With Florida down 2-0 to Missouri in the bottom of the second Saturday night, senior outfielder Kelsey Horton came to bat with a chance to even the score.
Sophomore Lauren Haeger was on second base as Horton stepped to the plate against Chelsea Thomas – the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year. Thomas had not allowed a home run for 32 consecutive innings, dating back to April 7 against Alabama.
But Horton sent Thomas’ first pitch of the at-bat past the center-field fence.
Her two-run blast tied the game at 2 and was Florida’s first hit of the contest. The Gators then piled on nine hits – two of them home runs – to cruise past the Tigers 10-4 for their first SEC Tournament title since 2009.
“It of course improves my confidence,” Horton said. “But how I got there – just thinking about myself and not worrying about pitchers – that’s what I want to keep doing moving forward.”
Added coach Tim Walton: “We were clutch. To get clutch hits – runners on second base with two outs – you’ve got to find a way to score runners. And that was the biggest difference, for me, in our team’s success over the weekend.”
During Florida’s final two games of the conference tournament, Horton racked up three RBI on two hits and drew one walk.
Now, Horton – one of UF’s two seniors – will be tasked with leading a talented but young Gators squad with 12 underclassmen into its NCAA Tournament regional, where it will host Hampton on Friday at 6 p.m. at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
USF and Georgia Southern , winners of the Big East and Southern Conference tournaments, respectively, are also in second-seeded Florida’s regional. Hampton won the Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference Tournament.
“A lot of times, you say, ‘Wow, this is going to be one of those regionals where it’s really dangerous because of those three teams winning conference championships,’” Walton said. “But we also won a conference championship, so I think it’s going to be a great tournament.”
UF was seeded No. 5 nationally in 2012 but fell to Florida Gulf Coast and USF in the Gainesville Regional. Florida dismissed three starters from the team hours before NCAA Tournament play due to an off-field incident.
Florida’s freshmen, who hit a combined .333 last weekend, were not a part of its disappointing finish last year. But Horton’s ready to provide Florida with postseason experience in the middle of its batting order.
“It’s exciting to be a national seed, and we’re excited to be No. 2,” Horton said. “But we know that it’s going to be tough no matter what seed you are.”
Merritt earns honor: On Tuesday, freshman Kirsti Merritt was named the Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division I National Player of the Week. Merritt earned the distinction after a strong showing at the SEC Tournament in Lexington, Ky., last weekend.
“This is very exciting, but our success last weekend was a team effort,” Merritt said in a release. “Everyone really stepped up in the SEC Tournament, and we had a lot of fun in Lexington playing the game we love.”
During the conference tournament, Merritt batted .455 and notched a team-high seven RBI, including five in UF’s 8-4 quarterfinal win against Alabama on Thursday. She also knocked two homers.
This season, Merritt has hit .305 with eight doubles, four triples, six home runs and 29 RBI.
“Kirsti played a huge role,” Walton said in a release. “She had a lot of clutch RBIs and hits – several with two outs and two strikes. This honor is an exclamation point to how fun she was to watch play last week.”
Contact Landon Watnick at lwatnick@alligator.org
Kelsey Horton connects with a pitch in Florida's 5-2 win against Auburn on April 15, 2012. Horton hit a home run in Florida's 10-4 win against Missouri in the SEC Tournament final on Saturday.
