On a beautiful day at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium, No. 4 Florida defeated Marshall 6-3.
Today’s matchup marked the fifth time the Gators and Thundering Herd have faced each other, and Florida moved to 5-0 in the series following the win.
Junior Ava Brown got the start and moved to 3-0 on the season. She went six innings and complemented that with four strikeouts.
Keagan Rothrock came in to close in the seventh and recorded her first save of the season. The junior ace leads the nation with 36 strikeouts in six appearances in the circle.
Offensively, it was yet again another slow start for the Florida bats. This was the fifth straight game that the Gators did not score a run in the first frame.
However, Kenleigh Cahalan continues to lead the Gator offense early on in the season. The senior shortstop got the scoring started for Florida when she hit an opposite-field, two-run homerun, giving the Gators a 2-0 lead.
Cahalan is now tied for the most RBIs in Division I softball with 17.
Redshirt freshman Townsen Thomas has struggled to start the season, batting .211 through seven games. But the centerfielder found her groove early in the second when she hit a backside double to extend the lead to 3-0.
The Thundering Herd did not back down from the fight easily. In the fourth, senior Bella Gerlach led off the inning with a single, and sophomore Sydni Burko hit a moonshot over the left field batting cages to make the ballgame 3-2. Burko has six homers and is tied for the most in Division 1 softball.
Florida answered soon after, as a pair of singles by sophomore Taylor Shumaker and senior Jocelyn Erickson got the scoring threat started in the fifth. Soon after, Brown helped herself out when she singled with the bases loaded to give Florida a comfortable 4-2 lead.
Missouri transfer Madison Walker led Florida in hits on Friday. The junior first baseman recorded two hits in the win, including an RBI Double in the fifth.
Florida continues play in the Florida Classic on Friday at 6 p.m. against Georgia Tech at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
Contact Zach Moore at zmoore@alligator.org. Follow him on X @zach_moore27.
Zach is a sophomore sports journalism student in his first semester at The Alligator, covering softball. He also has experience as an intern in the Florida Collegiate Summer League. Zach enjoys watching sports in his free time, primarily the Minnesota Vikings, Orlando Magic, and Arsenal FC.
