The Florida softball team was expected to blow all of its opponents in the Gainesville Regional out of the water.
But as is often the case in postseason play, the No. 1 seeded Gators had to grind out three victories against FAMU, Hofstra and FAU respectively to advance to the Super Regionals.
Florida’s two-headed monster in the circle of Aleshia Ocasio and Lauren Haeger carried the Gators in all three of their games.
The lineup, however, was inconsistent in two of the three games in the Regional.
Ocasio was brilliant in her 6-0 victory against the Rattlers as she tied Renise Landry’s program record for strikeouts in a game.
Landry’s 17 punch-outs came in eight innings, while Ocasio’s came in seven.
Coach Tim Walton wanted more consistency from his lineup, especially in the middle of the order, heading into the second game versus Hofstra.
And they were able to deliver for Walton, as Haeger, Bailey Castro, Nicole DeWitt and Taylore Fuller went a combined 8-for-16 at the plate with two home runs and five RBI in Florida’s 7-0 win over the Pride.
Haeger had one of her more efficient starts of the season in the circle as she tossed a complete game, allowing just three hits and striking out eight.
And then came the final game of the Regional against FAU.
The Owls pushed the Gators to the brink, forcing extra innings.
Florida would eventually prevail 1-0 as Haeger crushed a go-ahead RBI double in the top of the eighth.
Haeger was once again fantastic in the circle for the Gators.
The Peoria, Arizona, native went the distance for the second time in as many days to get her second shutout of the Regional.
Now a matchup against the Kentucky Wildcats awaits the Gators this weekend.
Kentucky won the South Bend Regional after going 3-0 and beating No. 16 Notre Dame 4-3 on Sunday.
Florida and Kentucky met during the regular season in Gainesville, with the Gators sweeping the Wildcats on April 11-13.
UF leads the all-time series 45-13 against Kentucky, including a 23-6 advantage in Gainesville.
Beating a team five times in a single season is hard within itself, something Walton is aware of.
Kentucky will challenge UF by possibly using its full arsenal of pitchers during the series.
The team that wins two games during the Super Regional will move on to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series.
Follow Luis Torres on Twitter @LFTorresIII
UF's Lauren Haeger pitches during Florida softball's 1-0 win against Florida Atlantic during the NCAA Regional finals on May 17, 2015, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
