In front of a raucous home crowd, which has become commonplace for a weekend series at Pressly Stadium, the Gators' offense got back on track.
After Auburn (34-19, 10-14 Southeastern Conference) managed a rare earned run in the first frame against junior Stacey Nelson, No. 3 UF (56-2, 24-1 SEC) responded by batting around in the bottom half of the inning.
"I almost might have a little bit too much faith in my offense," she said. "If I give up a run I say, 'They're going to get one.'"
The two biggest blows of the five-run first inning came from the least likely candidates.
Leadoff hitter Kim Waleszonia stepped into the box, worked a 2-1 count and then deposited a home run over the right field wall, her first of the season.
After scratching out another run and loading the bases with two outs, eighth batter Kristina Hilberth came to the plate.
Hilberth, a slap hitter, ripped a line drive into the left centerfield gap that went for a bases-clearing triple - her first extra base hit of the season.
"I was just trying to go up the middle, they gave me a good pitch a little bit outside," she said. "I was able to take it, hit it hard."
Junior Ali Gardiner added her seventh home run of the season, and the Gators added five more runs over the second and third innings on their way to a 10-1 mercy-rule win against the Tigers.
Two more school records were set in the rout: The offense now has 50 home runs on the season and Nelson earned her 35th win, besting her mark set just a year ago.
Saturday, UF won both contests of the doubleheader with right fielder Mary Ratliff honored before the games as the Gators' lone senior.
Ratliff received numerous flowers from her teammates and a large, white '23' was painted on the right field grass in honor of her number.
"The coolest thing was my mom getting to throw out the first pitch," she said when asked to pick her favorite thing from the day other than two wins.
The first of those wins came in a close 3-1 affair.
Nelson went the distance and struck out eight, while sophomore Francesca Enea drove in two runs.
The second game was less of a nail biter, as UF bested Auburn 7-2.
Freshman Stephanie Brombacher continued her run of strong outings, letting up only three hits and matching Nelson's strikeout total of eight in a complete-game effort.
The Gators scored all of their runs in the second inning against Tiger pitchers Brittany Day and Angel Bunner.
Freshmen Tiffany DeFelice and Aja Paculba were the only UF players not to score a run in the inning, and Ratliff along with DeFelice were the only players not to record a hit.
"It's my favorite saying, 'Runs come in bunches,' and it's true," Ratliff said.
While Paculba failed to score in the second game, her two runs in the first set a new school single-season best.
She stands at 53 after the weekend series and will surely build on that total as the season closes out.
"She'll break it again next year," UF coach Tim Walton said.
