Bats go silent as Gators fall to Texas 3-0 in first round at OKC

Mia Williams starts a double play by tagging out Ashton Maloney of Texas (UAA Photo)

Teagan Kavan wasn’t overpowering Thursday afternoon in the opening game of the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City. Far from it. The Texas righty only struck out one Florida hitter so making contact was the least of the Gators’ problems.

The Gators (48-18) spent the day pounding the ball into the ground or popping up to the infield. The ball left the infield only five times against Kavan’s steady diet of drop balls, which induced 13 ground outs, one of which was turned into an inning-ending double play. Of Florida’s two hits, only a fourth inning single by Korbe Otis reached the outfield and that one was off the mitt of first baseman Joley Mitchell.

Texas (52-11) didn’t exactly wear out Florida pitching, but three of the Longhorns’ seven hits left the yard and that was the difference in the game. With their 3-0 win over the Gators, Texas gets a day off before facing Oklahoma in the second round. Florida will face Tennessee tomorrow in an elimination game.

“We were on the losing side, but thought both teams played well,” Florida coach Tim Walton said. “We weren't able to string anything together consistently, but overall thought we played well. Ready to play, and they just did a little bit better job than we did."

All three Texas homers came off Keagan Rothrock – a second inning homer to left field by Mitchell and back-to-back homers by Mitchell and Katie Stewart in the sixth. Mitchell’s second homer was perhaps an inch beyond the reach of Florida center fielder Kendra Falby. The Rawlings Gold Glove winner for the second straight year timed her leap perfectly but the ball was just too far for her to bring back into the Devon Field.

Kavan held Florida hitless for 3-2/3 innings. It wasn’t until Otis hit a scorcher down the first base line that ticked off Mitchell’s mitt and dribbled into right field that the Gators had their first base hit.

The Gators wouldn’t get another hit until the sixth when Taylor Shumaker legged out a one-out infield tapper back to Kavan. Any threat of a rally was erased when Reagan Walsh bounced into a second unassisted to first double play.

The Gators were shut out for only the third time this year and their two hits represents their worst game at the plate. Despite the poor production, Otis says there is nothing wrong with the Florida offense.

"There's nothing that's broken,” Otis said. “There's nothing broken to fix. Our offense is really powerful. Today obviously we just didn't get the right ... we obviously just didn't put the right swings on the right pitches, and sometimes that's how softball goes. So there's not a huge adjustment to make. We're just going out and playing Gator softball and staying us."

Other than the three home runs, Rothrock pitched well enough to win the game. She went five full innings before being yanked for Ava Brown after giving up the two homers to lead off the Texas sixth. Rothrock gave up five hits, walked two and struck out four.

Rothrock gave up a leadoff homer to Mitchell in the top of the second and hit the next batter but got out of the inning without further damage on a foul out and strikeout, throw out double play with Jocelyn Erickson nailing Stewart trying to steal with a perfect throw to Mia Williams.

In the fourth, Rothrock got out of a first and third with two out jam by inducing Victoria Hunter to ground out to Williams. Texas threatened in the sixth inning on a throwing error by Rylee Holtorff and a two-out single by Mia Scott, but Rothrock got out of the inning when she caught Reese Atwood looking at a third strike.

Rothrock said she believes the Gators will play well Friday against Tennessee.

"Nobody wants to be a loser on the elimination bracket side of it,” Rothrock said. “But I also think we're a team that when our back is against the wall, for whatever reason, we play a little bit more free, which seems really backwards, but at the same time I think the experience last year does help us. But with the new people, just learning how to continue to play Gator softball and just to continue to focus on us and make sure that we're doing the things that we need to be able to do."

The loss sends the Gators to the loser’s bracket where they will face Tennessee (45-16) at 7 p.m. Friday evening. Tennessee held a 3-1 lead on Oklahoma going into the bottom of the seventh, but the Sooners got a 2-out, 3-run homer to walk it off. Oklahoma (51-7) and Texas play a winner’s bracket game Saturday at 3 p.m.

For the Gators to get out of their bracket and to the best of three championship series, they will have to go 4-0 over the next few days.

"Obviously, it's a huge letdown to lose the first game of the College World Series, and the way they go about their business just tells me everything I need to know about the people that I coach," Walton said. "They take it serious. They compete. They work hard, and they enjoy what they do. So to me, no matter what we do tomorrow, today was a learning opportunity.”