Gators pounce, roll past Rattlers
The Florida Gators softball team got off to a hot start to open NCAA Tournament play.
National No. 1 seed UF rolled to a 9-0 win over Florida A&M in five innings. delivered a no-hitter and was supported by an explosive offensive attack.
“Our bats were good, very consistent, very poised,” UF coach
said. “I thought the overall presence at the plate was very good. And when you can pitch the way Delanie pitched, change speeds, it can be tough to score on and is a formula for success.”
The Gators and No. 4 seed FAMU went through extensive warm-ups in Gainesville, but first pitch was pushed back nearly three hours due to a weather delay.
Gourley wasn’t bothered by the break, warming up a second time and delivering a strong performance.
“Everything felt really good from my first warming up,” she said. “... Felt pretty smooth. We’ve been having really good vibes.”
Walton said his team had to just take the delay in stride.
“I think the frustrating part of that is when you get through the entire warm-up process ... and then boom you’ve got a delay,” he said. “It’s frustrating, but at the end of the day that’s the unique part of being an outside sport.”
No. 2 seed Oklahoma State earned a 2-0 win over No. 3 seed FIU to advance on the other side of the bracket.
UF will play Oklahoma State at noon today, while Florida A&M and FIU will square off at 2:30 p.m. in a Gainesville Regional elimination game.
It may not have been as dominant as expected, but the top-seeded Florida State softball team came away with a 3-0 win over the No. 4 seed Princeton Tigers in its opening game of the NCAA Tournament Tallahassee Regional on Friday.
It may have been a shutout win, but FSU (52-6-1) was threatened early in its matchup with Princeton (25-19). The Tigers got the first two batters of the game on base and loaded the bases in the first before FSU pitcher
got a clutch strikeout to escape the jam.
From there, Burroughs found her groove, allowing no baserunners over the next five innings. For the game, she struck out eight Tigers while allowing just one hit over six innings of work, improving to 26-4 on the year.
Offensively, the Seminoles were held to one run on four hits over the opening four innings.
Florida State freshman catcher provided major production at the plate in her first NCAA Tournament game, finishing Friday’s outing 2-3 with a double, a triple, and an RBI.
With the win, FSU advances into the winner’s bracket of the Tallahassee Regional. The Seminoles are next in action today at noon against No. 2 seed Georgia.
No. 3 seed Jacksonville State, which lost 4-2 to the Bulldogs Friday, will play Princeton in an elimination game at 2:30 p.m. today.