Final: Louisiana 7, Florida 5
The #6 Florida Gators narrowly lost the second of a 3-game home series against the #10 Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns on Saturday afternoon. The series is now tied, and game three will be held tomorrow at noon. With the loss, the Gators drop to 17-3 overall (9-1 at home), while Louisiana’s victory improves its record to 13-5 (3-3 away).
Game Recap
Florida’s offense heated up early on as the Gators’ first six batters reached base safely. Leadoff hitter, Hannah Adams, scored the first run of the game on a double by Jordan Roberts. Charla Echols and Roberts then reached home safely on a wild pitch and an error on Louisiana’s catcher, respectively. Florida added on one more run before the end of the inning on a fielder’s choice to take an early 4-0 lead.
Florida starting pitcher, Rylee Trlicek, had a rough outing in the circle as she ran into trouble in the second inning. Trlicek recorded only one out in the inning before allowing five runs on four hits and two errors, one of which was a throwing error on herself. Two of the runs were scored on Carrie Boswell’s pinch-hit triple down the right-field line. Following the outburst of Louisiana runs, Elizabeth Hightower entered the circle in relief and got the final two outs for Florida to end the inning trailing 5-4.
After two consecutive high-scoring half innings, the pitching and defenses for both teams settled in nicely. Florida RHP Danni Farley did however struggle to find the strike-zone in the fourth as she allowed a 4-pitch bases-loaded walk. The Ragin’ Cajuns would carry a 6-4 advantage until the seventh inning when they tacked on one more insurance run in the top of the inning on a wild pitch by Katie Chronister. The wild pitch was the only hiccup for Chronister, who hurled 3.1 strong innings while allowing just one earned run on two hits.
In the bottom half of the inning, Louisiana pitcher Megan Kleist needed just nine pitches to hand Florida its third loss of the season. The Gators did score one run in the seventh on Kendyl Lindaman’s sacrifice fly, but it was not enough to pull off the comeback.
Notable Stats
- Katie Chronister (3.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1.58 season ERA)
- Kendyl Lindaman (1-2, 1 RBI, 1 BB)
- Jordan Roberts (1-3, 1 RBI, 1 R)
- All-time series between Florida and Louisiana is now tied 6-6
Pitching Decision
Win: Summer Ellyson (7-1)
Loss: Rylee Trlicek (7-2)
Save: Megan Fleist (2)
Looking Ahead
The rubber match will be decided tomorrow at 12 ET at KSP Stadium. The Gators will host Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday before facing Auburn next weekend in a 3-game home series (SEC opener).