Florida tallied four hits, including a solo home run by Reagan Walsh, while Florida State notched seven in the first meeting of the Sunshine Showdown.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The 14th-ranked Florida softball team was edged out, 5-3, by No. 4 Florida State on the road Wednesday evening at JoAnne Graf Field in the first installment of the Sunshine Showdown.
The Gators (32-15) and the Seminoles (40-8) went back-and-forth as there were four lead changes in the contest. UF tallied four hits, which was highlighted by Reagan Walsh’s two-RBI night that included her sixth home run of the season, while FSU strung together seven hits in the effort.
Florida struck first in the top of the 1st inning of play to take a 1-0 lead over Florida State. Skylar Wallace led the game off with a walk and then stole her 28th base of the year to move into scoring position. The speedster then made her way to third base after a passed ball on a Makenna Reid pitch that couldn’t be handled cleanly by FSU catcher Michaela Edenfield. Walsh scored Wallace with a one-out deep SAC fly to right field.
The Seminoles evened the score 1-1 in the bottom of the 1st inning via a two-out RBI single to right field by Mack Leonard that scored Kalei Harding, but Leonard was retired to end the frame and any further threat on catcher Sarah Longley’s throw to Wallace trying to advance to second base.
FSU took its first lead of the game, 2-1, in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Katie Dack lifted a ball off the top of the left field wall that bounced back into the field of play, which only scored one run and allowed right-handed starter Elizabeth Hightower (14-9) to limit the damage and get out of the jam.
The Gators bounced back in the top of the 3rd inning and regained the lead 3-2 thanks to a SAC fly from Charla Echols that plated Kendra Falby who reached via a leadoff throwing error by Reid from the circle. Reagan Walsh gave the Gators the lead in the very next at-bat when she crushed her sixth home run of the year over the right field wall.
After a scoreless bottom of the 3rd inning, Florida State found a way to score a trio of runs to take back the lead 5-3. A leadoff single by Hallie Wacaser and a full-count walk put a pair of runners on base with no outs for Josie Muffley. With a 2-0 count, Muffley turned on the offering from Hightower and drove in the pair in with a double to left field.
The Gators opted to replace Hightower in the circle with left-hander Rylee Trlicek in the next at-bat. Trlicek forced a groundout for the first out of the frame, but Kaley Mudge scored Muffley later in the frame on a fielder’s choice dribbler that went halfway between home plate and the circle.
Falby recorded UF’s second hit of the game in the top of the 5th inning with a one-out bunt single. The move prompted FSU’s second pitching change of the game as Kathryn Sandercock (17-3) replaced Ali DuBois in the circle. Sandercock retired the next two batters to get out of the jam with a groundout and a fly out.
Trlicek held the Seminoles scoreless in the 5th inning and 6th inning to keep the score at 5-3 to give the Gators one more chance at a rally. Sarah Longley led off the frame with a double to right center, but Sandercock bounced back to retire the next three batters to notch the win in relief.
The Gators will return back home to Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium for a three-game SEC series against Ole Miss this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Saturday’s game will recognize the remaining UF seniors after Rylee Trlicek and Bryn Thomas were recognized during the Saturday game against Georgia.
Notables:
* Reagan Walsh hit her 6th home run of the season in the top of the 3rd inning of play.
* The Redondo Beach, Calif. native had two RBI in the game as she recorded a SAC fly in the first inning. It’s her 10th multi-RBI game of the year.
* Kendra Falby extended her hit-streak out to three games with a bunt single in the 5th inning.
* Emily Wilkie singled off Kathryn Sandercock in the top of the 6th inning and now has hits in back-to-back games.
* Sarah Longley launched her fourth double of the season with a shot to right-center in the top of the 7th inning.
* Skylar Wallace extended her hit-streak to 12 games and has now reached base safely in 42 of the 43 games played this year.
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