The Florida softball team has been waiting for three weeks.
That’s how long it has been since inclement weather forced umpires to postpone the game against Florida State on April 13 in Gainesville.
But Florida had to wait for its annual trek to Tallahassee to finish the job.
It got the chance on Wednesday night.
Scoreless in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Gators had two runners in scoring position, Aubree Munro at the plate, and momentum. However, Munro was intentionally walked and the Seminoles escaped thanks to a pair of strikeouts.
The teams battled for the next five innings.
Neither was able to break through until the 12th, when the Gators got an unlikely boost from an underestimated hitter.
With one swing, Aleshia Ocasio ended the marathon.
The sophomore pitcher made contact on the first pitch — a walk-off solo home run down the right-field line.
“I was shocked that that ball went out,” Ocasio said in a release.
“I was running hard out of the box because I wasn’t sure if it would get out of the park, but I’m glad it did. It was a great team win.”
Ocasio’s home run was the exclamation point on a day that saw No. 1 Florida (49-4) win twice over No. 5 FSU (42-7) by scores of 7-1 and 1-0.
“I was really proud of Aleshia on how she was able to deliver in that situation,” coach Tim Walton said.
“For her to deliver in a big way tonight says a lot.”
But while Ocasio’s heroics were necessary in the late game, Florida dominated the afternoon contest.
Delanie Gourley was nearly untouchable, not relinquishing a hit until the sixth inning. The junior lefty struck out 10 en route to her 17th win.
She had plenty of run support.
The lineup had top-to-bottom success, highlighted by Taylore Fuller’s seventh home run of the season and a double by Janell Wheaton that drove in two.
In all, five different players recorded an RBI.
“The first seven innings today was probably as well as we’ve hit the ball all year long,” Walton said.
Florida’s regular season concludes this weekend with a home series against Arkansas beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
The game can be seen on the SEC Network+.
Contact Brian Lee at blee@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @brianlee_17
Aleshia Ocasio (middle) high fives a teammate during Florida's doubleheader sweep of Jacksonville on Feb. 17, 2016, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
