Coming off a 5-0 win and a no-hitter from Keagan Rothrock, No. 6 Florida had a chance to clinch its fifth SEC series victory of the season on Saturday afternoon.
However, it didn’t look likely early on, as the Gators ran into baserunning and pitching trouble.
But a six-run third inning flipped the script. Not just one, but two triple RBIs from Jocelyn Erickson and Cassidy McLellan gave Florida a 6-2 lead.
Shutdown pitching from Olivia Miller and two more RBI triples closed the door for the Gators in five innings. It was their 11th game this season that ended in five innings.
Ultimately, Florida (39-5, 13-4 SEC) won the game and series against South Carolina 15-2 (23-19, 3-11 SEC) Saturday afternoon at Beckham Field at Carolina Softball Stadium.
Even with two hits, all six of UF’s outs in the first two innings can be attributed to the Gamecocks’ fielding.
Despite a solid opening inning, starting pitcher Katelynn Oxley had trouble in the second. The sophomore allowed two walks, a home run from Ensley and a double RBI from Lilio. Head coach Tim Walton replaced her with Miller to start the bottom of the third.
The junior pitcher improved to 6-0 on the season with a 1.34 ERA and one strikeout.
Erickson was the top performer for the Gators, accumulating two RBI triples, three runs and a .446 batting average. The senior’s fielding also can’t be overlooked as she led the team with six putouts.
Taylor Shumaker led the Gators with a .470 batting average and also scored three runs. The sophomore’s single in the third inning and walk in the fourth set up both of Erickson’s homers. She eventually hit another single in the fifth, which led to Kenleigh Cahalan’s RBI triple.
Townsen Thomas quietly had a great game. The redshirt freshman had three runs, two putouts and a .355 batting average. Her third-inning single set up McLellan’s home run.
Thanks to the valiant offense, the Gators sported a .531 batting average, their highest against any SEC team this season.
And, even though the Gamecocks allowed 15 runs, the fielding managed a perfect .1000.
But their pitching was a different story as they had to use five. Three finished with a 4.00 ERA and above, including a 7.00 from KG Favors.
The final game of the series is set for Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. from Columbia, South Carolina, as the Gators look to sweep their third SEC opponent of the season.
Contact Colby Kistner at ckistner@alligator.org. Follow him on X @colbykistner22.
Colby is a junior sports journalism student in his first semester with the Alligator covering golf. He has experience covering Buchholz and Santa Fe High School sports. He also worked in UF's innovation center where he wrote and created radio content for WRUF. He is an avid hockey fan with his teams being the Seattle Kraken and Florida Panthers. He is looking to minor in business administration.
