Kelly Barnhill hurled her third complete-game no-hitter of the season Friday in a 6-0 win over No. 23 Kentucky at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
Barnhill (10-0) now has three complete-game no-hitters, a combined no-hitter and a perfect game through 12 starts. The only blemish in the contest for the Marietta, Ga., native was a walk to lead off the second inning by Jenny Schaper.
Florida’s (20-1) patience at the plate showed in the first inning as the team drew four walks against Kentucky (15-4) starter Erin Rethlake (4-3).
Jordan Matthews drew the fourth walk to give UF a 1-0 lead and prompted the replacement of Rethlake with Autumn Humes in the circle. Janell Wheaton immediately extended the lead to 2-0 after she sent an 0-1 pitch through the right side of the Kentucky defense.
Later in the same inning, Jordan Roberts extended the lead out to 4-0 with her single through the left side of the Kentucky infield. The Gators pushed the lead out to 6-0 after Kentucky third baseman Abby Cheek’s errant throw resulted in a collision at first between Alex Voss and Mallory Peyton while also allowing Wheaton and Roberts to score.
Florida was poised to score again in the fifth after a trio of singles by Nicole DeWitt, Kayli Kvistad and Matthews. Kentucky was able to escape the inning after Wheaton flied out to shallow center field and Roberts was retired on strikes.
The Gators and the Wildcats will square off again at 6 p.m. today on the SEC Network.
NCAA Indoor Championships: At College Station, Texas, Florida’s women scored 13 points, while its men tallied 11, highlighted by sophomore Grant Holloway’s runner-up finish in the long jump, on day one.
The Gators enter today’s final competitions ranked second on the women’s side and tied for third on the men’s side of the team standings.
Holloway fouled his first two attempts of the long jump, but climbed to third place and kept his night alive with a leap of 7.96 meters (26 feet, 1.5 inches). Still in third entering his fifth run, Holloway seized the lead with an eight-centimeter personal record of 8.13 meters (26 feet, 8.25 inches)—which ties Dion Bentley for No. 2 on the program’s All-Time Indoor Top 10.
Literally moments later, Holloway posted the fastest 60-meter hurdles preliminary time, clocking 7.58 seconds and automatically qualifying for the final.
Also in the men’s long jump, senior KeAndre Bates finished sixth, recording a season-best mark of 7.90 meters (25 feet, 11 inches).
Senior Lloydricia Cameron, who finished seventh at each of the last three NCAA Championships, took fourth place in the shot put. It is the highest finish by a Gator since 2010, when Mariam Kevkhishvili won her third consecutive national title. Cameron’s top mark was 17.33 meters (56 feet, 10.25 inches), leaving her just four centimeters behind the bronze medalist.
Junior Yanis David and senior Darrielle McQueen combined for eight points in the women’s long jump, finishing fourth and sixth, respectively.
Women’s tennis: The Gators looked like a team that hadn’t played a home match in 40 days and wanted to impress its fans by the way it took down LSU, 4-0, at Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex.
Florida (8-4) won its fifth overall dual match and improved to 3-0 in SEC play thanks to winning the doubles point against the Tigers (10-3, 1-2 SEC) before earning straight-set singles wins by freshman Katie Kubicz and seniors Peggy Porter and Josie Kuhlman.
Women’s golf: Florida is set to host the 46th edition of the SunTrust Gator Invitational this weekend at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
The Gators will look to win their home tournament for the third straight season. Last year, Florida won the event by eight strokes finishing with a tournament record 847 (+7). The Gators had seven players finish inside of the top 15 including all five of the players in the lineup.
Taylor Tomlinson and Marta Perez were apart of lineup that hoisted the Gator Invitational trophy last season. Perez finished in a tie for fourth in the event at 3-over par while Tomlinson tied for ninth at 6-over.
This will be the final home tournament for the Gainesville native who has been in the lineup for Florida’s last two wins at the event.
While Perez and Tomlinson will be No. 3 and No. 4 in the lineup, the top of the Gator starting five will be anchored by Sierra Brooks and Elin Esborn.
Brooks is coming off of her second tournament win in three starts while Esborn had her highest finish of the year at the Sugar Bowl.
Freshman Addie Baggarly slots in at the No. 5 position, the same spot she was in for the Sugar Bowl. Carlotta Ricolfi and Lauren Waidner will also be competing as individuals.
First-round play begins with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. today with continuous play to Round 2. The final round will be played Sunday with the another shotgun start set for 9 a.m.
Men’s tennis: At Starkville, Florida opened its two-match road trip on the losing end. The Gators (7-5, 2-1 SEC) dropped their match against Mississippi State (8-1, 2-0 SEC) 5-2.
Barnhill is truly amazing. May be the best pitcher ever bu the time her college career ends.