After just pulling a ball out to the left field foul pole, senior shortstop Rylee Holtorf was looking for her first big moment as a Gator. Facing one ball and two strikes, she delivered for her team.
The Washington transfer smoked a ball over the left field fence to elate the crowd at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in the bottom of the first, as her first collegiate grand slam blew the game open for the Gators.
From there, the No. 3 Gators (7-0) dominated the Jacksonville University Dolphins (2-4) 10-1 in five innings on the back of Holtorf’s grand slam.
Freshman sensation and reigning D1 Softball National Player of the Week Taylor Shumaker continued her electric start to the season. She smoked her sixth home run in seven games over the right field fence to kickstart Florida's offense.
Shumaker explained that her electric start to the season can be attributed to the coaching staff.
“The fact that I have been able to come here and have coaches that put as much effort into me as I put into myself has been really important to me,” Shumaker said.
Following back-to-back RBI walks from sophomore Ava Brown and junior infielder Kenleigh Cahalan, Holtorf had her big moment.
The graduate student had yet to send a ball over the fence at her new school. That changed as soon as the pitch came across the plate.
“I saw it and just trusted what I saw,” Holtorf said.
Shumaker capped off an eight-run first inning with a hard-hit RBI single, her second run driven in for the inning. This ended the evening for Dolphin starting pitcher Jacy Harrelson (1-2), as she gave up eight runs in two-thirds of an inning.
Florida senior starting pitcher Kara Hammock (2-0) pitched three innings of one-run softball against the Dolphins. She gave up two hits and struck out five batters. The lone run scored against her came off an RBI single from Jacksonville senior outfielder Madison Bratek.
“She knows, and I know, and everyone knows she has got to be a little bit better,” UF head coach Tim Walton said.
Hammock was relieved by sophomore Ava Brown, who pitched two scoreless innings. She struck out three batters and did not allow a single batter to reach the base path.
The final two runs for UF were scored on a wild pitch and a RBI groundout from junior catcher Jocelyn Erickson.
Florida will be back in action on Wednesday at 6 p.m. against the Stetson Hatters in Gainesville.
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.
