The opening game of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for the Florida Gators was never expected to be close, and unlike some other teams around the SEC (looking at you LSU), the Gators left little doubt as Florida cruised to a 8-0 run-rule win over Mercer.
Florida was held scoreless in the first two innings before the floodgates opened in the 3rd inning. Kendra Falby walked, and Taylor Shumaker smacked a home run to make it 2-0. Mia Williams hit a double to make it 3-0, and by the time the inning was over, it was 5-0.
Another Williams double in the 4th scored two more runs to make it 7-0, and Jocelyn Erickson singled in the 5th to end it at 8-0.
Kara Hammock made the start in the circle and went 2.2 innings before letting Ava Brown close things out. Brown was credited with the win.
Florida will now move on to face FAU at 12 PM. The winner moves on to the Regional Finals on Sunday, while the loser has to return at 5 PM to face the winner of Mercer vs. Georgia Tech.
Flaws Still Exists For Florida Baseball
It is a minor miracle that Florida Baseball has been able to keep the ship afloat, given the injuries that have piled up. The Gators lost Luke Heyman for the season on Thursday and have had to burn redshirts just to field a lineup.
When clicking, the lineup is still potent but on Friday night the warts of Florida's makeshift lineup were still evident.
The Gators took a 2-0 lead early that was evened up at 2-2 heading into the 5th.
That's when the wheels on the bus fell off as Billy Barlow threw 12 straight balls to load the bases before he was yanked for Christian Rodriguez.
Florida had a chance to get out of the inning on a double play, but Bobby Boser couldn't come up with the short hop and it morphed into a five-run inning that put Alabama up 7-2.
It was 9-2 heading into the bottom of the 9th before Florida scored to make the final score 9-6 in favor of the Crimson Tide.
Florida should be safe enough to make it to the NCAA Tournament, but there is hope that they could even host the Regional Round. They will need to win game three of the series today at 4 PM to have a realistic shot of that.