Coming into the Women's College World Series, there was some hope that the Florida Gators were legit contenders to win the national title. With a lineup that had the potential to leave the park at a moment's notice, combined with a pitching staff that seemed to have stabilized, the pieces were in place for the Gators to make a run.
Instead, Florida barely got to unpack their bags after a disappointing showing in Oklahoma City has the Gators going home after just two games.
Florida Gators eliminated from the WCWS
We had mapped out yesterday a pathway for Florida to claw their way back after they had lost to Texas in the opener, but that road map was blown to smithereens in the 1st inning.
After Florida put two runners on in the top of the first and failed to score, Tennessee responded in kind by putting up seven runs in the bottom of the first to take away any drama from the game instantly.
Tim Walton started Kara Hammock in the circle, and it didn't go well. Hammock was pulled for Ava Brown without recording an out. Hammock was charged with four earned runs of 0.0 innings.
But Brown couldn't stop the bleeding either and was tagged for five runs in just 1.2 innings.
Florida's bats, meanwhile, coming off a two-hit day against Texas, managed just three hits over five innings. Regan Walsh and Korbe Otis had home runs to prevent the shutout.
Was this season a success for the Gators?
The standard for Florida Softball is OKC is bust, so the fact that Florida was able to make a return trip to the WCWS makes it hard to call this season a failure.
However, despite being the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Gators finished tied for 5th in the SEC after being one vote away from being the preseason poll favorite to win the SEC.
There is also an uncomfortable truth that over the last decade, Florida has played a gatekeeper role when it comes to determining who is a real contender to win the national title.
Since 2018, Florida has been just 4-10 in five appearances in the WCWS.
Should the expectations be higher?
Hard to say when Oklahoma sucks so much oxygen out of the room once in OKC.
But Florida can't even blame the Sooners for their elimination, and if the goal is to lift another national title trophy and not just put another WCWS year on the outfield wall, these past two days in Oklahoma City showed Florida still has a ways to go.