For the second straight day, the Florida softball team played a night game against a top-five Pac-12 team. And again, the Gators were victorious.
No. 14 Florida (4-0) capped another two-win day of competition at the Kajikawa Classic with an upset victory against No. 3 California (1-2).
UF began the day against Cal State Northridge (0-3). The Matadors proved no match for the potent Florida offense, falling 7-0.
Florida started the game strongly, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning.
The Gators batted around in the first, scoring runs on a double by freshman Taylore Fuller and a single by sophomore Bailey Castro. Fuller then stole home on a double steal, and Castro would come around on a bases-loaded walk by sophomore Jessica Damico.
Sophomore Alyssa Bache took to the circle for Florida against Cal State Northridge. Bache, who surrendered two runs to Creighton on Friday, had a solid performance against the Matadors, pitching a complete-game shutout. However, Bache did suffer from control problems, walking five batters while picking up the win.
In the nightcap, Florida faced a much stronger Cal squad.
The Gators jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on RBI singles by sophomore Lauren Haeger and junior transfer Stephanie Tofft.
However, the Golden Bears came back in the bottom of the third with a three-run inning.
Despite junior Hannah Rogers turning in a subpar performance compared to her dominant eight-strikeout game against Oregon on Friday, Florida’s offense put the Gators in the lead to stay in the fifth inning.
The Gators added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning to secure a 7-4 victory.
Florida will play its last game in the Kajikawa Classic tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. against No. 13 Arizona.
Sophomore Alyssa Bache threw a complete game shutout against Savannah State on Saturday.
