Jordan Matthews’ hit was probably the play of the year for all of Gator sports.
Oliver Barry CRS, GRI Real Estate Broker PARKS Real Estate Services 305 B Indian Lake Blvd Suite 220 Hendersonville TN 37075 Office: 615-826-4040 Mobile: 615-972-4239 [email protected] Begin forwarded message: > From: Shane Ford <[email protected]> > Date: May 27, 2018 at 10:23:41 AM CDT > To: GatorNews <[email protected]> > Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: EPIC WIN: Matthews-led Gators advance to WCWS > Reply-To: [email protected] > > EPIC WIN: Matthews-led Gators advance to WCWS > By gatorsports (Gainesville Sun) - May 26, 201826356 > > The Gators celebrate their 5-3 win Saturday over Texas A&M in the NCAA Super > Regional at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. The series was split going into > the third game in the series. The Gators will head back to the Women's > College World Series for the ninth time in the program's history. [Cyndi > Chambers/Correspondent] > In the white noise of the moment, Tim Walton never saw it go out. He was busy > trying to get the winning run home with a windmill wave because he was > assuming that — like so many balls Florida hit this weekend — it would smack > off the wall. > > But he forgot something important — one ounce. > > The ounce he added to Jordan Matthews’ 34-inch bat Saturday to give her some > extra pop. > > “It was the first time all season she swung the bat she used in high school,” > he said. “But she deserves all the credit.” > > Matthews, a freshman, drilled a three-run homer to left-center in the bottom > of the seventh that gave Florida a 5-3 win to bring a dramatic end to a > dramatic series. > > The homer, Matthews’ fifth of the season, landed somewhere in Oklahoma City > where Florida will play next in the Women’s College World Series. > > “I was just trying to score Amanda (Lorenz from second), really,” Matthews > said. “Tring to hit it hard in a gap. I knew it was out. I was just embracing > the moment.” > > Matthews’ walk-off, on the last pitch before Katie Seashole Pressly is > renovated, came on a 2-2 pitch after she fouled off a pair of strikes. She > had been using a 24-ounce bat because of missing the entire fall after > tearing an ACL in high school and losing some of her lower body strength. > > In fact, Walton shared a story about a Facetime call with Matthews’ mother > Nadia Martinez before the season when mom wondered if her daughter would even > play this year because of her injury. > > “I hope she plays every game,” Walton said at the time. > > She has at least two more as second-seeded Florida (55-9) advances to the > WCWS for the ninth time and will face seventh-seeded Georgia in the first > game at 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPN2). > > The home run was the climax to a game with more layers than the royal wedding > cake. > > This is how crazy it was — Florida’s ace pitcher gave up more hits than she > has in a game all season and the winning pitcher gave up what looked like a > soul-crushing homer in the top of the seventh. Oh, and Florida had two > runners thrown out at the plate and the winning coach was ripping his own > decision about pitching before anyone could Tweet him about it. > > It was wild and crazy and sweaty and intense for seven spectacular innings > with one spectacular ending. > > Kelly Barnhill kept pitching in and out of trouble for Florida and the Gators > got a pair of runs in the fourth and the fifth on two-out singles by Hannah > Adams and Janell Wheaton. > > When Texas A&M loaded the bases with nobody out in the sixth, Walton pulled > Barnhill for Aleshia Ocasio. The senior got out of the inning with only one > run scoring on a wild pitch. > > “She pitched her butt off,” Walton said. > > Ocasio struck out the first two batters she faced in the seventh and the > crowd of 2,068 was poised to celebrate. > > But A&M’s Sarah Hudek, who had seven hits for the three games, hit a soft > single to right to keep the Aggies alive. > > That brought up Tori Vidales, who won Friday night’s game with a three-run > homer off Ocasio. > > “Before anyone Tweets me or texts me or calls me, that was a dumb decision to > not bring Barnhill back,” Walton said. “I obviously should have. It was dumb > on my part. I had a gut feeling and I didn’t go with my gut.” > > Vidales blasted a two-run homer off Ocasio, who had seen Florida’s WCWS hopes > die two years earlier on a walk-off homer by Georgia to the same spot, and > Texas A&M (44-18) was three outs from taking the win. > > “You’re on top of the world,” said Aggies coach Jo Evans, “and then it comes > crashing down.” > > Two walks gave Florida hope but Wheaton was called out on a 3-2 pitch on the > corner and Florida’s season was down to its last out. > > Enter Matthews. > > “I was thinking, ‘Did that really just happen?’ “ Wheaton said. “I’ve already > watched it five times. If I have bruises on my body from the celebration, I’m > not feeling them.” > > There was only one feeling for this team Saturday night. > > “That was a ‘Holy Bleep’ moment,” Walton said. “You say, ‘Wow,’ what a game.” > > WCWS Glance Thursday > > Arizona State vs. Oregon, 12 p.m., ESPN > > Washington vs. Oklahoma, 2:30 p.m., ESPN > > Georgia vs. Florida, 7 p.m., ESPN2 > > Florida State vs. UCLA, 9:30 p.m., ESPN2 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Sent From Shane's iPhone > Go Gators! & Skål Vikes! > -- > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 > National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 > National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "GatorNews" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GatorTalk" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
