Pitching and defense have been Florida’s greatest strengths in 2016, and Sunday was no exception.
No. 1 Florida continued its season-long dominance by defeating Illinois State (6-14) 11-1 in six innings followed by a 4-1 win against Florida A&M (5-11) at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. The Gators moved to 22-0 on the season, tied for the third-best start in school history.
"This weekend was a good opportunity to play at home, in truly our first real homestand of the season," coach Tim Walton said. "It was a chance to get a lot of players some action and good looks in different situations."
Illinois State started the scoring on the day by plating a runner in the bottom of the first to take a quick 1-0 lead in the first game of the doubleheader.
But Florida responded the next inning when sophomore Kayli Kvistad crushed a towering solo home run — her second of the year — to right-center.
Kvistad went 4-for-4 in the opening game with three RBIs and two runs scored.
The Gators then slowly built a lead in subsequent frames, tacking on two runs in the third and fifth innings.
But the game really got out of hand in the sixth.
Three walks and a pair of errors by the Illinois State defense allowed the Gators to score five unearned runs, cracking the game wide open and sealing ISU’s fate.
Sunday marked the second time this season the Gators have beaten ISU by at least 10 runs. UF won 11-0 in five innings when the teams met on Feb. 12 in Tampa.
In the day’s second game, UF was powered to victory by junior lefty Delanie Gourley, who only gave up one run and struck out 13 of the 16 batters she faced while notching her eighth win.
Like ISU in the early game, FAMU was able to strike first against Florida, scoring in the top of the third.
But the Gators weren’t rattled.
Florida responded strongly by scoring three runs in the bottom of the inning, beginning with a sacrifice fly by sophomore Janell Wheaton that scored Kelsey Stewart.
After a Kvistad walk, Kirsti Merritt singled to left to drive in Nicole DeWitt, who had walked earlier in the inning and proceeded to steal second base.
A bases-loaded walk to senior Taylor Schwarz scored Kvistad, ending the scoring for the frame.
Kvistad’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth put the finishing touches on the game and the weekend for the Gators, who smashed opponents by a combined score of 37-3 over three days.
Florida will face South Dakota in a doubleheader on March 9 with the first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m.
Contact Brian Lee at blee@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @brianlee_17.
Kayli Kvistad follows through on a swing during Florida's doubleheader sweep against Jacksonville on Feb. 17, 2016, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
