Florida will face regional host No. 9-seed Stanford at 1 p.m. (PT)/4 p.m. (ET) Sunday in the NCAA Palo Alto Regional Championship and will need to defeat the Cardinal twice to advance to the NCAA Super Regional Round.
PALO ALTO, Calif. – The Florida softball team rebounded to defeat Loyola Marymount, 10-6, late Saturday evening to advance to the NCAA Palo Alto Regional Championship. UF will take on host No. 9-seed Stanford at 1 p.m. (PT)/4 p.m. (ET) and will need to defeat the Cardinal to force a winner-take-all game for a spot in the NCAA Super Regional berth.
The Gators (37-21) offense blitzed the Lions (28-21) pitching staff from the onset of the late-evening elimination game. The Orange & Blue immediately struck for a pair of runs in the top of the first inning after Skylar Wallace produced a leadoff double, which was immediately followed up by a single by Kendra Falby that put runners on the corners.
Charla Echols returned to the Florida lineup after being hit in the first game of the day against Stanford and immediately drove in Wallace on a fielder’s choice RBI to second base. Freshman Kaila Pollard drove in Falby later on in the frame to stretch the lead out to 2-0 on a single to center field.
Florida kept the momentum in the top of the second inning and plated three more runs to extend its lead out to 5-0. Avery Goelz sparked the rally with her second triple of the season to lead off the frame and was scored immediately on Sarah Longley’s squeeze bunt. Wallace notched her second hit of the night and Falby drew a four-pitch walk, which set the stage for Echols’ second RBI opportunity of the night as she plated Longley on a groundout to second. Wallace scored later in the frame via a fielding error by the Lions shortstop.
Both squads were held to a scoreless third inning of play, but the Gators went right back to their scoring ways when Reagan Walsh blasted her eighth home run of the season that extended the lead out to 7-0. The Redondo Beach, Calif. sent the first pitch offered well over the 220-foot center field wall to score both her and Echols.
The Lions finally broke into the hit column and onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning. LMU collected its first hit of the game off Florida left-handed starter Rylee Trlicek (15-5) via a one out single to right and later plated the runner on a two-out single to left that closed the UF lead down to 7-1.
The Gators responded to the solo run produced by the Lions in the top of the fifth inning. Katie Kistler launched her first home run of the season over the right-center field wall to bring the score to 8-1. It was Kistler’s first out of the park home run of her UF career and the second overall home run of her career as she previously produced an inside-the-park home run earlier in her career.
Florida concluded its scoring for the night in the top of the sixth inning of action. Falby ripped her third hit of the game with a one-out single to left field, which set the table for Echols’ 12th home run of the season. The Newnan, Ga. native blasted the 0-2 offering over the wall in right center for the Gators third home run of the game.
LMU avoided the run-rule in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a one-out infield single that deflected off the glove of Trlicek and a two-out, two-run home run that closed down the lead to 10-3 and added three more in the bottom of the seventh via a two-run home run and a solo home run that closed down the lead to 10-6.
Notables:
* The Gators produced 11 hits in tonight’s game which is the 22nd time this season the Orange and Blue has produced 10 or more hits.
* Florida hit
* Charla Echols notched her 17th multi-RBI game of the year after she drove in four in tonight’s game.
* Echols now has 67 RBI on the season, which ranks tied for eight in Florida single-season history with Lauren Haeger (2014).
* Avery Goelz ripped her second triple of the season when she drove a shot down the right field line in the top of the second inning.
* Skylar Wallace finished tonight’s game 2-for-4 at the plate for her 17th multi-hit game of the year and scored a pair of runs.
* Wallace sits with 71 runs on the season, which ranks tied for fifth in UF single-season history with Kelsey Stewart (2015). Last season Wallace tied the school single-season record with 79 runs scored.
* Kendra Falby picked up her 22nd multi-hit game of the year after she finished the night 3-for-x3 at the plate.
* Reagan Walsh crushed her eighth home run of the year and concluded the evening with three RBI for her 12th multi-RBI game of the year.
* Katie Kistler launched her first home run of the season, the second of her career and first over the wall homer, over the right-center field wall in the top of the fifth inning.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
FloridaGators.com<http://www.floridagators.com/softball/>
Florida Softball on Twitter<http://twitter.com/GatorsSB>
Head Coach Tim Walton on Twitter<https://twitter.com/_TimWalton>
Florida Softball on Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/GatorsSB>
