Gators’ star Barnhill has all bases covered
GAINESVILLE — Another shutout was in the books and a rare springtime Sunday to herself had arrived for UF star pitcher Kelly Barnhill.
Even then, the Gators were on her mind as she headed off to go blueberry picking just south of Gainesville on a picaresque day.
Barnhill has been a rock for one of the nation’s top teams and equally reliable whenever a celebration in is order. This time, she whipped up a blueberry, strawberry, blackberry pie for AllAmerican outfielder Amanda Lorenz’s 21st birthday.
“She likes to bake,” Lorenz said. “It’s something new all the time.”
Barnhill has been much more predictable on the mound, where she carries a 25-1 record, with 11 shutouts and 0.93 earned-run average, entering the Gators’ first matchup in the SEC tournament that got under way late Thursday night.
Barnhill, the reigning national player of the year, will be the Gators’ key ingredient during the postseason. At the same time, it’s always about the team for a player who single-handedly can dominate a game with her exceptional velocity and variety of pitches.
“I just try to be who I am,” Barnhill, a 21-year-old junior, said. “It’s not like I’m better than anyone else because I’m a good pitcher. We’re all teammates, no one is more important than the other. We’re all working toward the same goal.
“That’s the mentality that we have here.”
This mindset invariably has to begin with Barnhill, who becomes the focal point whenever she takes the field.
“When you’re in the circle, everybody feeds off of you and your energy and your confidence,” said Stacy Tamborra, a former Florida State star and Barnhill’s longtime pitching coach in Marietta, Ga. “If Kelly loses confidence, then her team’s going to feel that.”
Never was this dynamic more evident than on a recent Sunday against LSU. Tagged for two home runs and three runs overall during the top of the fifth inning, Barnhill headed to the dugout with her head held high and implored her teammates to pick her up.
“They did, they responded,” she said. “It was really awesome to see.”
Four runs in the bottom of the inning followed by six straight LSU outs — four by Barnhill strikeouts — completed a 5-3 rally that affirmed she and the Gators possess the moxie to make another run at the College World Series.
The 2017 Gators’ season closed with back-to-back losses during the finals to Oklahoma, including a 17-inning epic in Game 1 that ended in a Barnhill defeat. As the Sooners celebrated the next night at Oklahoma City’s ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, she and the Gators looked on helplessly.
“I can’t think of a worse feeling than being on the field and confetti flying down and the other team dog-piling in front of you and you’re just standing there watching,” Barnhill said. “Hopefully this year we’ll be able to get our shot at a celebration like that.”
To increase her chances, Barnhill added swim workouts, a nutritionist and a sports psychologist during the offseason. While her record-setting numbers from 2017, including a 0.51 ERA, have dipped a bit, Barnhill might be a stronger pitcher where it matters most.
“I think mentally she’s gotten a lot stronger,” Lorenz said. “She just has a calmness about her.”
UF coach Tim Walton said he has never coached a pitcher — including former UF All-Americans and College World Series champions — with such incredible command and deception.
“How she can manipulate the ball and get the ball to do what she does with the velocity she does is unique,” Walton said. “I don’t know if I’ve seen a pitcher do what she does with the ball. It’s amazing.”
Barnhill keeps people guessing off the field, too.
She likes to bake to relax and put a smile on the faces of her teammates.
“It makes me happy to see other people happy eating what I made,” Barnhill said.
Barnhill, who was named to the SEC Community Service Team, also is an honors student majoring in economics and public relations.
“People always get really entrenched in, ‘Oh, she’s a softball player,’ ” Barnhill said. “You can’t let your sport be your whole identity because there’s going to be a point in everyone’s career, unfortunately, where you hang up your cleats and put your glove away and it’s the last time you play.
“So, it’s more than just being a softball player. You just have to be more dynamic than that.”