No. 13 Florida responds with rout of Hatters

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Thirteenth-ranked Florida softball program downed Stetson, 8-0 (6 innings), for this system’s sixteenth run-rule victory of the season Wednesday night at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.

The Gators (25-7) tied their season-high of 4 house runs towards Hatters (18-6) ace Lauren Hobbs (7-5) en path to the win. Hobbs entered the midweek with wins over Georgia, South Carolina and UCF and held a 1.96 ERA, earlier than going through the Orange & Blue for the primary time this season.

Florida obtained to Hobbs early and blasted its means onto the scoreboard within the preliminary body of motion as Charla Echols and Reagan Walsh stroked back-to-back two-out house runs to present UF a 2-0 lead over SU.

The house run motion continued within the backside of the 2nd inning when Sarah Longley produced her fifth house run of the season with a shot over the left area wall to increase the Orange & Blue’s lead out to 3-0.

The Gators struck for one more run within the backside of the third inning to push the lead out to 4-0 over the Hatters when Pal Egan drove in Kendra Falby through an RBI double to left heart area. Falby reached base to leadoff the inning with a bunt single to first base and superior into scoring place when she swiped her sixteenth stolen base of the 12 months.

Skylar Wallace was the ultimate batter within the lineup to hit a house run in tonight’s contest. The Woodstock, Ga. native lifted the primary pitch she noticed from Hobbs over the suitable area wall for a two-run house run that pushed the rating out to 6-0. Wilkie was standing on first base after she reached through a one-out hit-by-pitch.

With one out within the high of the fifth inning, Florida went to the bullpen to alleviate right-handed starter Lexie Delbrey (6-2). Delbrey pitched successfully for 4 1/3 innings and held the Hatters to only a pair of hits and three walks earlier than she gave strategy to Rylee Trlicek. Trlicek closed out the highest half of the inning with back-to-back strikeouts and completed the highest of the sixth inning with a 3rd strikeout earlier than the protection turned a 5-4-3 double play to conclude the inning.

Florida’s offense went again to work within the backside of the sixth inning as Wilkie singled to steer off the body, whereas Falby drove pinch-runner Christina Wellen in with an RBI single via the left aspect. Reagan Walsh capped the scoring with an RBI single down the left area line that ended the sport at 8-0.

Florida turns its sights again on to Southeastern Convention play with a three-game sequence at South Carolina this Friday via Sunday. Friday and Sunday’s recreation will stream through SEC Community +, whereas Saturday’s recreation is ready to air on SEC Community.

Notables:

• The Gators notched their sixteenth run-rule victory and eleventh shutout of the season with tonight’s win over Stetson. Florida has outscored opponents 243-85 to this point this season and is averaging 7.59 runs per recreation.
• Florida tied its season-high with 4 house runs tonight, which was final achieved at UAB (March 4, 2023). Charla Echols (2-for-4) hit her eighth house run of the season within the 1st inning. Reagan Walsh (2-for-3) hit her third house run of the season within the 1st inning. Sarah Longley (1-for-3) hit her fifth house run within the 2nd inning. Skylar Wallace (1-for-4) hit her team-leading ninth house run within the 4th inning. With the house run, Wallace prolonged her hitting streak to seven video games and has now reached base safely in 28 consecutive video games performed.
• Kendra Falby went 3-for-4 on the plate with a pair of stolen bases, two runs scored and an RBI.
• Pal Egan went 2-for-3 tonight with an RBI and tied her career-high with a pair of doubles.