Florida softball lost in a super regional for just the third time in the last 20 years Sunday.
The other two, to Georgia in 2016 and 2021, are remembered for the Gators lack of offense. Five and 10 years later, when people think of this Supers vs. Texas Tech, many will turn to the off-field drama regarding Mia and Jason Williams and the closest we’ve probably ever come to a bench clearing brawl in softball.
That fact, though, distracts from the softball played on the field of Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Between two supremely talented teams.
Florida and Texas Tech are probably two of the top eight teams in the country, but the Gators needed to defeat the mighty Red Raiders to reach the place where the top eight go — Oklahoma City and the Women’s College World Series.
For that, UF simply just didn’t have enough to upend TTU.
Florida softball ‘ran out of gas’
That was one of the first things out of the mouth of coach Tim Walton after Sunday’s loss. The Gators fought back all weekend vs. the Red Raiders. There was the comeback from 7-1 Friday, the 10-2 thrashing Saturday, and the seven runs tallied in the first two innings Sunday. Ultimately, though, Texas Tech delivered a punch in the third inning to take an 11-7 lead, and the Gators couldn’t fire back this time.
“We lost, and shoot, I hate it more than anything, but we played out butts off,” Walton said. “I’ve seen a lot of teams fold early, but we had a lot of grit.”
No player embodied that sentiment more than Keagan Rothrock. The Gators ace received two bags of IV following extreme fatigue from heat Friday and still delivered a complete game Saturday.
Facing TTU’s lethal lineup, though, for the third game Sunday, Rothrock struggled. Williams was hit on the first pitch of the game, and the Red Raiders used that as motivation for its offensive explosion.
“It fired us up more because before the game, we talked about how we weren’t having her back and scoring her when she gets on base,” Taylor Pannell said. “It’s an easy free base, and if they want to give us a free base, we’re taking advantage.”
Walton heaped praise on Rothrock, adding that she gave UF a “chance to be disappointed in a Super Regional.”
“She gave us that chance. Keagan Rothrock put us on her back this season and carried the brunt of the inning, and we’re one game away,” Walton said. “I am really proud of what she’s meant to this program, but this team in general.”
An odd, but effective strategy from Texas Tech
The Gators went from seven runs in two innings to zero the last three. How did it happen? Because of something that, while it confused those in attendance, it proved effective.
Red Raider head coach Gerry Glasco alternated between Kaitlyn Terry and NiJaree Canady, and by alternating, I mean it.
Glasco switched between the two five times in five innings. In one spot, he brought in Terry to face the left-handed Townsen Thomas. She singled to load the bases, and Glasco went back to Canady for the right-handed Kendall Grover.
It worked as Grover struck out with TTU up 13-7. Even though it drew the ire of Gator fans, it was completely legal as both Terry and Canady hit.
“Give them credit. That was probably the plan going in to match the lefties with lefties and vice versa. They found a way to shake things up,” Walton said.
Glasco said the two and a half hour weather delay in the first inning inspired him to adopt the idea. Terry, by that point, had given up four runs and had just been replaced by Canady.
“I got two All-Americans. If I could make the move from pitcher to pitcher on a hot, muggy day, that could play into our advantage,” Glasco said.
That was a luxury Florida, simply, doesn’t have. It holds one All-American in Rothrock, but once she didn’t have it, Walton was forced to turn to Leah Stevens and Allison Sparkman — both of whom couldn’t shut down the Red Raiders and allowed a combined eight runs.
The ‘What-If’ for the Gators
The lack of a No. 2 pitcher defined the Gators struggles this season. They held a championship worthy lineup, and with a more reliable second arm, could have gained higher than a No. 6 national seed and an easier Super Regional matchup.
But that never happened, thanks in part to Ava Brown’s health. The two-way player held a 0.49 ERA in 28 innings pitched — until a knee injury on February 27.
She returned to hitting a month later but never to her ways in the circle. Walton inserted her on May 1 vs Georgia, but she allowed four runs in 0.1 innings.
Walton refused to think of that scenario since injuries happen, and the Gators still had ample time to develop that No. 2.
“You think long and hard. Oh my gosh, if we had Ava Brown, we could have done this,” he said. “There’s a lot of would have, could have, should have, but they played better than us.”
Still, though, the question of ‘What-if’ will be asked.
For now, Walton and Co. will celebrate a season that, with the smallest roster in Division I softball and one pitcher, Florida came within one game of the WCWS.
Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at nram@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1 and on Instagram @Ramreporter.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida softball with ‘just not enough in the tank’ to defeat Texas Tech