Will Florida Softball’s Gut Punch From UCF Help Them Or Hurt Them In T-Town?

Florida softball was embarrassed Wednesday night.

The last time the Gators played the then No. 24-ranked, now No. 23-ranked UCF Knights they lost in heartbreaking, walk-off fashion.

Wednesday? Not so much.

The Knights jumped on Florida early.

Fifth-year Gainesville native Katie Chronister got the starting nod in the circle for the Gators. But her outing didn’t last long.

Looking at the box score, you’d assume Chronister never saw the field. Her stat line reads that she pitched 0.0 innings in the loss.

Florida head coach Tim Walton yanked her out of the game before she recorded a single out in the top of the first inning, but not before she gave up four hits and four earned runs.

The Knights strung together three hits with small ball, one of which was sent reeling back to Chronister in the circle, hitting her en route to plating UCF’s first run.

Hanging tough, Chronister dug her heels into the clay of Katie Seashole Presley Stadium and looked to get out of the jam with runners on the corners.

But UCF’s Shannon Doherty had other plans.

The sophomore Knight ripped a 2-1 offering from Chronister over the left field wall and into the Gainesville evening atmosphere.

Chronister finished her outing with four hits, four earned runs, no strikeouts and not one forced out when she was relieved by sophomore Rylee Trlicek, who was tasked with getting out of the four-run inning.

And while Trlicek stopped the bleeding in the first, UCF continued to drive the dagger into the chest of the Gators in the second and third innings, adding three more runs to take a 7-0 advantage.

Meanwhile, Florida’s lineup was fruitless.

The Gators’ lineup, which has been hitting as well as any in the country, struggled mightily to find the answers to Breanna Vasquez.

Florida, which averages 7.62 hits per game, managed to string together just three hits on Wednesday.

Leadoff hitter Hannah Adams, who leads the Gators’ batting efforts, is hitting .431 on the year. The senior went 1-for-3 on Wednesday.

Kendyl Lindaman and Avery Goelz each recorded hits of their own in the loss.

Batters like Charla Echols (.374) and Cheyenne Lindsey (.356) each went hitless in the loss.

UCF delivered Wednesday night’s gut punch just three weeks after the Knights welcomed the Gators to Orlando and gifted them their third loss of the season.

Now Tim Walton and Co. are 30-5.

But there could be good to come out of it.

Midweek games are never to be overlooked. They’re just as important as any weekend series. However, if history is any indication, Walton has a way of getting his team to respond to losses.

And the Gators are facing their toughest task this weekend as they travel to Tuscaloosa to take on the No. 3-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide.

Last time the Knights beat the Gators, Florida hosted the LSU Tigers for a top 15 series and swept the Tigers, solidifying the Gators spot in national conversation.

Walton challenged his team following the initial loss to the Knights. And they responded.

And to realistically stay in the conversation of being a legitimate contender in the Women’s College World Series in June, they’ll need to respond again.

But Alabama won’t make it easy.

Crimson Tide ace Montana Fouts has been on a tear.

Fouts is not only coming off of a week in which she earned SEC Pitcher of the Week honors, but she is also coming off of a big series win over No. 8 Arkansas.

En route to securing the series against the Razorbacks, Fouts hurled two 10-strikeout games, her seventh and eighth of the season.

Florida’s staff of pitchers has recorded just one 10-strikeout game all season.

From the batter’s box, the Crimson Tide average .314 with Alexis Mack leading the way at .429.

In addition to Mack’s consistency, Bailey Hemphill has sent eight balls into orbit and beyond the fence.

Considering she didn’t make an appearance on Wednesday, Elizabeth Hightower is expected to start Friday night’s game against the Crimson Tide for the Gators.

Hightower has emerged into the ace position in 2021 after limited appearances in 2019 and 2020.

Hightower and the Florida defense will have to stay ahead in the game. Wednesday proved how hard, and sometimes impossible, it is to claw back into ball games after early deficits.

“If they are looking forward to anything, it’s Alabama kicking their butts if they played like they did tonight,” Walton said following Wednesday’s loss.

The Gators will have an opportunity to rebound from the UCF loss on Friday night when they kick off another weekend of SEC action at 7 p.m. from Tuscaloosa.