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Florida Gators Softball: Flaw exposed in mercy rule loss to UCLA

By Benjamin Henderson

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - JUNE 4: Head coach Tim Walton of the Florida Gators challenges a call in the sixth inning against the the Oklahoma State Cowboys during the NCAA Women's College World Series at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex on June 4, 2022 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Oklahoma State won 2-0. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - JUNE 4: Head coach Tim Walton of the Florida Gators challenges a call in the sixth inning against the the Oklahoma State Cowboys during the NCAA Women's College World Series at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex on June 4, 2022 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Oklahoma State won 2-0. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /
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It was an ugly night for Florida Gators softball against UCLA last night. Playing in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, CA, Florida had a chance to test themselves against No. 1 UCLA in a highly anticipated matchup in the college softball world.

Like the majority of games for Florida this season, the game was called after five innings due to the mercy rule.

The only problem is that the Gators were on the receiving end of the beatdown and fell to the Bruins 10-0, and in the process confirmed one structural flaw Florida Gators softball has for 2023.

Florida Gators Softball: More than one arm

We here at Hail Florida Hail try not to overreact to one game, especially in a sport like a softball where Florida will have three more games over the next two days. But we did say in our season preview of the team that pitching depth was going to be a concern. Natalie Lugo graduated, and Elizabeth Hightower had an up-and-down season last year.

Hightower has done her part so far, as she has yet to surrender an earned run in 20.1 innings pitched. Behind her though gets a little iffier.

Rylee Trlicek beat out Lexie Delbrey to be the second starter for Florida and she has had a couple of good outings this year. She kept Illinois State and Jacksonville off the scoreboard and held Central Michigan to just one run.

But Trlicek also gave up three runs and seven hits in just 3.1 innings of work vs UConn. Last night she took the mound vs UCLA and was shelled for four runs and five hits in just 1.2 innings of work.

Samantha Bender was also tagged for four runs last night in 1.1 innings. This was her first appearance since giving up three runs in 1.1 innings to Bowling Green.

Olivia Gigante was the third arm to appear, and she too couldn’t stop the bleeding after two runs in one inning of work. This follows up the four runs in three innings she also gave up vs Bowling Green.

So, while Florida also failing to get a hit cemented the awful night, the lack of hitting felt like an aberration rather than a trend. It didn’t help that Skylar Wallace wasn’t there last night.

Florida’s pitching depth behind Hightower however is showing the early signs of being a trend.

This isn’t to say the Gators won’t have a successful season. In college softball, a team can go quite far with solid hitting and one solid arm. As long as Hightower’s arm holds up, Florida has everything it needs to make another appearance in Oklahoma City come June.

But, to win it all once in OKC a squad will eventually need a second arm to emerge. Perhaps head coach Tim Walton didn’t throw Hightower last night because he knows he might see UCLA down the road and wanted to save her arm while throwing the rest of the pitching staff into the fire to see who emerges.

Chess, not checkers.

But last night UCLA Walton’s squad in quite the gambit.

Florida will need to develop more pieces come June to avoid checkmate.

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