UT swept at Florida in softball

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The No. 6 Tennessee softball team added some wrinkles to their game plan for Sunday’s series finale at Florida, but still couldn’t solve the top-ranked Gators’ pitching.

Tennessee got on the board first, and had Florida stumped through three innings, but fell to a late rally in a 4-1 loss that sealed a three-game sweep.

“We made lineup changes and pitching changes after yesterday’s (double-header defeat),” said Lady Vols coach Ralph Weekly. “But the difference in this series was (Florida’s) pitching. They have, in my opinion, the best pitching in the country.”

The Lady Vols (24-6, 2-3 SEC) mixed up their lineup, partially because of an injury to centerfielder Kelly Grieve. They also made a change in pitching philosophy, calling for more outside pitches.

The plan seemed to work through three innings, as Florida recorded two hits, while freshman pitcher Cat Hosfield struck out four.

But Hosfield’s pitches began to lift a bit near the start of the fourth and UF picked up on the changes. Ahead 1-0 following a Nicole Kajitani single that scored Lillian Hammond in the third, Hosfield loaded the bases with a lead-off walk and two singles.

A Michelle Moultrie blooper to the mound was mishandled, allowing the tying run to score. Hosfield (17-5) battled through the rest of the inning and recorded the final two outs with three on.

Florida (32-2, 11-0 SEC) led off the fifth with a Kelsey Bruder single to center that a leaping Kajitani couldn’t grab. Two pitches later, Ali Gardiner’s popup fell short of Kajitani, bringing in the go-ahead run.

Danielle Pieroni came in to relieve Hosfield, but two more runs scored before the inning could end.

Hosfield re-entered the game in the sixth, but the Lady Vols couldn’t muster a late-game rally. She finished with seven strikeouts and two walks, while allowing three runs in five innings.

The freshman struggled all day with getting ahead in the count after throwing first-pitch balls to 18 of the 23 batters she faced.

Fellow freshman Jessica Spigner, last week’s SEC player of the week, struggled all weekend from the plate, finishing 0-of-8 in the series.

Florida All-America pitcher Stacey Nelson improved to 17-2 with 10 strikeouts and three walks. She allowed four hits and one run in a tidy 112-pitch complete-game performance.

After the game, Weekly huddled with his team for nearly 20 minutes in right field, discussing the game and what the team could take from the defeat.

“I told my kids that this is not a moral victory, losing 4-1 to Florida,” he said. We cannot accept that. But I do think we played a little better today than yesterday.”