Florida played two nearly identical games on Tuesday when it faced off against LSU. However, while the first was highlighted by late-game heroics and drama, the second was stained with disappointment.
Hannah Rogers and LSU starter Rachele Fico raised the tension in Katie Seashole Stadium by each pitching six innings of shutout ball to start out the two-game series. The excitement reached a pinnacle when the Tigers jumped out to a one-run lead in the seventh and pushed the Gators to their final strike.
Then, on a 1-2 count with two outs, Ensley Gammel drove the crowd into a roar by sending Fico’s pitch over the right-field wall to tie the game at 1-1.
“It was probably one of her first opposite-field home runs of her career,” coach Tim Walton said. “She really fought through that at-bat, which was really key to our success that game. That’s the mentality of our program — we’re not just going to roll over.”
Rogers breezed through LSU hitters in the next frame to match a season-high eight innings pitched. In the bottom half, Florida made sure Rogers wouldn’t have to go nine.
Freshman Jessica Damico represented the Gators’ winning run on first base after getting hit by a pitch for the just the second time all season. Michelle Moultrie then delivered an RBI double to send the fans and her teammates into a frenzy.
“Those are the type of moments you live for,” Moultrie said. “Sometimes it doesn’t work out but when it does it’s great. It just felt good to come through, just to get the win [and] a comeback from behind.”
With the hit, UF’s lone senior collected her seventh game-winning RBI on the year, which is second only to Lauren Haeger’s nine.
Florida (42-6, 19-3 Southeastern Conference) won 2-1, but dropped the second game, 1-0, to No. 23 LSU (33-16, 14-8 SEC).
Once again, the pitching for both teams dominated. The only difference was that LSU scored in the second rather than waiting until the seventh.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead into the sixth when Gammel, a hero in the first game, had a chance to keep UF alive again with the bases loaded and two outs. But Gammel couldn’t come through and instead grounded out.
“Different pitcher, different outcome,” Gammel said. “We were in the same mood as the first game. We wanted to go up there and fight and we did. It just didn’t work out the way we wanted to.”
But Florida kept its head above water when Moultrie stepped up to the plate with two outs in the seventh and a runner on first base. Although she couldn’t tie the game, she reached first on a dropped throw, leaving it up to freshman Sami Fagan.
The magic ran out when she struck out to end the game.
“To take a split [Tuesday] you can say was a victory given the circumstances with the first game,” Walton said. “Either one of these teams could have won either one of these games.”
