The infield collapsed as Alabama’s Chandler Dare showed bunt.
Pitcher Delanie Gourley charged in, scooped the ball cleanly and threw to Nicole DeWitt covering first base.
But as all three elements converged at the crowded base, the ball ricocheted into right field.
A runner from first scored, and the Crimson Tide had a first-inning lead.
No. 7 Alabama’s early lead proved insurmountable for Florida, as the Crimson Tide beat UF 3-0 Sunday. Alabama became the first team to beat Florida in a series this year. Despite coming in on a seven-game winning streak, Florida has now dropped two of its last three.
It was UF’s first time getting shutout at home since losing 7-0 to Alabama in March 2014.
"We got behind early in the first inning," catcher Aubree Munro said. "It’s tough to kind of come back. We had a lot of chances today, and we really just didn’t take advantage."
After Dare’s first-inning bunt put her on third base, a passed ball rolled by Munro, and Dare crossed the plate to give Alabama the early 2-0 edge.
"We can’t make two mistakes in the same inning," assistant coach Jennifer Rocha said. "And that’s what happened."
Alabama pitcher Sydney Littlejohn — who came into the game with a 1.65 ERA — kept Florida’s offense at bay.
Florida had just two hits in the game, one in the second by Amanda Lorenz and one in the third by Justine McLean.
"Sydney Littlejohn threw a great game," Munro said. "Honestly she kept us on our toes, and we had to make some adjustments that we just didn’t make in time."
Alabama sealed the upset in the top of the sixth when pinch hitter Rachel Bobo reached first after being hit by a Gourley pitch.
After a sacrifice bunt put Bobo on second, coach Tim Walton took out Gourley for sophomore Aleshia Ocasio.
Alabama’s Sydney Booker doubled to left with an 0-2 count, driving in Bobo for an insurance run.
Florida went three-up, three-down in the bottom of the sixth.
In the top of the seventh, Alabama’s Kallie Case hit a short ground ball that bounced off her body. While the home plate umpire called the ball foul, Walton came out of the dugout to tell the umpire it hit Case when she was already out of the batter’s box, meaning she should have been out.
As the crowd cheered for Walton and the argument escalated, the umpire threw Walton out of the game with just over half an inning to go.
"It fired us up," Munro said. "It made us want to play for him."
But that fire wasn’t hot enough, as Alabama recorded three outs in four batters to close out the game and the series.
"When you get a team like Alabama, you can’t make mistakes," Rocha said. "One pitch … could really come back to get you, one errant throw could come back to get you. So we just have to keep doing what we’re good at first, pitching and defense."
Florida will have a chance to reset on Wednesday, when it visits UCF in Orlando at 6 p.m.
"There’s always things to work on," Rocha said. "Sometimes you get exploited. You know, middle of the season, there’s no secrets. Everybody knows what your weaknesses are and they’re attacking (them)."
Contact Matt Brannon at mbrannon@alligator.org and you can follow him on Twitter @MattB_727.
Aubree Munro catches a ball during Florida's doubleheader sweep of Jacksonville on Feb. 17, 2016, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
