#2 Florida Defeats #7 Georgia 11-3 at WCWS

May 31, 2018 | Softball

OKLAHOMA CITY– In the first round of the Women's College World Series on Thursday night, the seventh-seeded Georgia Bulldogs fell to the second-seeded Florida Gators 11-3 at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex.

The Bulldogs were led by NFCA All-American junior Alyssa DiCarlo at the plate, who went 3-for-3 with one RBI on the day – marking her eighth game with three or more hits on the season.

The Georgia (48-12) offense opened World Series play with a pair of runs in the first inning, led by NFCA All-American senior Cortni Emanuel, who threaded a base hit up the middle on a 3-2 count. After Emanuel stole second due to obstruction, sophomore Justice Milz picked up two RBI with an opposite field home run – her 15^thon the year – sending sophomore right-hander Mary Wilson Avant to the circle with a 2-0 margin.

Florida (56-9) responded in the bottom of the frame, loading up the bases before a two-run double off the left field wall from freshman Jordan Matthews knotted the contest at two. Senior Aleshia Ocasio followed with a three-run home run to right for the 5-2 Gator advantage.

In the bottom of the second, Florida plated another run with a Janell Wheaton fielder's choice to second base, scoring junior outfielder Amanda Lorenz from third. With the bases loaded, the Bulldogs sent junior Kylie Bass to the circle in relief, and the lefty struck out Matthews to end the inning.

DiCarlo used a two-out solo shot to center in the bottom of the frame to cut the Florida margin to three and record her 21^sthome run on the season, but the Gators separated themselves by two more runs in the bottom of the fourth with a pinch hit two-run home run from sophomore Jordan Roberts.

After a solo home run from freshman Hannah Adams in the bottom of the fifth, Georgia called on sophomore Amanda Ablan and freshman Keara Napoli in relief, but the Gators capitalized on a quartet of walks and a hit by pitch to end the contest in five frames.

The Bulldogs return to the World Series stage on Saturday, June 2, slated for 1:30 p.m. on ESPN. Georgia will face Florida State at 2:30 p.m. Thursday night.

POSTGAME NOTES

Game 3: Florida 11, Georgia 3 (5 innings)

No. 2 seed Florida run-ruled No. 7 Georgia,11-3, in five innings. The Gators utilized three home runs to knock off the Bulldogs.
Florida advances to play the winner of UCLA and Florida State while Georgia will face the loser of that matchup. Florida evens their record with Georgia at the WCWS at 1-1.
Justice Milz got Georgia on the board first with a two-run home run in the top of the first, her 15^th homer of the season.
Florida took a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the inning with a five-run first highlighted by a three-run shot by Alicia Oscasio, her fifth home run of the year.
In the fifth inning, Florida added three runs to put the run rule into effect. Hannah Adams pushed across a run with a solo shot, her third of the season, followed by an RBI walk and an RBI hit-by-pitch.
Florida's Aleshia Oscasio (23-7) earned the victory, pitching a complete game, while allowing three runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts and one walk.
Georgia's Mary Wilson Avant (22-8) took the loss after tossing 1.2 innings, allowing five runs on four hits with one strikeout and three walks.
In addition to earning a win in the circle, Ocasio led the Gators with three RBIs courtesy of her home run in the first inning. Janell Wheaten, Jordan Matthews and Jordan Roberts each notched a pair of RBIs.
Amanda Lorenz tied Florida's single-season record for walks with 67 as she was walked in the second inning. It was Florida's 350^th walk of the season, breaking the NCAA record held by Auburn (349, 2016).
Lorenz has reached safely in all 65 of the Gators' games this season.
Thursday's contest marked Florida's 17^th multi-home run game and third three-homer game this season.
All 10 of Florida's batters recorded at least one run.
Thursday was the fourth time in program history that Florida run ruled an opponent at the WCWS, the last coming in last year's opener against Texas A&M (June 1, 2017).
Florida is the first team to open the WCWS with run-rule victories in back-to-back years since Arizona in 1994 and 1995.
Florida has opened up the WCWS against an SEC opponent in four of its last five appearances (Tennessee in 2013 and 2015, Texas A&M in 2017, Georgia 2018).