Gators Softball Shut Out To Close Out Series against Auburn

The Florida Gators put together a solid weekend against the #19 Auburn Tigers. But Saturday was not UF’s day.

Florida failed to score any runs in a 5-0 loss to the Tigers on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers drove in four runs in the first inning alone, and the Gators could not put together a response.

The Gators will still walk away victorious in the series following a pair of wins against the Tigers earlier in the week. However, their hopes of clinching their first SEC series sweep of the season went down the drain.

Samantha Bender got the start in the circle for Florida, but she did not stay there for long. After surrendering three hits, one walk and four runs in just 0.1 innings, Bender returned to the dugout and Lexie Delbrey took her place.

Delbrey put together a strong performance, giving up zero hits, four walks and three runs (zero earned) in 6.2 innings. She also racked up eight strikeouts on the day. In spite of Delbrey’s dominant day, the Gators could not muster a response at the plate to climb back out of their early deficit.

Kendra Falby, Sam Roe, Skylar Wallace and Pal Egan each chipped in with a hit for the Gators. Roe nearly managed to score on her own with a triple in the fifth inning. Nevertheless, Florida never managed to get anything going at the bats, and all three runners ended up stranded.

Auburn Blasts Off To An Early Takeover

The Tigers had this game under control from the get-go. After a leadoff walk, Auburn knocked out three consecutive hits. Aubrie Lisenby and Lindsey Garcia chipped in with a pair of singles, with the latter hit driving in a Tigers run. Bri Ellis then knocked a ball over the left field wall to put Auburn up 4-0.

https://twitter.com/AuburnSoftball/status/1644752190513491968?s=20

Gators Head Coach Kevin Walton then made the decision to pull Bender out after facing just five batters. He noted that he originally hoped to get at least three innings from Bender, but that plan went awry almost immediately. Walton went on to single out Auburn’s starter in the circle, Maddie Penta, as another reason he relieved Bender earlier.

“Given the pitcher we were facing, there was not a lot of runs we could afford to give up,” Walton said. “I didn’t have a reliever on a short leash… At the end of the day, we just got to see if she can do it, and that’s why she got the start.”

Auburn did not record any hits for the remainder of the game. Delbrey immediately shut down the Tigers for the rest of the first inning. She then managed to keep them off the scoreboard until the seventh inning. She hit a pair of Auburn batters with pitches to land two runners on base. The Tigers then managed to drive in three more runs on two consecutive Florida errors.

Gators Fail To Respond At The Plate

While the Tigers piled on to their lead with more and more runs as the day went on, the Gators’ offense continued to flatline. UF did not record a hit until the fourth inning. Kendra Falby laid down a perfectly hit bunt to notch a single and give the Gators some offensive hope. Florida could not capitalize on her leadoff hit, as three consecutive flyouts ended the inning and left Falby on first.

One inning later, Sam Roe led things off with a deep ball into right for a triple. Florida now already had a runner in scoring position with no outs on the board. Yet once again, they could not bring the run home. Penta sat down the next three batters she saw on swinging strikeouts. Roe ended up stuck at third, and the Gators still had a goose egg on the scoreboard.

Penta works around the leadoff triple and retires the next three batters.

— Gators Softball (@GatorsSB) April 8, 2023

Florida led off the final two innings with a pair of singles from Wallace and Egan. Both of these hits ended up doing next to nothing. Penta sat down the following batters 1-2-3 in the sixth and seventh innings.

The Gators will look to bounce back on April 12 at 6 p.m. in a home matchup against the University of North Florida Ospreys.