Despite the Florida softball team falling 11-6 to Georgia in Game 2 Saturday morning, they fought to take home the series in Sunday’s matchup.
In the seventh inning, the Bulldogs were one strike away from winning the series, but UF sophomore catcher Jocelyn Erickson reversed the odds.
With two outs, the Gators had runners in scoring position and lead-scorer in RBI’s at the plate. On a full count, Erickson fought in the box and smashed her 10th home run of the year over the right field wall.
The rallying didn’t stop there as junior infielder Reagan Walsh delivered back-to-back home runs to extend the lead to 7-4. The Gators expressed high energy in the dugout, cheering for their teammates.
Florida kept it rolling with three walks to load the bases and senior right-fielder Katie Kistler cleared them with her fourth triple of the year. UGA brought out its third pitcher of the inning to escape the damage.
The Gators (39-12, 14-7 SEC) offensive surge defeated Georgia (37-13, 11-9 SEC)10-7 to clinch the series win.
Florida struck for the first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. Freshman infielder Ava Brown smashed a curve ball for her second home run of the series.
Both teams fought back-and-forth, refusing to give up any runs. Freshman right-handed pitcher Keagan Rothrock recorded three strikeouts, but allowed just two hits through the first three innings.
In the bottom of the fourth, Bulldogs fifth year third baseman Sara Mosley brought the game to a 1-1 tie with a home run over the left field wall.
Georgia’s offense continued and threatened the Gators’ defense in the bottom of the fifth. Leadoff hitter sophomore Sarah Gordon delivered a home run to start the inning out strong. Rothrock recorded the first walk of the game and a single to put two runners on base.
With two outs, UGA senior right fielder Jayda Kearney smashed a two-run double to the left-center field gap to extend the lead to 4-1. Rothrock buckled down in the circle and forced an infield pop up to limit the damage.
The Gators struck back in the top of the sixth to cut into the Bulldogs lead 4-3. Redshirt senior Skylar Wallace opened the inning with a single up center field. The crowd showed frustration with the strike zone, after Erickson earned a walk.
On a full count, Walsh smashed a line drive single to load the bases and force a pitching change for Georgia. Brown and freshman third baseman Ariel Kowalewski executed back-to-back sacrifice flies to score two runs from third.
The rallying continued with an explosive seventh inning of seven runs off four hits. The Bulldogs attempted a late rally in the bottom half of the seventh after Kearny hit a two-run homer to cut the score deficit to 10-7.
However, its rallying stopped there as Kistler made a diving catch in right field to strand a runner and take the series.
Next, Florida will stay on the road to face a rematch against the Florida State Seminoles on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Contact Hailey Hurst at hhurst@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @haileyjhurst.
Hailey Hurst is a second-year journalism major with a focus in sports media and a sports reporter for The Alligator. In her free time, she enjoys going to the beach and cheering for Miami sports teams.
