2017 Women’s College World Series Day 2 Florida vs. LSU Recap
Day two of the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City brought the four winner’s bracket teams to the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. Florida vs. LSU kicked off the night cap and game two will feature Oklahoma vs. Washington. Two teams from tonight will move on to the Winner’s bracket final which will be played on Sunday, the two teams that fall short will be added to the schedule for Saturday.
Game 5: Florida Shuts Out LSU in 6-0 Victory
Florida got the first hit of the game which came in the form of leadoff single off the bat of Amanda Lorenz. With one out in the first, Dewitt was hit by a pitch which put runners on first and second for Florida. Starting pitcher Carley Hoover and the LSU defense was able to settle down and get out of the jam with no damage done. Sahvanna Jaquish proved just why she is a four time All-American in the bottom of the first, sending a base hit line drive up the middle off Kelly Barnhill, the National Player of the Year. Barnhill and the Florida defense fought out of the same jam with runners on first and second in the bottom of the inning.
LSU got a runner to third in the bottom of the second but couldn’t score. In the top of the fourth, Florida got two runners on by a walk and a hit by pitch. Chelsea Herndon stepped up to the plate and blasted a one out double down the right field line which resulted in two RBI.
Allie Walljasper entered the game to replace Hoover in the circle for LSU in the top of the fifth. Walljasper shut down the Gator hitters 1-2-3 to send her team to the dugout for the bottom of the frame. Barnhill appeared to pick up some steam in the pitcher’s circle as the game went on. The POY struggled early on, falling behind in multiple counts and issuing several uncharacteristic walks.
In the top of the 6th inning, Janell Wheaton launched a solo-shot over the left field wall extending the Gator lead to 3-0. Bailey Landry led off the bottom of the 6th for LSU with an infield single, her 91st hit on the season which tied the record.
SOLO SHOT! Janell Wheaton cranks one to extend the @GatorsSB lead 3-0! #WCWS pic.twitter.com/cTFdornGiw
— NCAA Softball (@NCAAsoftball) June 3, 2017
Amanda Lorenz continued her monster game at the plate for Florida. In the top of the 7th, Lorenz delivered a base hit single up the middle scoring run number four for the Gators. Lorenz finished 3-4 on the day at the plate. The Gators offense wasn’t stopping there. Following the Lorenz at bat, Kayli Kvistad followed up with a two run blast over the right center field wall extending Florida’s lead to 6-0. The Gators added another run on a sac fly to left extending their lead to 7-0. Barnhill closed the door in the bottom of the seventh, finishing with a two hitter from the circle and capping Florida’s 40th shutout victory of the season, a new program record. Florida moves on to the Winner’s bracket final and won’t take the field again until Sunday. LSU moves to the Loser Bracket and will play on Saturday afternoon against the winner of UCLA and Texas A&M.
