In its final regular season Southeastern Conference home series against Missouri last weekend, Florida started all three games from behind.
The Tigers jumped out to leads of five, four and five in Games 1, 2 and 3, respectively, en route to claiming their first Southeastern Conference series win at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
Heading into its final regular season series against Arkansas, No. 5 Florida looked to strike first at Bogle Park.
The Gators did just that, tacking on six runs in the first three innings against the Razorbacks to ultimately win Game 1 of the series 8-3 on Friday.
It’s one of those things that when we score early, we’re tougher to beat,” coach Tim Walton said. “Our swings free up a little bit and it makes it easier for our defense and our pitching to go as well, and I thought that was the key to the game, us getting on the board early.”
Sophomore Kelsey Stewart started the contest with a leadoff single to third base. After Kirsti Merritt moved Stewart to second base on a sacrifice bunt, third baseman Stephanie Tofft drove the second baseman home with a single up the middle.
The Gators (43-10, 13-9 SEC) tacked on five more runs in the second and the third frames with solo home runs by Bailey Castro and Taylore Fuller and a three-run homer by Briana Little.
After being shutout through the first two innings, Arkansas (27-26, 5-17 SEC) put up two runs in the bottom of the third after center fielder Stephanie Canfield hit her fourth triple of the year, scoring Jennifer Rambo and Chloe Oprzedek to cut Florida’s lead to four runs.
The Gators added two more to the board in the top of the fifth on back-to-back two-out RBI singles by Stewart and Merritt.
Stewart went 3 for 4 at the plate against the Razorbacks, bringing her batting average to .422 on the year and .455 in SEC play. The Wichita, Kan., native also stole two bases on the night, bringing her total to 30 on the year.
In the circle, Hannah Rogers pitched her 19th complete game of the season, giving up just three hits and three runs — one earned — on the night. The Lake Wales senior struck out 10 Arkansas batters — two shy of her career high set against the Razorbacks on April 9, 2011 — while walking just three.
Florida plays Game 2 against Arkansas on Saturday at 7 p.m.
*A radio broadcast contributed to this report.
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Kelsey Stewart swings during Florida’s 8-0 win against Indiana on Feb. 22, 2014 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
