The Gainesville Regional Championship is scheduled to take place Sunday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. (ET) against the winner of the Wisconsin/Canisius and Georgia Tech game at 10 a.m.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No.14-seed Florida defeated Georgia Tech, 7-1, in a marathon game Saturday at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium to advance to the Gainesville Regional Championship. UF battled through two weather delays that totaled three hours and fifty-six minutes and now wait to find out its opponent for tomorrow’s game that is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
Freshman Reagan Walsh gave the Gators (45-16) a 2-0 lead over the Yellow Jackets (38-17) in the bottom of the first when she ripped her 11th double of the season to the gap in left center. The Redondo Beach, Calif. native drove in Hannah Adams and Skylar Wallace after the duo reached via back-to-back one-out walks.
As the game moved into the top of the third inning, Florida starting pitcher Elizabeth Hightower (17-7) was able to force a foul out to Charla Echols at third for the first out of the inning but the weather abruptly halted the game for two hours and fifty-two minutes.
As the lightning and rain dissipated, the two teams returned to the field and Georgia Tech was able to strike for a run and close down the UF lead to 2-1.
The Gators returned the favor in the home half of the third as Walsh once again connected on the full-count offering from Blake Neleman (15-9) to extend the lead out to 3-1 and drive in Wallace from second base with a shot to right field.
Florida pushed its lead out to 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth. The rally started with a two-out base hit to left field by freshman Kendra Falby and an Adams single up the middle to put runners on the corners. Falby scored shortly after on a throwing error by the catcher back to the circle and Wallace drove in Adams on an RBI single up the middle.
Hightower and the Gators worked another scoreless frame out in the field in the fifth inning of play to send Florida’s batters back to plate, but the weather wreaked havoc again before anyone stepped to the plate. The Gainesville Regional’s first game of the day entered its second weather related delay of the game and lasted one hour and four minutes.
The wait didn’t hinder UF’s offense as the Orange & Blue struck for two more runs to extend its lead out to 7-1 over Georgia Tech. Walsh led the frame with a walk, while Cheyenne Lindsey and Katie Kistler loaded the bases with back-to-back infield singles.
Sophomore Emily Wilkie drove in Lindsey later on in the frame with a sacrifice fly to center field and Falby plated Kistler in the next at-bat with an RBI shot up the middle of the infield.
Florida went to the bullpen for the final two innings of play as Rylee Trlicek worked a scoreless sixth inning and fifth year graduate Natalie Lugo closed out the seventh with two strikeouts against the three batters she faced.
Notables:
* Reagan Walsh notched her eighth multi-RBI game of the season when she ripped a two-RBI double to left center field in the first inning of play.
* She added one more RBI in the third with her opposite field shot to right field in the third inning.
* This is the fifth game of the season that Walsh has recorded three-RBI in a game.
* Cheyenne Lindsey, Katie Kistler and Kendra Falby each also tallied multi-hit games in today’s game against the Yellow Jackets.
* Florida produced 10 hits for the second-consecutive regional game of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
* Overall, the Gators have produced four-consecutive games with 10 or more hits in an NCAA Regional.
* May 22, 2021 vs. South Alabama – 11 Hits
* May 23, 2021 vs. South Florida – 10 Hits
* May 20, 2022 vs. Canisius – 10 Hits
* May 21, 2022 vs. Georgia Tech – 10 Hits
* The Gators are now 7-1 all-time versus Georgia Tech, 49-19 all-time in NCAA Regional play and 44-7 under head coach Tim Walton.
* Overall, the program is 96-47 in the NCAA Tournament.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
FloridaGators.com<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.floridagators.com_softball_&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=veUoR_FEj8AnG0p1zFclj6rP-zGAUl-6vDGVzjteIPEXb7W1wN5r7YhyAbWcFYwf&s=ST3PLtZVGX5pudAhHaQy0lYyeYIyN_jtAeLa1AHUpnc&e= >
Florida Softball on Twitter<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__twitter.com_GatorsSB&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=veUoR_FEj8AnG0p1zFclj6rP-zGAUl-6vDGVzjteIPEXb7W1wN5r7YhyAbWcFYwf&s=S14tPcEut6rvbPNzByZs4GxYZSzF4dovKglMLmYSun8&e= >
Head Coach Tim Walton on Twitter<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_-5FTimWalton&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=veUoR_FEj8AnG0p1zFclj6rP-zGAUl-6vDGVzjteIPEXb7W1wN5r7YhyAbWcFYwf&s=PC_kFlZmcS_tEVwmibi_4EJSTL0alLyfzksgJx-oPcs&e= >
Florida Softball on Facebook<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.facebook.com_GatorsSB&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=veUoR_FEj8AnG0p1zFclj6rP-zGAUl-6vDGVzjteIPEXb7W1wN5r7YhyAbWcFYwf&s=eXP_HEOxr2NecSyx4FvBadJ76KXmFr_iiq3a4m2o234&e= >
