It was getting late.
Designated player Kendyl Lindaman stepped into the batter’s box in the top of the 15th inning with runners on first and second and one out.
The game had been going on for nearly four hours at that point, and both the Gators softball team and Ole Miss were tired. Rebels pitcher Molly Jacobsen, who relieved starter Brittany Finney after five innings, had thrown over 130 pitches, and it was Lindaman’s seventh at-bat of the game.
She looked at Jacobsen’s first pitch and swung.
And she watched it go over the fence.
Lindaman’s three-run home run gave the Gators the 5-2 win in the first game of the series against the Rebels at Ole Miss Softball Complex in Oxford, Mississippi.
It will be a quick turnaround for both teams, as Saturday’s game starts at 2 p.m.
UF pitcher Kelly Barnhill pitched all 15 innings, allowed two earned runs and struck out 17 batters on 205 pitches to earn her 19th win of the season.
The Gators opened the scoring in top of the second. Catcher Jordan Roberts blasted Ole Miss starter Brittany Finney’s third pitch to left center for a solo home run.
UF added another run in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by shortstop Sophia Reynoso with the bases loaded for a 2-0 lead.
Ole Miss finally got some traction offensively with back-to-back singles from right fielder Kaylee Horton and third baseman Amanda Roth. The Rebels loaded the bases a couple batters later after an error from Reynoso.
The next batter, senior Kylan Becker, lined a ground ball that glanced off Reynoso’s glove and rolled into center field, allowing Horton and Roth to tie the game.
Junior Molly Jacobsen relieved Finney in the circle after five innings, and from that point on, both teams were deadlocked at two.
The score stayed that way for 10 innings, as a pitchers’ duel between Jacobsen and Barnhill turned into a marathon.
Outfielder Jade Caraway led off the top of the 15th with a single down the left field line and moved to second after a sacrifice bunt from second baseman Hannah Adams. Jacobsen then intentionally walked first baseman Amanda Lorenz to bring up Lindaman.
Much like the game-winning home run against LSU a couple weeks ago, the junior delivered late in the game to give the Gators the lead after the opposing team elected to intentionally walk Lorenz.
Barnhill struggled in the bottom of the 15th after allowing a single to Horton and then a double to left fielder Tate Whitley. But Horton tried to score on the double before being caught in a rundown and tagged by a diving Roberts.
Barnhill forced shortstop Mikayla Allee to foul out to finally bring the game to a close.
Follow Brendan Farrell on Twitter @Bfarrell727 and contact him at bfarrell@alligator.org.
UF designated player Kendyl Lindaman hit the game winning home run in the 15th inning to give Florida a 5-2 win over Ole Miss.
