Hall of Fame baseball manager Earl Weaver’s philosophy for winning was “pitching, defense and the three-run homer.” Against Mississippi State this weekend, Florida followed the same strategy.
The No. 3 Gators (38-4, 12-3 Southeastern Conference) hit five homers in the past three games, constituting 16 of Florida’s 18 runs.
“I’ve been coaching for a long time, and that’s our style,” coach Tim Walton said.
But that style showed its faults in the Gators’ 6-5 loss to the Bulldogs on Sunday.
After falling behind early, Florida scrambled to come back from an early 5-0 deficit. The Gators drew a walk and hit two singles to load the bases for catcher Taylore Fuller, who hit her first career grand slam.
But after Fuller’s home run, UF struggled to get hits in key situations. Alison Owen came in to pitch for MSU after the second inning and shut down Florida’s offense.
Throughout the season, UF has relied on walks to get rallies started. But Owen showcased her control, walking only one batter. Without the luxury of free passes, Florida’s offense struggled. The only hit a Florida batter managed off Owen was a solo home run by senior Kelsey Horton.
“I don’t think we really had the opportunity to play a whole lot of small ball,” Walton said.
The Gators currently lead the SEC in walks but rank 10th in batting average. They are third in home runs. But on Sunday, Florida could not hit its way back into the lead.
Florida’s home-run hitting was consistent against MSU. UF hit two homers on Friday, one on Saturday and two on Sunday. The difference was the number of runners on base.
On Friday, the Gators hit two singles before Horton hit a three-run homer. Florida then reloaded the bases with three walks before Stephanie Tofft hit a grand slam.
UF scored all of its Saturday runs on a Jessica Damico grand slam.
But in the series finale, after Fuller hit a grand slam, the Gators could not get runners on base, and Horton’s second homer of the series came with the bases empty.
“My players buy into the fact that we get 21 outs; how we choose to use those 21 outs is up to us,” Walton said.
Contact Adam Lichtenstein at alichtenstein@alligator.org.
Kelsey Horton connects with a pitch in Florida's 5-2 win against Auburn on April 15, 2012. Horton hit a home run in Florida's 10-4 win against Missouri in the SEC Tournament final on Saturday.
