It was a day full of big hits for the Gators. And no one’s hits were bigger Janell Wheaton’s.
The sophomore hit two home runs to lift No. 1 Florida (15-0) over No. 9 Washington (9-3) 3-1 on Friday. UF celebrated that win with an 8-0 thumping of Nebraska (9-2) in the second game of its doubleheader at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, California.
UF battled back from an early 1-0 deficit for most of their matchup against Washington. Florida struggled to produce on offense until the 4th Inning, when Wheaton hit the fourth homer of her career to square the score. The sophomore struck again in the sixth, with another solo home run to put the Gators up 2-1.
“Janell had a really good day, a clutch day,” coach Tim Walton said in a release. “I thought she did a good job of learning from her at bats.
Overall, I thought her approach to the game was great, and her ability to deliver when we needed her to in both games was outstanding.”
Wheaton finished the day by going 2-for-3 against Nebraska.
But in the second game, the Cornhuskers were looking for an upset, coming off an unlikely walk-off win over No. 7 Oregon on Friday.
Senior Kelsey Stewart got the Gators off to a hot start after a leadoff triple. By the third inning, Florida led 4-0 with the help of a three-run home run from senior Taylore Fuller.
Florida ended the game with a walk-off single from freshman Amanda Lorenz to cross the eight-run-rule threshold in the fifth inning.
Freshman Kelly Barnhill earned her fifth win of the season with a one-hit shutout, striking out eight batters in the process.
Walton stressed the importance of driving in runners before the Gators’ matchup against Utah on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
“I’m preaching it and preaching it that this team has to create offensive productivity. We have to be an offense that if there are outs, those have to be productive outs,” Walton said in a release. “If we get a hits, then we have to score runs or move runners along. I think that’s what we’re trying to get to. We need to be a team that’s fun to watch and does a lot of things very well.”
Contact Matt Brannon at mbrannon@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @MattB_727.
Janell Wheaton notched a walk-off walk to seal the game for the Gators early Friday morning.
