Back to back National Championships on the line with the series tied at one game each. It’s the final game of the 2015 Women’s College World Series (WCWS) and the National Player of the year Lauren Haeger is at the plate for the Defending National Champions the Florida Gators. She came into the game as the both National Player of the Year and USA softball player of the year. She led World Series in batting average, in slugging percentage and on base percentage. The question was could she bring back the National Championship to the University of Florida? Could she lead them to do what only two other programs, UCLA Bruins and Arizona Wildcats, have ever been able to do?
Lets look back at Game 1. Haeger showed why she is the best player in women’s softball. She is the superstar pitcher for the University of Florida but didn’t throw a single pitch so how did she show off her skills? She stepped up at the plate. She came into came into the championship game with impressive stats at the plate and in the first innings of game 1 she hit a home run with a runner already on base giving the Gators a 2-0 lead over the University of Michigan. Hager then stepped up the plate again in the third inning with an RBI (run batted in), extending the Gators lead to 3-0. This lead assisted the freshman pitcher Aleshia Ocasio, who hadn’t pitched a ball in weeks, to a shut out any scoring from Michigan until the sixth inning when Abby Ramirez ignited the fight back for Michigan scoring two runs off her hit. This gave the Wolverines a chance and brought them within one. With the score at 3-2 and down to the last innings, Sophomore Delanie Gourley steps in at the pitch for the University of Florida. Down to their last three outs for game one, the Gators hold the Wolverines scoreless and take game 1 of the 3 game series.
Game 2. The Michigan Wolverines shut down the Gators. It was a game that could have seen the loose the National Championship. In the game, the Gators had six hits but failed to score any runs. Michigan Pitcher Haylie Wagner, pitched an amazing game and lead the Wolverines to their first win over he Florida Gators in four tries. No team in the WCWS that had won game 2 had ever lost game 3.
It all came down to Game 3. Haeger once again stepped up. This time it was with the bat and pitching showing everyone exactly why she is the best college player this year. She batted in a single RBI and held the Wolverines to only one run the entire game. With it she gave the Florida Gators its second and consecutive national championship.