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OKLAHOMA CITY – Coach Tim Walton noted all season defense and pitching served as Florida softball’s keys to winning.
The Gators' explosive offense would do enough. They just needed the other facets to do their part.
Thursday at the Women’s College World Series, the pitching staff accomplished its mission as Keagan Rothrock and Co. held a lethal Texas offense to three runs. The defense did the same, with only one, non-costly error.
What about that eruptive offense? Just three runners left on base, two hits and no runs in a 3-0 defeat to the Longhorns in the WCWS opener in Oklahoma City.
It’s the Gators' first time losing their WCWS opener since 2019. Walton has only done it four in his 12 prior appearances, and none of those times did UF ultimately make the semifinals.
For Florida to buck that trend and reach the potential of this team’s talent, it needs to return to the bread and butter. No, not pitching and defense like Walton likes to say, but hitting.
Last season, UF won its opener in OKC 1-0 over Oklahoma State. That result simply hasn’t happened in 2025. Florida hasn’t won a game with less than three runs. It defeated Boston College and UCF 3-0 in non-conference play.
Thursday also continued a worrying trend: The Gators haven’t won a game when trailing after the fourth inning.
The offense is what carried UF through its rough spells in the circle. In its April series at Ole Miss, Florida allowed 18 runs yet still won two out of three. Against OU in May, it was 14 runs, and the Gators took two of three.
Korbe Otis, who registered one of Florida’s three hits, proclaimed the offense isn’t broken, and that Thursday’s game represented just one chapter.
“There's nothing broken to fix. Our offense is really powerful,” Otis said. “Today, we obviously just didn't put the right swings on the right pitches, and sometimes that's how softball goes, so there's not a huge adjustment to make.”
Maybe Otis is right. Maybe it’s just a Teagan Kavan problem. In three appearances vs. Florida, Kavan has allowed one earned run in 14 2/3 innings. Kavan acknowledged postgame that she benefitted from seeing UF’s offense prior.
Kavan used her drop ball effectively to force groundouts. Twelve of Florida's 21 outs came on groundballs.
“We only struck out one time today. Why? Because she only threw about six rise balls,” Walton said. “I think she probably drew more drops today.”
When Kavan is on her game like that, it’s hard to stop, but Walton said it didn’t help that the squad needed to prepare for her, Mac Morgan and the rest of the Longhorns' deep staff.
“I don't think they have any weakness,” Walton said. “They were number one for a long time this season for a reason. They're a good team.”
Walton is right. Texas looked like the best team until the meat of SEC play when it lost series to Tennessee and Oklahoma. A comeback Super Regional series win over Clemson gave the ‘Horns some positive momentum going into the WCWS.
“The Clemson series was extremely tough. This team, they just seem to feed off that. It's frustrating as a coach,” UT coach Mike White said. “A number of times we were down and didn't score until the fourth or fifth, and now we're starting to score first, which is somewhat a sigh of relief.”
The issue Florida now faces is it must beat the best to continue its season. The Gators will face either four-time defending champion Oklahoma — in its home state — or Tennessee with one of the game’s best pitchers – Karlyn Pickens.
Walton knows a challenge still awaits, and he preached continuity. For players to not change up routines before Friday night.
“We'll prep and get ready. There's obviously going to be 70 on the board tomorrow from a lot of different people, so we just got to be prepared and be on time and be ready to go,” Walton said.
Working in UF’s favor is their resilience. Of the team’s 16 losses, only two were back-to-back – to Texas and LSU. The bats froze vs. Georgia last weekend in Supers and then awoke to do just enough to advance to OKC.
Furthermore, Florida has been in this spot in the WCWS. Last season, the Gators followed up that narrow win over OSU with a 10-0 thrashing at the hands of the Longhorns. With their backs against the wall, Florida recovered and defeated Alabama and Oklahoma to get within one win of the championship series. It’s a fact not lost upon Rothrock – who started every game in OKC last season.
“I think we're a team that when our back is against the wall, for whatever reason, we play a little bit more free, which seems really backwards, but at the same time I think the experience last year does help us,” Rothrock said.
The Gators will begin vs. the Sooners or Volunteers Friday night at 7 p.m. from Devon Park in OKC.
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 [email protected]. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida softball's bats go cold in NCAA Women's College World Series
Continue reading...
The Gators' explosive offense would do enough. They just needed the other facets to do their part.
Thursday at the Women’s College World Series, the pitching staff accomplished its mission as Keagan Rothrock and Co. held a lethal Texas offense to three runs. The defense did the same, with only one, non-costly error.
What about that eruptive offense? Just three runners left on base, two hits and no runs in a 3-0 defeat to the Longhorns in the WCWS opener in Oklahoma City.
It’s the Gators' first time losing their WCWS opener since 2019. Walton has only done it four in his 12 prior appearances, and none of those times did UF ultimately make the semifinals.
For Florida to buck that trend and reach the potential of this team’s talent, it needs to return to the bread and butter. No, not pitching and defense like Walton likes to say, but hitting.
Last season, UF won its opener in OKC 1-0 over Oklahoma State. That result simply hasn’t happened in 2025. Florida hasn’t won a game with less than three runs. It defeated Boston College and UCF 3-0 in non-conference play.
Thursday also continued a worrying trend: The Gators haven’t won a game when trailing after the fourth inning.
The offense is what carried UF through its rough spells in the circle. In its April series at Ole Miss, Florida allowed 18 runs yet still won two out of three. Against OU in May, it was 14 runs, and the Gators took two of three.
Korbe Otis, who registered one of Florida’s three hits, proclaimed the offense isn’t broken, and that Thursday’s game represented just one chapter.
“There's nothing broken to fix. Our offense is really powerful,” Otis said. “Today, we obviously just didn't put the right swings on the right pitches, and sometimes that's how softball goes, so there's not a huge adjustment to make.”
Maybe Otis is right. Maybe it’s just a Teagan Kavan problem. In three appearances vs. Florida, Kavan has allowed one earned run in 14 2/3 innings. Kavan acknowledged postgame that she benefitted from seeing UF’s offense prior.
Kavan used her drop ball effectively to force groundouts. Twelve of Florida's 21 outs came on groundballs.
“We only struck out one time today. Why? Because she only threw about six rise balls,” Walton said. “I think she probably drew more drops today.”
When Kavan is on her game like that, it’s hard to stop, but Walton said it didn’t help that the squad needed to prepare for her, Mac Morgan and the rest of the Longhorns' deep staff.
“I don't think they have any weakness,” Walton said. “They were number one for a long time this season for a reason. They're a good team.”
Walton is right. Texas looked like the best team until the meat of SEC play when it lost series to Tennessee and Oklahoma. A comeback Super Regional series win over Clemson gave the ‘Horns some positive momentum going into the WCWS.
“The Clemson series was extremely tough. This team, they just seem to feed off that. It's frustrating as a coach,” UT coach Mike White said. “A number of times we were down and didn't score until the fourth or fifth, and now we're starting to score first, which is somewhat a sigh of relief.”
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The issue Florida now faces is it must beat the best to continue its season. The Gators will face either four-time defending champion Oklahoma — in its home state — or Tennessee with one of the game’s best pitchers – Karlyn Pickens.
Walton knows a challenge still awaits, and he preached continuity. For players to not change up routines before Friday night.
“We'll prep and get ready. There's obviously going to be 70 on the board tomorrow from a lot of different people, so we just got to be prepared and be on time and be ready to go,” Walton said.
Working in UF’s favor is their resilience. Of the team’s 16 losses, only two were back-to-back – to Texas and LSU. The bats froze vs. Georgia last weekend in Supers and then awoke to do just enough to advance to OKC.
Furthermore, Florida has been in this spot in the WCWS. Last season, the Gators followed up that narrow win over OSU with a 10-0 thrashing at the hands of the Longhorns. With their backs against the wall, Florida recovered and defeated Alabama and Oklahoma to get within one win of the championship series. It’s a fact not lost upon Rothrock – who started every game in OKC last season.
“I think we're a team that when our back is against the wall, for whatever reason, we play a little bit more free, which seems really backwards, but at the same time I think the experience last year does help us,” Rothrock said.
The Gators will begin vs. the Sooners or Volunteers Friday night at 7 p.m. from Devon Park in OKC.
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 [email protected]. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida softball's bats go cold in NCAA Women's College World Series
Continue reading...
