Delanie Gourley was calm on the mound in her first career NCAA Tournament start on Friday.
With two outs in the fifth inning and Florida holding an 8-0 lead over Florida A&M, the freshman left-handed pitcher threw an 0-1 pitch to Rattlers outfielder Tashayla Irvis.
Irvis hit the ball straight back to Gourley, who threw the ball to first baseman Taylor Schwarz for the easy out.
With that final out, Gourley pitched her first no-hitter as a Gator as No. 5 seed UF (46-11) run-ruled FAMU, 8-0, to cap the first day of the Gainesville NCAA Regional at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
“She really set the tone for us today with that first inning,” coach Tim Walton said. “She went out there and threw the ball well. She did a good job.”
After not starting a contest since April 26 against Missouri — a game where she gave up four runs and was pulled from the mound in favor of Lauren Haeger before the first out of the game was recorded — Gourley was dominant against Florida A&M on Friday.
The freshman from Lakeside, Calif., needed just 71 pitches to earn her 14th win of the season. Gourley logged seven strikeouts against one walk against FAMU and only faced two more batters than the minimum.
The contest against the Rattlers on Friday looked like deja vu for Gourley, who also fanned seven batters and walked one in a one-hit, 9-0 shutout against FAMU on April 11.
“I went in there with more confidence because last time I faced them I pitched really well,” Gourley said, “and I just wanted to go into this game with that mindset and continue my performance from the last game.”
But Gourley's no-hitter was almost erased in the fifth inning. With two outs, FAMU first baseman Raven Moseley hit a 3-2 pitch to Gourley. The ball bounced out of her glove, Moseley reached first base and Gourley was charged with an error — Florida's season-high-tying third of the game.
"I wasn't thinking about it," Gourley said. "But, you know, of course after I realized, 'Oh my gosh. It was a no-hitter,' I was thankful it was called an error. And I would still call it an error."
Florida found just as much success at the plate as it did in the circle. After Gourley retired the Rattlers’ first three batters — getting two strikeouts in the process — the Gators jumped to an early 6-0 lead after going through the entire batting order in the bottom of the frame.
"You talk about trying to get fast starts and I think it's a lot easier said than done," Walton said. "I thought all of our hitters really came up and had a plan. They were really trying to put good swings on certain pitches and it was very noticeable."
Leadoff hitter Kelsey Stewart opened UF’s offense with her fifth triple of the season and scored on a Stephanie Tofft sacrifice fly that was dropped by FAMU center fielder Whitney Farris.
With Tofft on second base after the error, Haeger cleared the bases with a two-run home run to center field to bring the score to 3-0. Haeger now has a team-leading 17 home runs on the season and five career home runs in the NCAA Tournament, but the Peoria, Ariz., native doesn’t look into those stats too much.
“Coach talks a lot about how none of your stats matter anymore from the season,” Haeger said. “It’s new stats, whole new world in the postseason."
After Bailey Castro reached on a fielder’s choice and Kirsti Merritt hit a single through the left side, Schwarz doubled Florida’s score before it left the first inning by hitting a three-run home run of her own to left-center field — her eighth home run of the season.
"The second home run was obviously — I don't want to say it was the straw that broke the camel's back — but I think that kind of deflates you a little bit," Walton said.
Stewart led off the second inning with an infield single and then stole her team-leading 31st base of the season. She scored her second run of the game on a throwing error by FAMU third baseman Amber Fulwood when Tofft attempted a sacrifice bunt.
Freshman outfielder Justine McLean drove in pinch runner Jessica Damico in the bottom of the fourth to extend Florida’s advantage to 8-0 and give the Gators a large enough lead to run-rule its 14th opponent of the season. Since Walton became head coach in 2006, UF has eight NCAA Regional run-rule victories.
“I’m just really happy with the way we executed our offense,” Walton said. “We had a lot of positives in the way we swung the bat. Just little things like being able to move runners along. … We’ve been really working hard on getting our game plan a little bit better with situational hitting and I thought we were really good with that.”
With the win, Florida will play Stetson (39-12) in the winner’s bracket on Saturday at 1 p.m. After trailing 4-1 through six innings, Stetson won its first NCAA tournament game in program history, defeating UCF 6-4 in eight innings to open up regional play on Friday.
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
Delanie Gourley pitches during Florida's 7-6 win against Auburn on April 5 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Gourley threw her first collegiate no-hitter in UF's 8-0 win against FAMU on Friday in the NCAA Regionals.
