No. 22 Florida Salvages Series With Bulldogs, 6-1
Gators Stop Seven-Game Losing Skid To Maroons
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Homestanding and 22nd ranked Florida (36-20, 17-10 SEC) pushed two unearned runs across the plate in the second inning and used a slow day from the Mississippi State (33-26, 13-16) batting order to salvage its series with the visiting Bulldogs on a 6-1 decision Sunday afternoon at the Florida Softball Stadium.
Freshman Callye Williams broke up a bid for a no-hitter by the Gators with a two-out single in the fifth and finished with a 1-for-3 showing at the plate, while Jennifer Waterman?s RBI single in the sixth spoiled a UF shutout and allowed the junior to finish with a 1-for-2 hitting tally. All-American Iyhia McMichael doubled and scored a run on a 1-for-3 performance, while Brooke Best (1-for-3) added State?s fourth and final hit of the ballgame on a single in the seventh. Gator shortstop Jackie Marchetta paced the host team at the plate, walking and scoring twice on a perfect 1-for-1 clip.
Mississippi State starter Melissa Massey (21-11) allowed three runs on a pair of hits and five walks in four innings of work to saddle the loss for the Bulldogs, offsetting a pair of trouble spots in which she worked herself out of. Junior Jenny Gladding (19-11) got her first victory in three tries against the Maroon and White, striking out six and scattering four hits over a complete game. With the victory, Gladding upped her career record against the Bulldogs to 1-2 to accompany a 5.35 ERA.
Massey got off to a slow start but quickly recovered after walking the first two Gators of the contest. Despite the free passes, Massey struck out Gladding ? UF?s best power hitter ? and induced Jennifer Mossadeghi to fly out and Nikki Baldwin to ground out to escape the threat. However, Florida put a runner into scoring position with two outs in the second, and used a pair of walks and a costly defensive miscue by MSU to push two runs across and take a 2-0 lead into the third.
The Gators extended their lead out to three on Kristen Butler?s sac fly in the fourth, then took a 5-0 lead one inning later on a sac fly by Mossadeghi and a errant throw on a stolen base attempt which allowed a runner to score from third. State got a two-out double from McMichael and a RBI single from Waterman in the sixth to spoil Gladding?s shutout, but UF pushed its lead back to five on a double steal in the bottom half of the inning.
The Bulldogs will now take a week off for finals before resuming competition on Thursday, May 8, in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Plant City, Fla. With conference regular season play set to conclude this weekend, State could enter the tournament as either a No. 7 or No. 8 seed.
If the Bulldogs are a No. 7 seed, the Maroons will play the Georgia/Alabama series loser inside Plant City Stadium at 2 p.m. EDT. Should Tennessee take its three-game series against Mississippi this weekend, MSU will enter the SEC Tournament as a No. 8 seed and will face the Georgia/Alabama series winner in the first round at 8 p.m. EDT. For ticket information for the 2003 SEC Tournament, please contact the Southeastern Conference at (205) 458-3000.