OKLAHOMA CITY – Florida head coach Tim Walton knows his Florida Gators are good.
Good enough to recognize the target they have had on their backs all season, good enough to modestly mention only a little over a third of his club has played in the Women’s College World Series before.
Still, there is high-pressure for the No. 1 overall seed and a team that maintained a consensus top-five ranking all season.
“We’ve had — had been a running target for a long time this season, and don’t mean to say that out of arrogance, but we’ve had only seven kids that have ever been to the College World Series before, so we’re also bringing in a young club,” Walton said Wednesday afternoon.
Despite advancing to the final week of the season, the Gators were close to missing out on a visit to Oklahoma City after dropping a 3-0 decision to Alabama in game one of the Super Regional last weekend.
“We gave up three unearned runs in one inning, and it just is what it was,” Walton said of the loss. “We figured out a way to shake it off.”
After riding the arm of ace-pitcher Kelly Barnhill in a tight 2-1 win over the Crimson Tide in game two, Walton turned to a salted veteran to close the series in the circle over his stud sophomore.
“The key ingredient for us is we had a senior pitcher named Delanie Gourley who was fresh and ready to go and came out and pitched a really, really good game for us to be able to advance to the next day,” Walton said.
Gourley was great, tossing a complete-game shutout, only allowing four hits in Florida’s 2-0 win. Her series-clinching performance is only a small part of the high-praise drawn by Walton.
“She’s a rock,” Walton said of Gourley. “She’s somebody that I just can’t tell you how special of an individual — I know we all have special players, and I’ve had special players, but none like Delanie Gourley before.”
And so, Florida is making its fourth trip to the WCWS in five years, returning to Bricktown after falling in the Super Regionals a season ago.
Texas A&M, like the Gators, is making its eighth appearance in the WCWS, but the Aggies have not been regulars in recent years, returning for the first time in nine years.
While A&M is not necessarily the new kid on the block, head coach Jo Evans has made sure to tell her team to enjoy the experience – one that is new to every current player.
“I said to them, listen, you haven’t been to the World Series.  I know this is your dream… Enjoy yourself,” Evans said. “You don’t have to act like you’ve been there before because you haven’t been there before.  And then when we’re done with that, let’s go to work.  Strap on the cleats, let’s go.”
Evans noted she is also pressed to ensure her team they are equal to the other seven teams in the field.
“I just want them to understand they belong here,” Evans added. “Even though our program hasn’t been here in a while, there’s no reason why our team shouldn’t feel like we belong and get out there and compete because at the end of the day, it’s the game, and that’s what we’re trying to condense it to.”
After one day at the big show, the Aggies are aware of where they are and what playing in the WCWS means.
“It’s an incredible experience to be able to come here and play on this field that has so much history,” sophomore third baseman Riley Sartain, who was named a NFCA Third Team All-American Wednesday, said. “I feel honored to be able to have the chance to play here.”
A&M opens WCWS action Thursday morning at 11:00 a.m. against Florida at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN.