Friday, March 15
Gainesville, Fla.
6 PM
Florida Gators
23-4
10
vs
2
Mercer
9-14
1
2
3
4
5
6
R
H
E
Mercer
2
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
1
Florida
1
1
0
1
2
5
10
7
0
Ariel Kowalewski tallied a career-high five-RBI in tonight's win over Mercer.
No. 10 Gators Rise Past Bears in Run-Rule Victory
Friday, March 15, 2024 | Softball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The 10th-ranked Florida softball team turned in its 19th run-rule victory of the season with a 10-2 (6 inning) decision over Mercer in front of 1,591 fans Friday evening at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
The Gators (23-4) rallied from being down early 2-0 in the first inning of action against the Bears (9-14). Tori Hedgecock put Mercer ahead with her 11th home run of the year that followed a one-out walk.
Florida punched right back in the home half of the first inning and close down the lead to 2-1. Skylar Wallace ripped a one-out single through the right side and Korbe Otis drove her home from first with a double down the left field line.
UF starting pitcher Keagan Rothrock (10-3) settled down in the second frame as she struck out the side for the sixth time this season. The offense went on to tie the game 2-2 in the bottom of the second inning of action as Kowalewski drove home Katie Kistler on a groundout to the shortstop.
Both squads held each other off the scoreboard in the third frame, but the Gators drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fourth to take a 3-2 lead. The two-out rally started with a Cassidy McLellan single through the left side, a Kendra Falby double and a Wallace hit-by-pitch to load the bases. Korbe Otis worked a full-count and eventually drew an RBI walk that scored McLellan.
Kowalewski stretched the lead out to 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Reagan Walsh led the frame off with a full-count walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Mia Williams. Kowalewski then lifted her third home run over the year with a convincing 260-foot shot that cleared the center field wall.
The Gators put the game away with five-run sixth inning rally that ended the game 11-2. Wallace initialed the rally with a leadoff walk, stole second and then scored when the throw to second went wild into center field. Otis and Jocelyn Erickson followed with back-to-back walks and Avery Goelz drew a two-out walk to load the bases for Kowalewski.
Kowalewski drove in Erickson and Otis in the ensuing at-bat on as she laced a two-RBI double up the middle of the Bears infield to center field. Pinch-hitter Brooke Barnard kept the two-out rally alive with a full-count walk, while freshman pinch-hitter Alyssa Hovermale secure the game-ending two-RBI single that scored Kowalewski and Goelz.
Florida is set to take on Indiana tomorrow for a solo contest that is set to start at 2:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.
Notables:
FOLLOW THE GATORS
FloridaGators.com
Florida Softball on Twitter
Head Coach Tim Walton on Twitter
Florida Softball on Facebook
The Gators (23-4) rallied from being down early 2-0 in the first inning of action against the Bears (9-14). Tori Hedgecock put Mercer ahead with her 11th home run of the year that followed a one-out walk.
Florida punched right back in the home half of the first inning and close down the lead to 2-1. Skylar Wallace ripped a one-out single through the right side and Korbe Otis drove her home from first with a double down the left field line.
UF starting pitcher Keagan Rothrock (10-3) settled down in the second frame as she struck out the side for the sixth time this season. The offense went on to tie the game 2-2 in the bottom of the second inning of action as Kowalewski drove home Katie Kistler on a groundout to the shortstop.
Both squads held each other off the scoreboard in the third frame, but the Gators drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fourth to take a 3-2 lead. The two-out rally started with a Cassidy McLellan single through the left side, a Kendra Falby double and a Wallace hit-by-pitch to load the bases. Korbe Otis worked a full-count and eventually drew an RBI walk that scored McLellan.
Kowalewski stretched the lead out to 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Reagan Walsh led the frame off with a full-count walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Mia Williams. Kowalewski then lifted her third home run over the year with a convincing 260-foot shot that cleared the center field wall.
The Gators put the game away with five-run sixth inning rally that ended the game 11-2. Wallace initialed the rally with a leadoff walk, stole second and then scored when the throw to second went wild into center field. Otis and Jocelyn Erickson followed with back-to-back walks and Avery Goelz drew a two-out walk to load the bases for Kowalewski.
Kowalewski drove in Erickson and Otis in the ensuing at-bat on as she laced a two-RBI double up the middle of the Bears infield to center field. Pinch-hitter Brooke Barnard kept the two-out rally alive with a full-count walk, while freshman pinch-hitter Alyssa Hovermale secure the game-ending two-RBI single that scored Kowalewski and Goelz.
Florida is set to take on Indiana tomorrow for a solo contest that is set to start at 2:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.
Notables:
- Ariel Kowalewski set a career-high tonight with five-RBI. She finished 2-for-4 with her third home run of the season and a double, while also tying her career-high in runs scored.
- Keagan Rothrock recorded her 10th complete-game of the season as she pitched six inning and struck out 11 Bears.
- It's the second 10-plus strikeout game for Rothrock and it's the second most strikeouts she's produced in a game.
- Rothrock's 10th complete-game ties her for sixth all-time among UF freshmen along with Stephanie Brombacher (2008) and Aleshia Ocasio (2015).
- Florida picked up its 19th run-rule victory of the season, which is the most since the Gators had 21 run-rule victories in 2016.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
FloridaGators.com
Florida Softball on Twitter
Head Coach Tim Walton on Twitter
Florida Softball on Facebook
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rothrock, Keagan (10-3)
L: Grace Taylor (4-5)
Batting:
HR: Tori Hedgecock 1
RBI: Tori Hedgecock 2
SH: Emma Dorval 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Janessa Plummer 1 ; Tori Hedgecock 1
HBP: Avery Barton 1 ; Lillian Wilkerson 1 ; Mariyah Sanchez 1
Batting:
2B: Falby, Kendra 1 ; Otis, Korbe 1 ; Kowalewski, Ariel 1
HR: Kowalewski, Ariel 1
RBI: Hovermale, Alyssa 2 ; Otis, Korbe 2 ; Kowalewski, Ariel 5
Base Running:
RUNS: Wallace, Skylar 2 ; Otis, Korbe 1 ; Erickson, Jocelyn 1 ; Williams, Mia 1 ; Kistler, Katie 1 ; Goelz, Avery 1 ; Kowalewski, Ariel 2 ; McLellan, Cassidy 1
SB: Wallace, Skylar 3 ; Otis, Korbe 1 ; Erickson, Jocelyn 1 ; McLellan, Cassidy 1
HBP: Wallace, Skylar 1 ; Kistler, Katie 1 ; McLellan, Cassidy 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
5
cf/dp
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
AB
1
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
UTL
/ Softball
C
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
1B/OF
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballUTL
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP/1B
/ SoftballSS
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
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