The rubber match of the 2025 Bubly Invitational did not go as planned for the No. 3 Florida Gators, as they experienced a result that they hadn’t encountered since June 4, 2024, in the College World Series: a loss.
“You learn a lot about people when we’re down and when you face adversity,” UF coach Tim Walton said.
The top of the second inning against the No. 14 Duke Blue Devils dealt Florida its first adverse moment of the season that it could not overcome.
The first two batters of the inning were retired by UF sophomore starting pitcher Keagan Rothrock (7-1), but a seemingly harmless line drive that was bobbled by senior shortstop Rylee Holtorf was the catalyst for a troublesome second inning.
A five-run second frame was enough for the Blue Devils (7-3) to defeat the Gators (13-1) 8-1 on Sunday at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
Duke was able to get off to a strong start and never look back.
Following Holtorf’s error, Duke redshirt junior first baseman Jada Baker smashed an RBI triple to right field to open the scoring. Graduate third baseman Thessa Malau’ulu hit a popped up RBI single in between Holtorf and senior center fielder Kendra Falby to notch the second run for the Blue Devils.
Later in the frame, junior second baseman Aminah Vega scorched a two-run single to left field. Redshirt sophomore catcher Kairi Rodriguez lined an RBI double to left field to score an additional run, but a double-play from senior left fielder Korbe Otis to Holtorf to junior catcher Jocelyn Erickson prevented an additional run from scoring.
Rothrock struggled for the majority of her outing. In four innings of work, she surrendered eight runs (three earned) on nine hits and struck out four batters. After escaping the second, the rest of her outing still spelled trouble.
UF sophomore pitcher Ava Brown pitched two scoreless innings in relief. Following, senior pitcher Kara Hammock pitched one scoreless inning and gave up one hit while recording two strikeouts.
In the top of the fourth, Malau’ulu and Rodriguez each had hard-hit RBI singles, and junior center fielder D’Auna Jennings had a run-scoring triple to conclude the scoring for the Blue Devils.
On the contrary, Blue Devils junior starting pitcher Cassidy Curd (4-2) dominated the Gators lineup. She gave up one run on four hits and struck out six batters.
The lone run for UF was on a moonshot home run by sophomore second baseman Mia Williams off the top of the scoreboard in the bottom of the second.
Williams has had an improved start to the season after some struggles her freshman season.
“I came in fine, and as I kind of got deeper into the season I started to get lost a little bit,” Williams said.
The Gators look to bounce back from the loss as they face North Florida Ospreys on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Jacksonville.
Contact Jackson Colding at jcolding@alligator.org. Follow him on X @Colding_Jackson.
Jackson Colding is a junior sports journalism major and the Spring 2025 softball reporter. He is in his second semester at the sports desk. In his free time, he likes playing hockey, soccer and going to the gym.
