Gators, ’Noles reach Super Regionals
UF pitcher Aleshia Ocasio followed a seven-hour rain delay Sunday by putting on a one-woman show.
Ocasio, a senior from St. Cloud, threw a no-hitter and drove in two runs to lead the fourth-ranked Gators to a 4-0 win against Ohio State in the NCAA Regionals.
“It feels amazing,” Ocasio said. “Obviously you want the momentum to carry on.”
UF’s three wins during the weekend earned the Gators the right to host No. 15 Texas A&M in the super regional beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday. UF (53-8) needs two wins in the scheduled three-game series for a ninth trip in 11 years to the College World Series.
The Gators, CWS winners in 2014 and 2015, lost to Oklahoma during the 2017 championship series.
UF actually appeared in danger of dropping a game Saturday to Ohio State but rallied for three runs in the fifth inning and seven more an inning later for a 10-2 win.
On Sunday, the Gators had to wait out a massive rain delay to finish off the Buckeyes. A game scheduled for noon did not begin until 7:04 p.m.
“I give our players credit for doing what they needed to do to stay focused,” UF coach Tim Walton said.
Ocasio clearly did not lose her edge and finished the night with her third solo nohitter at UF and the first seven-inning postseason nohitter in program history. Ocasio retired 20 of the first 21 batters she faced, had 12 strikeouts and yielded just three walks.
Ocasio and ace Kelly Barnhill combined for a nohitter during five innings Friday against BethuneCookman.
Offensively, the Gators drew 11 walks Sunday, including three in the first inning to score a run. A fielder’s-choice RBI from Ocasio in the fifth inning pushed UF’s lead to 2-0.
An inning later, the Gators scored twice, the final run by SEC Player of the Year Amanda Lorenz off an Ocasio sacrifice fly.
Kylee Hanson retired the first 15 batters she faced and helped No. 6 Florida State (50-10) defeat Jacksonville State (35-25) 10-0 on Sunday afternoon at JoAnne Graf Field to win the Tallahassee Regional.
Hanson had not allowed a hit and recorded 23 strikeouts in her first 10 innings against Jacksonville State during the regional until Hayley Sims hit a double to left center to start the bottom of the sixth inning. Hanson, a redshirt senior, finished Sunday with 11 strikeouts in six innings.
“First of all, congrats to Jacksonville State on an amazing year,” FSU coach Lonni Alameda said. “The games they played yesterday were with such passion and heart and that comes from the top down. Their coach is a good character coach and has a really cool program. So it was great to play against a team like that.
“As for us, again Kylee set the tone and we went out with the same game plan. Really made it comfortable for the offense to go out and do their thing and capitalize. Super excited to be heading on to next weekend and hosting, too.”
FSU is scheduled to face LSU at 7 p.m. Friday in the first game of the Tallahassee Super Regional.