Aleshia Ocasio couldn’t have asked for a better start to her Florida career.
In her first career start against No. 8 Michigan, the St. Cloud native pitched a gem of a game. The freshman pitcher had a complete game allowing two hits, one unearned run and 10 strikeouts as the No. 1 Gators defeated the Wolverines 2-1 on Saturday in Tampa.
“I thought she pitched very well,” coach Tim Walton said in a release. “I’m not going to say (she was) better than expected, but I thought she really went out there and commanded good stuff.
“We didn’t help her that much on defense, she pitched us out of trouble in a couple spots. I thought she handled herself very well.”
Ocasio also had the game winning run in a wild and wacky bottom of the seventh inning, where there was two walk-offs.
The first one was a three-run home run by freshman Nicole DeWitt that was overturned after Michigan protested Walton didn’t record a substitution correctly. The Wolverines were successful in their protest and the walk-off was wiped off the board.
“Nicole had been subbed out in the fifth inning for defense – we brought in (Jess Damico) to play defense in the sixth and seventh inning,” Walton said. “It turned out to be a major mistake on my part, not re-entering Nicole back in the game for her offense.”
In the end, it didn’t matter, as a wild pitch from Wolverine pitcher Haylie Wagner ended the game 2-1 with Ocasio scoring the winning run.
In Florida’s second game of the day, a couple of more freshmen would carry the Gators as UF (3-0) would run rule Illinois State 8-0 after scoring five runs in the fifth inning. DeWitt went 2-for-2 with three RBIs, while Kayli Kvistad hit a three run home run in the fifth to put Florida up 7-0.
Junior Kelsey Stewart set another UF softball record as she ended the game with a RBI triple, which was the 19th of her career.
Sophomore Delanie Gourley pitched a complete game allowing three hits while striking out eight.
Walton was impressed with how the freshmen on the squad performed in both games.
“Janell Wheaton is swinging the bat well, Nicole DeWitt is swinging the bat very well, and Kayli Kvistad is swinging the bat very well,” Walton said. “It’s nice to be able to go into the season expecting that, and then they step up in the first three games and deliver on that as well.
“I’m very proud.”
Florida will play its second double header in as many days on Sunday when they will face Jacksonville at 1:30 p.m. and host USF at 4 p.m.
Follow Luis Torres on Twitter @LFTorresIII
Left-hander Delanie Gourley pitches during Florida’s 2-0 win against Ole Miss on March 9 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
