With No. 1 Florida holding onto a 1-0 lead against Central Connecticut State in the bottom of the fourth and two outs, Taylore Fuller stepped up to the plate.
Practicing her swing to DJ Snake and Lil Jon’s “Turn Down for What,” the sophomore catcher eyed down Blue Devils pitcher Laura Messina.
Facing a 3-1 count, Fuller did not turn down, hitting a three-run home run to center field to extend Florida’s lead to four — a lead they would not relinquish as UF (29-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) topped CCSU (9-5) 8-2 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium on Tuesday.
“I’ve been feeling really good in the box,” Fuller said. “We’ve been working really hard on all of our swings and producing is what we aim for the entire season. To be able to score those runs for my team — not so much for myself because I could care less about stats — we’re winning games and that’s all that matters.”
Prior to facing Florida, Messina boasted a 1.12 ERA and was giving up less than a hit per inning.
But on Tuesday, UF logged 10 hits against the junior right-hander with all of Florida’s starters recording a hit.
“I’m happy with our lineup up and down,” coach Tim Walton said. “When you can hit up and down the lineup like that, it’s really important. … We were really, really balanced.”
After two scoreless innings, sophomore Kelsey Stewart plated her fourth triple of the season and put Florida on the board with a hit to deep left-center field.
“I felt like I was seeing the ball really well today,” Stewart said.
With the third-inning hit, the Wichita, Kan., native logged her 31st RBI of the season, surpassing her total from last season in less than half of the time.
“She’s it,” Walton said. “As she goes, we’re going to go, and it’s really clear to see just how important she is to our team all the way around.”
Florida did not let its momentum slip moving into the fourth frame, plating five runs on four hits, highlighted by Fuller’s fifth home run of the year.
“We swung the bat good,” Fuller said. “We’ve been working really hard on our swings and trying to get back into rhythm and timing on the pitchers.”
For the first time this season, Florida used four different pitchers in the circle.
Senior Hannah Rogers, starting her 13th game of the season, earned the win after pitching 4.1 scoreless innings. Outside of giving up a leadoff walk to start the contest against the Blue Devils, Rogers did not allow a single batter to reach base.
Freshman Delanie Gourley and juniors Lauren Haeger and Alyssa Bache provided 2.2 innings of relief for Rogers. The trio gave up just four hits and allowed two runs to score while striking out five batters and walking only one.
“We’re just trying to keep them sharp, keep them in their competitive flow,” Walton said. “Delanie’s trying to work on a couple of little things. Hannah the same thing. Lauren hasn’t really had that many innings here as of late, but we’re going to need everybody.
“Sometimes we need four in a game. Sometimes you need two in a weekend. Sometimes you need four in a weekend, so we’ve got to keep everybody ready to go.”
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
Taylore Fuller bats during Florida's 8-0 win against Indiana on Feb. 22, 2014 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
