Courtesy of Florida Athletics – Chris Harry
OKLAHOMA CITY — Images of Florida softball superstar Lauren Haeger alongside Babe Ruth have shown up so much the last 10 days that she may start being confused with Lou Gehrig, also.
That in mind, it’s a little hard to believe that Haeger had never in her softball life been in the circle for a championship. Not ever.
So when the seventh-inning, two-out grounder off the bat of Michigan’s Kelly Christner rolled toward first baseman Taylor Schwarz, Haeger was riveted to the moment that seemingly played out in slow motion. Schwarz scooped the ball, tagged the bag and thus finished off a 4-1 defeat of Michigan in Game 3 of the Women’s College World Series. A second straight national championship was complete.
That’s when Haeger saw catcher Aubree Munro coming her way. Schwarz too. Third baseman Taylore Fuller, shortstop Kathlyn Media and second baseman Kelsey Stewart arrive simultaneously, as the dog pile began. The outfielders sprinted in, while teammates in the dugout sprinted out and soon dove into the fray.
Haeger was in the middle of it.
On the bottom actually.
“My leg was not in the right position,” Haeger said. “It just kept getting heavier and heavier and I was just like, ‘Get off me!’ ”
It was the only thing the 2015 NCAA Player of the Year did wrong during her dominant Most Valuable Player performance on the game’s grandest stage. Her WCWS pitching numbers showed a 4-1 record and a sparkling 1.18 ERA. Her hitting numbers showed a .571 average and 15 total bases.
In Wednesday’s clincher, Haeger threw a complete-game five-hitter against one of the most powerful lineups in the country and walked just one. Her first-inning single gave the Gators (60-8) an early lead and a jolt of momentum a day after they’d been shutout — a maybe a little shellshocked — for the first time all season.
“Lauren left her mark,” Walton said of the only player in college softball history to win at least 70 games as a pitcher (73) and hit at least 70 homers (71), joining, yes, Babe Ruth as the only players in the history of the game played on a diamond to reach those milestones. “She’s one of the greatest Gators that ever played and put a uniform on.”
No argument there.
It was Haeger who Tuesday night pitched a complete game, holding the Wolverines (60-8) and their big bats to just four hits, only to lose a 1-0 decision that evened the best-of-three title series at one game a piece and seemingly tipped the momentum in Michigan’s favor. The Wolverines had a pitcher, Haylie Wagner, who had handcuffed UF during 10 1/3 scoreless innings in back-to-back games. She was in the Gators’ heads.
She was in Walton’s head, too.
“I was concerned about the way we were swinging the bat against a really good pitcher,” Walton said. “But I also know I like the way we work. And I do like to dissect some things.”
After losing the game Tuesday, the Gators left Hall of Stadium vowing things would be different. Walton immediately began kicking around thoughts of how to inject some life in his offense. His players, meanwhile, promised they’d come out with far more energy with an NCAA championship on the line.
Or as Medina, the senior defensive whiz put it, “We flushed that game.”
At hitting practice Wednesday, Walton instructed his hitters to choke up more on the bat; as much as four or five inches, as necessary. Whatever it took to get some extension and make clean contact.
“Our jam balls were [popping] to the catcher and pitcher the last couple days,” Walton said.
The Gators came to ballpark a few hours later feeling better about their plan.
“We used it as motivation,” Haeger said of the defeat. “We realized nothing was going to be handed to us. Michigan is a great team. We just had a different attitude. You could see it in our eyes, hear it in our conversation. We were a different team.”
She smiled.
“We were who we are today.”
Haeger set the Wolverines down in order to start the game, then Kelsey Stewart (hit by pitch) and Nicole DeWitt (fielder’s choice) reached base to open UF’s frame. In stepped Haeger, who punched a single to center, scoring Stewart with UF’s first run since the third inning of Game 1.
Three batters later, Schwarz came to the plate. She was 1-for-11 in 10 tournament games.
Her two-run single gave the Gators a 3-0 lead.
“She’s a great pitcher and we knew she was going to come out hot, so we had to make adjustments,” Schwarz said. “I was just trying to get the barrel on the ball and it fell in the right spot.”
In the second inning, Justine McLean reached on an infield single and scored on a double by Stewart that made the score 4-0. The Gators were seemingly cruising, but they would not score the rest of the night.
Instead, it fell on the pitcher’s shoulders.
“When it comes down to it, you just have to say Lauren Haeger was outstanding,” Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said. “I thought she was on fire.”
She definitely had to put out a few.
After UF took its fat early lead, the Wolverines threatened in four innings, loading the bases in the third (nothing), leaving two on in the fifth after scoring their only run, then stranding two in the sixth.
UM got a leadoff single in the seventh from Abby Ramirez, the No. 9 hitter, and turned the lineup over. That meant Sierra Lawrence (.346, 14 homers, 60 RBI), Sierra Romero (NCAA Player of the Year runner-up, .449, 22 HRs, 82 RBI) and Christner (.400, 21 HRs, 67 RBI) were coming to the plate with one last chance to pile up some runs.
Instead, the Gators piled on Haeger, one of the greatest to ever wear the uniform.
Let’s go ahead and up Walton’s ante.
One of the greatest to ever wear the uniform.
Yes, in any sport.
