Aubree Munro must love Mississippi.
It took the Florida catcher two pitches to hammer a home run into the trees beyond the left-field fence on Saturday.
For the second night in a row, the senior sent a softball onto the Oxford campus in her first at-bat. And just like Friday’s solo shot, it set the tone for a Florida win.
UF put away Ole Miss 6-1, clinching the series in Game 2 of the three-game set.
No. 2 Florida (37-3, 11-3 Southeastern Conference) had a five-run lead by the second inning, and the Rebels just couldn’t keep up.
In part because they were trying to hit off of Aleshia Ocasio. The sophomore threw a complete game, striking out seven and giving up just four hits and no walks.
“Obviously, our pitching staff has done a good job to be able to limit Ole Miss to just one run in two games,” coach Tim Walton said in a release. “I’d like to see us complete a game all the way from offense, to defense, to pitching.”
UF’s offense wasted no time building a cushion for its pitcher.
In the top of the first, Kayli Kvistad hit a two-out single down the left-field line, one of her three hits on the day. Then two Gators walked to load the bases. After not batting on Friday, sophomore Janell Wheaton stepped up and knocked the ball up the middle for a base hit, driving in Kvistad and freshman Amanda Lorenz to put UF up 2-0.
“It was key that we were able to score a few runs early, but also with two outs,” Walton said. “In the first inning tonight, we had no one on with two out, and we were able to get some offense going. I thought that was huge.”
Munro jumped on a 1-0 pitch in the top of the second to put the Gators up by three. Munro’s second of the series and of the season, her last long ball came more than a year ago at Mississippi State.
Junior Justine McLean walked, and hits by Kelsey Stewart and Kirsti Merritt loaded the bases. Another walk by Kvistad put Florida up four and a Lorenz sacrifice fly gave the Gators a 5-0 advantage.
Rebel starting pitcher Elisha Jahnke never got an out in the second inning and left the game allowing five earned runs on five hits and four walks.
Ole Miss (28-12, 4-7 SEC) broke the shutout in the bottom of the fourth. A throwing error by Stewart at shortstop let Kylan Becker reach third base. Ashton Lampton singled to right on a full count, driving in Becker cut the Florida lead to 5-1. Since the run was unearned, it didn’t affect Ocasio’s nation-leading 0.38 ERA.
UF earned its final run in the fifth inning, when senior Taylore Fuller hit a solo homer on the first pitch of her at-bat — her fourth home run of the year.
“Overall, we just had some really nice at bats,” Walton said. “In addition, when you’re able to get out to a lead it really helps change your swings. When we’re playing from ahead, it definitely makes a difference with our swings.”
Florida now has 12 straight wins in Oxford and will look to make it 13 on Sunday in the series finale at 2 p.m. It will be on SEC Network +.
Contact Matt Brannon at mbrannon@alligator.org and you can follow him on Twitter @MattB_727.
Aleshia Ocasio pitches in the first game of Florida's doubleheader against Jacksonville on Feb. 17, 2016, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
