The story of the day for the Gators was the reliance on home runs.
Florida had nine dingers across the doubleheader, more than enough for the No. 4 Gators to cruise to a run-rule 14-4 victory over the Marshall Thundering Herd. In the victory, the Gators had 12 hits across the game.
Junior Keagan Rothrock got the start for Florida and looked to avenge her lackluster performance against Georgia Tech on Friday. The Florida ace did just that and picked up her fifth win of the season. In the ballgame, she went five innings and recorded seven strikeouts.
The Thundering Herd got the scoring started when senior Bella Gerlach hit an RBI double to score the Marshall leadoff sophomore Diamond Leslie.
In the second inning, the Gators offense began firing on all cylinders. Florida catcher Ella Wesolowski led the charge when she tied the game with a solo shot. The junior continues to play a pivotal role behind the plate whenever Jocelyn Erickson needs a rest.
From there, the bottom of the lineup duo of sophomore Gabi Comia and redshirt freshman Townsen Thomas both beat out infield singles, and sophomore Taylor Shumaker walked to load the bases.
That brought up the senior Erickson, who grounded into a fielder’s choice that allowed Comia to score from third, giving Florida a 2–1 lead.
The scoring threat was not done from there. Eastern Illinois transfer Kendall Grover elevated a three-run dinger to extend the lead 5-1. The senior now has three longballs for Florida. Junior Ava Brown lined a double in the gap to widen the margin.
Marshall answered back in the top of the fourth when Chandler Hoskins hit a two-run shot to shrink the margin 6-3.
Florida answered after junior Cassidy McLellan launched her first homerun of the season to give Florida a comfortable 9-3 lead.
Grover continued her excellent offensive performance in the bottom of the fifth when she called game on a three-run home run to put the run-rule in effect. She had four RBIs in the win.
Florida concludes 2026 Florida Classic play Sunday against Georgia Tech at 11:30 a.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.
