UF SB: No. 14 Gators Close T-Mobile Tournament with Dominant Win Over UIC

Florida plated eight runs on nine hits, while Rothrock and Brown combined for UF’s fifth one-hitter of the year.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The 14th-ranked Florida softball team finished the 2024 T-Mobile Tournament with its 11th-consecutive run-rule victory of the year thanks to an 8-0 (6 innings) decision over UIC on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.

The Gators (16-2) freshman pitching duo of Keagan Rothrock (6-2, 1 SV) and Ava Brown combined for the Orange & Blue’s fifth one-hitter of the year. Rothrock received the start and pitched four and a third innings before being relieved by Brown, who closed out the game, in the top of the fourth inning.

Rothrock, a Whiteland, Ind., native tallied eight strikeouts, struck out the side to start the game, and did not relinquish a hit until the top of the fourth inning with two outs. Brown salted the game away for the final inning and two thirds and retired the final five batters in a row.

Florida’s offense produced its 13th run-rule victory of the season, seventh in a row, after it jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning. Kendra Falby led off the game like most any other with an infield single and she promptly stole second base to move into scoring position before Skylar Wallace draw walk.  The duo then stole second and third to set the table for an RBI single by Korbe Otis.

Reagan Walsh later walked to load the bases with one out and Katie Kistler continued her outstanding week at the plate with a two-RBI double to right center field that scored both Wallace and Otis. Ariel Kowalewski chipped in a SAC fly that scored Walsh and Cassidy McLellan capped the scoring with her RBI single.

The Gators ended the contest in the bottom of the sixth inning of play with a three-run frame. Wallace notched an infield single, stole second and was moved to third on a hard-hit ball that caromed off the pitcher for a single. Erickson later stole second base and Walsh loaded the bases via a walk and was pinch-ran for by Brooke Barnard.

With the bases loaded and one out, Brown drove in Wallace from third on a SAC fly to left center. The game ended during Kowalewski’s at-bat as she singled to right field to score Erickson from second base, but the game ended when Brooke Barnard capitalized on UIC’s stagnant defense by stealing home give the Gators an 8-0 win.

Notables:

  *   Keagan Rothrock and Ava Brown combined for the program’s fifth one-hitter of the year. This is the first time since the 2019 season that the UF pitching staff has produced eight games without allowing more than one hit in a single season.
     *   It’s also tied for the first time that the Gators pitching staff has held opponents to one hit or less in eight of the first 18 games played since 2017 that featured the pitching staff of All-Americans Delanie Gourley, Aleshia Ocasio, Kelly Barnhill along with Katie Chronister.
  *   Rothrock struck out the side in the top of the 1st inning and has now struck out the side five times this year.
     *   She has tallied 65 strikeouts on the season, which ranks third nationally only behind Stanford’s NiJaree Canady’s 68 strikeouts and Primrose Aholelei’s, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 71 strikeouts.
  *   The Gators stole eight bases in today’s game against UIC and it’s tied for the fifth most stolen bases in a game, which last occurred against LSU (May 2, 2003).
  *   Florida run-ruled its seventh consecutive opponent and has produced 13 run-rule victories this season.
  *   UF’s pitching staff produced its 10th shutout of the season and currently leads the nation in the category.

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