Delbrey No-Hits Scarlet Knights; Gators Run-Rule RV/No. 24 Ragin’ Cajuns
Sophomore Lexie Delbrey closed out the Bubly Invitational with the first no-hitter of her career, while Florida bounced back to run-rule RV/No. 24 Louisiana Sunday afternoon.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The eighth-ranked Florida softball team closed out the Bubly Invitational with a pair of resounding run-rule victories over RV/No. 24 Louisiana, 11-2 (5 innings), and Rutgers, 10-1 (5 innings), Sunday afternoon at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
The Gators (19-4) bounced back in a big way after yesterday’s loss to the Ragin’ Cajuns (18-9) as the team blasted three home runs en route to the victory. Leading the way at the plate was Pal Egan (1-for-2), Olivia Gigante (1-for-3) and Emily Wilkie (2-for-3) as the trio produced the homers that accounted for eight of the nine RBI in the game.
It was Egan’s two-run blast in the bottom of the 2nd inning that ignited Florida’s offense. The Bakersfield, Calif. native launched the 0-1 offering from starter Meghan Schorman over the right field wall for the first two runs of the game.
Wilkie started the rally in the bottom of the 3rd inning and stretched the Gators lead out to 6-0 with her home run that bounced off the top of the Florida pitching lab beyond the left field wall. The rally continued as the Orange & Blue picked up an RBI walk from Charla Echols, which was then followed by Gigante’s grand slam to push the UF lead out to 11-0.
The Ragin’ Cajuns pushed back in the top of the 4th inning and scored a pair of runs on a solo home run to center field and an RBI groundout, but UF thwarted the effort to extend the game past five innings.
In the Gators final game of the day, sophomore Lexie Delbrey shined as she hurled the first no-hitter of her career in the Orange & Blue’s win over the Scarlet Knights (17-8). The Bainbridge, Ga. native has previously thrown three complete-game one-hitters in her career, but completed her first no-hitter on just 51 pitches.
The feat also made it the second no-hitter thrown by a Florida pitcher this weekend as Rylee Trlicek no-hit Mercer just the day before.
Offensively, Florida used the long ball once more to start the scoring. Redshirt-junior Skylar Wallace wasted no time in putting UF ahead 2-0 with her fifth home run of the year that left the field over the 220-foot mark in center.
Echols followed up with a home run of her own in the bottom of the 3rd inning that started another rally that included an RBI groundout from Egan and an Avery Goelz RBI single up the middle that pushed the Gators lead out to 7-1.
The Gators concluded their scoring for the day in the bottom of the 4th inning thanks to an error by the Rutgers right fielder that scored a pair of runs, while Goelz put the game into run-rule territory with a two-RBI single to right field with two outs.
Florida continues play at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium Wednesday, March 15, with a single game against Bucknell at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+.
Notables:
* The Gators run-ruled RV/No. 24 Louisiana, 11-2 (5 innings), in the first game of the day and 10-1 (5 innings) in the win over Rutgers to close out the tournament.
* Overall, the Orange & Blue has posted 14 run-rule victories in 2023. In 2022 the program had 13 total run-rule victories.
* Florida has outscored opponents 198-47 on the year and average 8.61 runs per game.
* UF has produced 11 games with 10 or more runs this year.
* Sophomore Lexie Delbrey hurled the first no-hitter of her career in the Gators win over Rutgers to close out the Bubly Invitational.
* It’s also the 34rd complete-game no-hitter in program history and second complete-game no-hitter this weekend for the Gators. Senior Rylee Trlicek hurled a no-hitter against Mercer yesterday.
* Freshman Olivia Gigante hit her second grand slam of the season in the Gators win over RV/No. 24 Louisiana today.
* Overall, Florida has hit three grand slams this season.
* This week Gigante hit .375 (6-for-16) with a double, three home runs and eight total RBI.
* Skylar Wallace extended her reached base safely streak out to 19 games.
* Charla Echols pushed her hit-streak out to eight games and has reached base safely in 10-straight.
* This week in six games played, Echols hit .563 (9-for-16) with two doubles and two home runs with seven runs scored and 11 RBI.
* Graduate transfer Pal Egan wrapped up her week with a .375 average (3-for-8) with one double, two home runs and nine RBI.
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