It has been an incredible start to SEC play for Florida senior Jocelyn Erickson.
After her two RBIs on Saturday and game-tying homer Sunday night, Erickson was not finished.
With the bases loaded, the catcher lined a two-RBI single up the middle, scoring junior Cassidy McLellan and sophomore Gabi Comia. On the play, Mizzou’s center fielder Kayley Lenger committed an error that cleared the bases and extended the Gators’ lead to 3–0.
In the victory, she tallied three hits and lifted her season batting average to .488.
“Anything I can do to keep my team going, I will, because at the end of the day, it is a game of energy,” Erickson said.
Behind Erickson’s excellence, No. 5 Florida (26-1, SEC 3-0) completed the sweep against Missouri (7-16, SEC 0-3) on Monday night. The victory marks the first time since the Texas A&M sweep in May of 2024 that Florida has swept an SEC foe at home.
After two nailbiters on Saturday and Sunday, Tim Walton’s squad came into Monday night in search of a comfortable victory, and they delivered.
“Obviously, when you win two games in this league in a series, it’s awesome," Walton said. “Winning three is really difficult to do, and I am proud of our team for being able to get that done this weekend.”
It was yet another smooth sailing day in the circle for junior Keagan Rothrock. Capturing her third victory of the weekend, she recorded her seventh complete game of the season and complemented it with five 1-2-3 innings.
“Obivously, it helps keep my pitch count low [on the five 1-2-3 innings], but it helps our offense more than me as it keeps the momentum with them,” Rothrock said.
Most notably, Rothrock became the first Florida pitcher to record all three SEC wins in a series since Hannah Rogers accomplished the feat against Ole Miss in 2011.
In the contest, the Gators turned two double plays. In the first, Rothrock surrendered a hit by pitch to Mizzou’s Addy Watts, but Stefania Abruscato lined out to Rothrock, and she threw Watts out at first.
Later on, Abruscato was involved in another double play. After she led the fourth off with a single, Sidney Forrester lined out to third baseman junior Kendall Grover and Abruscato was thrown out at first.
Florida wasn’t done after the 3-0 advantage. McLellan singled to left in the fourth, and shortly after, Shumaker launched her 11th longball of the season, making it 5-0 in favor of the Gators.
Looking down and out, the Tigers attempted to claw their way back into the game in the seventh. Mizzou’s Abby Carr lined a double into right field, scoring two Tigers and cutting the Gators’ lead to 5-2.
But Rothrock quickly recovered, retiring the next two Tigers, putting the nail in the coffin.
Florida returns to action Friday, beginning a three-game series against Kentucky. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. from John Cropp Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.
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.
