NCAA TOURNAMENT

GAINESVILLE SUPER REGIONAL / GAME 2 

GAINESVILLE, Fla.  – Georgia smacked home runs in each of the first two innings and third-seeded Florida had no offensive answers in stranding 13 runners, as the unseeded Bulldogs defeated the host Gators 2-1 Saturday in the second game of their NCAA Gainesville Super Region, forcing a decisive Game 3 Sunday that will send one of the two teams to the Women’s College World Series next week at Oklahoma City. 

UGA starter Lilli Backes worked around plenty of traffic before exiting with one out in the UF seventh and runners at 1st and second. Enter reliever Randi Roelling, the pitcher of record in a 6-1 loss in Friday’s Game 1, who got Korbe Otis to fly out and Kenleigh Cahalan to pop to second to end the game. Backes (16-10), who came in with a 3.54 ERA, went 6.1 innings, allowed just the one run and seven hits, walled five and struck out eight against one of the best offenses in the country.

Lyndi Ray Davis’s first-inning homer and Emily Digby’s shot in second put the Bulldogs up 2-0 early and the Gators playing from behind out of the box. Digby’s homer also chased UF starter Keagan Rothrock (15-6), who allowed just one run over 6.1 innings Friday. She was replaced by sophomore Olivia Miller, who combined with Kara Hammock to pitch five scoreless innings and and give up just two hits. The Gators, though, could not capitalize.

UF had its chances, putting runners on in all seven innings. The Gators left the bases loaded in the first and had runners at first and second with no outs in the fourth, but got nothing, with freshman slugger Taylor Shumaker grounding to second with two runners in scoring position to end the inning. 

Florida cut the lead in half in its fifth when Reagan Walsh reached on an error and Mia Williams singled down the left-field line, again putting runners in scoring position with one out. Ava Brown walked to the load the bases and Korbe Otis brought home a run on a sacrifice fly to deep center. Backes got out of it by getting Cahalan to ground to first. 

The Gators had another chance in the sixth when Kendra Falby reached on a one-out infield single, then dashed to second on a throwing error. There she stayed, however, as Shumaker, who went an uncharacteristic 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, flew to left and Jocelyn Erickson flew to right. 

And, finally, it was more frustration for Florida and its rowdy home crowd in the seventh. The Gators had runners on first and second with nobody out when Brown stuck out for the third time. That’s when Roelling came in and got Otis on the SAC fly, with both runners moving up, putting the tying run at third and go-ahead at second. Cahalan popped out on the first pitch to end the game. 

PLAY OF THE GAME: UGA led 2-0 in the third, with Davis at second after a lead-off walk. Jayden Goodwin lined a single into the right-field gap, where Shumaker plucked the ball off the bounce, fired a strike to Williams, whose relay was a lazer — and perfectly placed — to get Davis, sliding head-first, on a great tag by catcher Jocelyn Erickson. It was the second outstanding defensive play by Shumaker in as many days and kept the Bulldogs from adding to the scoreboard.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Backes certainly didn’t handcuff the Gators, but she showed a lot of grit in pitching around the messes, much of it her doing, but also thanks to three Georgia errors. 

STAGGERING STATISTIC: The Gators hit .066 with runners in scoring position Saturday, going 1-for-15. Brown stranded six, while Shumaker and Cahalan left four each. UF came into the game ranked third nationally in RBI with 436. 

UP NEXT: Florida (47-15) and Georgia (35-22) will play the Game 3 on Sunday, with a starting time of to be announced later Saturday. The Gators are 6-0 all-time in Super Region Game 3s. 

QUOTES

Coach Tim Walton 

* (Opening statement): “Good softball game. I told my team the same thing. A good game of good plays on defense, good pitching. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t have any timely hitting today. I think that’s the key. Our pitching staff did a really good job, going to Olivia and Kara to give us a chance, and then to have a chance at the end. Every inning from the third inning on there were some much better at-bats we strung together, but all in all, good softball game. It’s ultimately a toughness test now. That’s what it feels like. That’s what I told our team last night. They have to beat us twice. They played a great game today.”  

* (Given the offensive production on the season, was this more an anomaly?): “We always talk to our pitchers [and say] keep it under four and we have a chance to win. To be clear, we just didn’t execute a great swing plan when we got to that point. We were chasing balls out of the zone. We’re not a chase team. I don’t know that we have had more swings and misses all year. That just tells you about the magnitude of the game. Some things that are completely out of my control, and out of their control. It’s a little bit different when you get into woulda, coulda, shoulda [and] the College World Series. All those things are there at the end of the day, so it’s about simplifying it. Swing at better pitches.”

Korbe Otis  

* (On the offensive struggles with runners in scoring position): “We play a game of failure. Failure is to be expected. There’s not another game out there where you fail six or seven times out of 10 and you’re a Hall-of-Famer. Just need to get one swing better, one percent better.” 

* (On looking ahead to Game 3): “Tomorrow is a new day. We were one swing away from winning that game in a lot of senses, so I think we’re very prepared and confident going in.”

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu