In front of a rowdy crowd at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium, the Gators were in trouble.
Down to its last three outs, Florida needed one run to tie things up and look to remain undefeated at home. Up stepped senior Jocelyn Erickson.
She delivered a game-tying homer that got out of the stadium, her second dinger of the weekend.
From there, senior Kenleigh Cahalan walked, and junior Kendall Grover singled to further the scoring threat. But three quick outs saw Florida in its first extra-inning game of the year.
Both offenses were unable to manufacture any runs through the first three frames of extras, and that set up the bottom of 11th. Sophomore Taylor Shumaker led the frame off with a single, and shortly after, Grover walked to give Florida runners at first and second.
And the former Missouri Tiger, Madison Walker, stepped up to the plate. The junior was 0-4 in the ballgame heading into the at-bat. But delivered with a walk-off single to left, scoring Shumaker from second.
Behind Walker’s clutch hit, No. 5 Florida (25-1, SEC 2-0) clinched the series against Missouri (7-15, SEC 0-2). The victory marks the eighth-straight opening SEC series victory for the Gators.
An early start was exactly what the Gators needed on Sunday afternoon. After falling behind against Missouri on Saturday and battling back late, Florida looked to make a statement early.
That came to realization in the second inning. Redshirt freshman Townsen Thomas led things off with a single to left, and junior Ella Wesolowski followed with a single of her own.
A sacrifice bunt by junior Cassidy McLellan set the stage for sophomore Gabi Comia. She grounded into a fielder’s choice, and it appeared that Thomas was hosed at home.
However, Mizzou’s third baseman Addy Waits overthrew the catcher Stefania Abruscato, allowing Florida to take a 1-0 advantage.
The Gators weren’t finished as Shumaker delivered her 38th RBI of the season on a sacrifice fly, scoring Wesolowski from third.
Mizzou quickly responded courtesy of the longball. The Tigers launched three home runs in the top of the third inning, including Sidney Forrester and Abby Hay’s back-to-back dingers to take a 3–2 lead.
Additionally, the three longballs marked a single-game high for the Tigers this season.
Florida utilized three pitchers in the win. Freshman Leah Stevens recorded her fifth start of the season, but struggled. She surrendered three hits, all of which came on home runs.
In relief, junior Olivia Miller kept Florida in the contest and delivered her best performance of the year, allowing no runs over seven innings of work. She gave up five hits and lowered her season ERA to 1.09.
In the 11th, junior Keagan Rothrock came in and dominated the Tigers’ lineup, recording a 1-2-3 inning.
On the opposing side, Mizzou’s Cierra Harrison got the start in the circle and kept the Florida offense in check in four innings of work. She allowed two hits, and both runs surrendered were unearned. Abby Carr came in relief for the Tigers and posted six innings in the circle.
Florida concludes play against Missouri on Monday night. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. 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.
