A story from USA TODAY
If Florida softball was targeting Mia Williams in Sunday’s Game 3 of the NCAA softball Super Regional against Texas Tech, the Gators didn’t waste any time.
Williams, a transfer who helped the Gators reach the Women’s College World Series last year, was plunked by UF ace Keagan Rothrock with the first pitch of the game. It was the fifth time in the series Williams was hit.
Whether any were intentional or not, this set the stage for a game that was, if anything, upstaged and will likely be more remembered for the off-field drama rather than Texas Tech’s eventual 16-7 series-deciding victory to punch its ticket back to the WCWS.
“Nobody was trying to hit her on purpose” Florida coach Tim Walton said postgame. “I don’t understand the drama that was really uncalled for. I’m very disappointed on that, but that had nothing to do with the softball game.
“Unfortunately, it became a life of its own. I don’t want that to detract from the game that they played and the game that we played.”
Williams’ return to Gainesville was the top storyline of the weekend. She’s the daughter of former Florida basketball player Jason Williams, who after the game expressed his displeasure with Walton to the Gainesville Sun, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Jason Williams, who has attended UF basketball games this past season, was often demonstrative in the crowd and later celebrated with the Texas Tech squad on the field after the victory.
“It makes no sense to me at all,” said Walton when asked about the drama of the series. “I have no idea where that came from. I don’t think that’s fair to the kids in both dugouts. I have no idea where that pot was being stirred. There’s never been a problem ever. Kids transfer all the time.”
After Mia Williams was hit with Sunday’s first pitch, the Texas Tech bench started chirping at the Gators, rising tensions in the winner-take-all Game 3.
In Williams’ next at-bat, she hit a two-run home run, one of Texas Tech’s eventual five, which featured a celebration that prompted a warning to the Red Raiders dugout.
Walton was later ejected from the game just before the run-rule was induced in the fifth inning for arguing balls and strikes.
Mia Williams’ father felt Walton’s ejection may have been premeditated.
“He got kicked out because he didn’t want to shake her hand,” Jason Williams told The Sun.
Walton wasn’t alone in avoiding postgame pleasantries.
The peak of the animosity between the teams was best illustrated after the refusal to shake hands. Following that decision, Texas Tech players began exchanging with Florida players, as the atmosphere spilled into the stands as fans from each side joined in.
“Maybe that was for the better with the anxiety of the series,” Walton said. “On TV, they were saying there might be a bench-clearing brawl. Never seen that in softball in my life. That would have been a first, so there you go, we’re just stirring it up again. I don’t understand. It makes no sense.”
Mia Williams finished the series 3-for-7 at the plate and drove in five runs.
“I don’t really pay attention to any of the things that happen off the field,” Mia Williams said. “I stay very far from social media. I’m not really that type, but mentally coming into this, I knew it was going to be a dog fight playing against my former team. They know me a little, and I know them. It was going to be a dog fight. Good battle. They did really good.”
Reach Florida Gators writer Andrew Abadie at [email protected] or on X (formerly Twitter) at @AndrewAbadie. You can also find him on Facebook at Andrew Abadie Sports Reporter or on Instagram @andrewabadie_sports.
