Bailey Castro has Florida State pitching figured out.
Last season, Castro hit a pinch-hit home run in the seventh inning of a 4-2 win against Florida State in Tallahassee.
And on Wednesday, the senior blasted two homers to help the No. 3 Gators (37-4) down the No. 8 Seminoles (33-10) 5-1 at JoAnne Graf Field in Tallahassee.
Florida is now 13-1 against Florida State since 2007 and 20-14 versus the Seminoles all time.
The Gators had an opportunity to score early in the first inning after Kelsey Stewart led off with a walk and was bunted over to second, but it was squandered when Kirsti Merritt struck out looking and Kayli Kvistad grounded out to end the inning.
Castro struck for the Gators in the top of the second inning. The senior blasted her 10th home run of the season to left field to give Florida a 1-0 lead.
Following the homer, Lauren Haeger walked and Aubree Munro doubled down the left field line to set Florida up for more runs. Justine McLean singled up the middle to score Haeger and take a 2-0 lead before being doubled off on a Stewart fly ball to end the half inning.
In the third inning, freshman Nicole DeWitt doubled to lead off the frame.
After two walks and two strikeouts, Munro walked with the bases loaded to score Florida’s third run of the game.
The Seminoles cut the Gators lead to two in the bottom of the third inning with a run-scoring infield single from FSU center fielder Morgan Klaevemann.
Before Florida State could plate any more runs, Haeger struck out the No. 3 and 4 hitters to end the inning.
Florida quickly earned that run back thanks to Stewart. The junior doubled and scored on a DeWitt single after running through coach Tim Walton’s stop sign around third base to give the Gators a 4-1 lead in the fourth inning.
DeWitt finished a perfect 3-for-3 on the night with an RBI and a run scored.
Castro struck once again in the fifth inning with a solo home run to center field, her 11th of the season.
The Pembroke Pines native finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.
"She's getting good pitches to hit, but overall, I think we've made the right adjustments offensively—the right mechanical adjustments to get her swing on a better plane," Walton said in a release.
In the circle, Florida starting pitcher Lauren Haeger handled the Seminoles all game long.
The Peoria, Arizona, native allowed one earned run on six hits and struck out seven through seven innings as she improved to a perfect 17-0 this season.
Haeger also recorded her first career hit against the Seminoles with a single in the seventh inning.
The senior had been 0-for-18 against Florida State before the hit.
Florida’s next game will be at home against Kentucky on Saturday at 4 p.m., marking the first of three games this weekend against the Wildcats.
Follow Patrick Pinak on Twitter @Pinakk12
Bailey Castro bats during Florida’s 6-0 win against Jacksonville on Feb. 19, 2014, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
