Aubree Munro had never hit a grand slam.
That changed on Saturday.
With the bases loaded and Florida locked in a 2-2 game against Mississippi State in the bottom of the third, Munro made solid contact on a 3-1 offering from Bulldogs’ pitcher Alexis Silkwood.
“I was just trying to square a ball up at that point,” Munro said. “With the bases loaded my stats weren’t that great, so I was really just trying to hit a ball through the infield and help us get ahead.”
Silkwood could only watch as the line drive snuck over the fence by the scoreboard in left-center.
“I’m not a typical home run hitter, so I don’t always assume that it’s going out. So I was hauling butt in case it hit the top of the wall,” Munro said. “And then it went over.”
Powered by a big third inning, No. 1 Florida (44-3, 14-3 Southeastern Conference) defeated Mississippi State (24-22, 3-14 SEC) 6-3 on Saturday afternoon.
“I think that was my first of my whole life,” Munro said.
“So I was excited.”
After Friday’s victory, which saw the Gators score a season-high 16 runs, Florida got off to a bit of a sluggish start and went hitless through the first two innings.
But UF came alive in the third.
The grand slam followed a two-run double by senior Kirsti Merritt.
In all, 10 hitters batted in the inning.
“They have historically hit (Silkwood) pretty well,” coach Tim Walton said. “Two really nice swings.”
With the home run, Munro extended her season-best hitting streak to nine games, one shy of her career high.
Six runs was plenty of support or sophomore Aleshia Ocasio, although it was not her best outing.
She gave up three runs on five hits in five innings.
The series concludes tomorrow at 5 p.m. and can be seen on the SEC Network.
Contact Brian Lee at blee@alligator.org and you can follow him on Twitter @brianlee_17.
Aubree Munro catches a ball during Florida's doubleheader sweep of Jacksonville on Feb. 17, 2016, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
