, driving in Schwarz to put UF ahead 2-0. Stewart then stole second, setting a school record on the play for steals in a season with 32.
“She could steal a lot more. Her coach handcuffs her a little bit – I really do,” coach Tim Walton said. “I’ve really limited her just because of what’s going on in the middle of our lineup and opening up bases and not giving people the chance to free-pass Lauren Haeger potentially. I was hoping she would get that really quickly just to check it off the list. But she’s going to break her own records all throughout her career. She’s a dynamic player.”
With Stewart at second and freshman Taylore Fuller at third, Merritt singled up the middle to drive in both batters and increase Florida’s lead to 4-0.
But after four innings during which she allowed only one hit, junior pitcher Hannah Rogers gave up five singles at the top of the fifth.
Rogers allowed Alabama to load the bases with no outs, setting the stage for Kayla Braud to notch an RBI single and cut the Crimson Tide’s deficit to 4-1. On the next play, Ryan Iamurri grounded out but drove Hays to shrink UF’s advantage to two runs.
Two at-bats later, Rogers threw a wild pitch that bounced off the Fuller’s helmet as Hawkins scored to cut the score to 4-3. Then, Molly Fichtner singled to left center, driving in Braud to tie the score.
But in the sixth, Florida’s offense responded.
Following a walk to sophomore Bailey Castro and a Stewart single, Merritt homered down the left-field line to give Florida a 7-4 lead. Tofft added a run when Little fouled out to first base.
Haeger subbed in for Rogers for the final two innings and retired six of her seven batters.
“In Alabama-Florida, you’re typically going to get some home runs with power and some extra-base hits. I thought we did a good job of limiting the damage there,” Walton said. “Happy with our pitchers keeping the ball in the ballpark and giving our team – the defense that we have behind them – the opportunity to make good plays for them.”
UF now advances to the semifinals, where it will face either No. 4 seed LSU or No. 5 seed Georgia on Friday at 3 p.m.
Junior third baseman Stephanie Tofft swings during Florida’s 4-2 win against Mississippi State on April 6 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
