OKLAHOMA CITY– Maybe all the Florida Gators needed was a win over a Southeastern Conference team to remind them how utterly dominant (and fun-loving) they were in the league tournament last month that gave them so much confidence heading into NCAA play.
"This offense is unreal," sixth-year senior shortstop Skylar Wallace said after slugging half her teams four homers and knocking in three runs Monday in fourth-seeded UF's 9-3 victory over second-seeded and three-time reigning national-champion Oklahoma at bummed and Boomer Sooner-jammed Devon Park. "We take a lot of pride in our swings, all of our work. So we're never doubting who we are as hitters. We stick to our approaches. We make the pitchers work a lot."
— Gators Softball (@GatorsSB) June 3, 2024AGAIN ✈️@Wallace2Skylar with another home run!
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That's exactly what they did back on May 10-11 when over a span of about 35 hours, the Gators (54-14) buzz-sawed three top 15-ranked opponents – Georgia, Texas A&M and Missouri, respectively – with next-to-no resistance, outscoring them by a combined 22-8 while banging out 23 hits and seven homers en route to the program's first SEC tourney title in five years.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "And That's the Ballgame" recap here]
But that Florida offense had been missing the last three weeks, despite advancing through the NCAA regional and Super Regional rounds. It certainly wasn't there for the Gators' opener in the WCWS, a 1-0 eeker against fifth-seeded Oklahoma State on Thursday night. Or, quite clearly, for the 10-0 clubbing they took Friday against top-seeded Texas, a loss that dumped UF on the elimination side of the WCWS bracket with just one run and three hits to show for it throughtwo games in OKC.
As it turned out, SEC rival Alabama was up next and the Gators awakened fortheir familiar foe with 10 hits in a 6-4 survive-and-advance win Sunday night. On Monday, UF waited out a three-hour rain delay before taking the field against the all-mighty Sooners, the nation's No. 2 hitting team with their three straight NCAA crowns, 20 consecutive WCWS victories and unmatched homefield advantage, what with the Norman campus less than 30 minutes away.
A Florida loss and the Gators were going home.
And yet?
"This was the calmest I've seen the team today," junior centerfielder Kendra Falby said. "Everyone was free, having fun with it, [just] going out there and being fearless."
OK, wait a second. To repeat, that was Kendra Falby speaking. As in the former UF leadoff hitter who was in a 0-for-20 slump bridging the Super Regional and WCWS and hitting just .122 in 12 postseason games when she came to the plate in the second inning. She was batting in the No. 9 spot.Falby sliced a line drive down the left-field line, where OU outfielder Rylie Boone tried to make a diving catch. The ball scooted past Boone, bounced all the way to the wall while Falby road-runnered the bases for an inside-the-park home run.
She didn't need to slide into home – the play wasn't close – but did so anyway, with the sight of Falby popping up into the waiting arms of Wallace a signal to her team.
Falby was back and so was the UF offense.
"I knew a hit was coming. I didn't think it was going to bethatone. I mean, it was like pure joy," said Falby, who the day before made the selfless suggestion to Coach Tim Walton that she move back in the batting order to try to get some action going at the top. "Once you start getting in that hole, you start thinking things, you get in your own head. I made sure I stuck with my plan."
INSIDE THE PARK HOME RUN 🏃♀️#WCWS x 🎥 ESPN / @GatorsSB pic.twitter.com/woXZWfAwUQ
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) June 3, 2024
Wallace stepped in after Falby's made dash and caved in a Nicole May pitch over the right-field wall for a solo homer and 3-0 lead. Remember, Wallace had a pretty rough April (along the line of Falby's May), but worked her way through by sticking with the plan, as well.
Same, apparently, with freshman Ava Brown, hitless in her previous 10 at-bats and a DNP against Alabama. Brown stroked a two-out, RBI double in the UF third. Same for junior Reagan Walsh, who clubbed a three-run homer in the fourth inning. It was her team-high 18thhomer, but just her second in the last 18 games. Walsh, who went 3-for-4 with four RBI, pushed UF ahead 7-1.
The score was 7-3 an inning later, with the crowd feeling a little more energized, when Wallace stroked an opposite-field, two-run homer to bring the OU faithful back to unfamilar territory.
In the end, Florida out-Boomered the Sooners and it wasn't particularly close, even with an uneven – but ultimately very poised – performance from freshman pitcher Keagan Rothrock, who limited OU to just seven hits, while working through and around seven walks, a couple wild pitches and a hit batter.
Here's guessing what her offense did allowed Rothrock to play "free," also.
"For those [players] to say they felt free, comfortable, relaxed, they felt pressure-free, is a tip of the cap to them," Walton said after his team handed OU(56-7) its most lopsided loss since 2020 and scoring the most runs by an opponent this season. "We didn't really do anything different, to be honest with you."
The players just treated this one differently. With a SEC vibe.
"We were firing, had nothing to lose, playing free and making the pitchers work the zone. When they got it, we went," Wallace said. "We're super-electric and I think that shows with the passion and trust we put into everything. I mean, it's just a lot of fun hitting with this team. A lot of fun."
The Gators lived to see another WCWS day and earned a chance to see All-America super-ace Kelly Maxwell in the circle Tuesday afternoon with a berth in the best-of-three championship series on the line.
They'll need the same clear-headed mentality to reach their goal.
Predicted theme for the game: Play evenfreer.
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