Freshmen pitchers Ava Brown, Keagan Rothrock and Olivia Miller hold UNF to three total hits and offense puts up 24 runs on 23 hits.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The 14th-ranked Florida softball team took both games of the doubleheader against North Florida, 10-0 (6 innings) and 14-0 (5 innings), Wednesday night at the UNF Softball Complex.
The Gators (10-2) day as highlighted by a complete-game, two-hit shutout thrown by Ava Brown (5-0) in game one and a combined one-hitter in game two hurled by Keagan Rothrock (4-2, 1 SV) and Olivia Miller.
The offense struck first in game one against the Ospreys as Skylar Wallace picked up the first hit of the game with a one-out single up the middle off UNF starter Halle Arends. After Wallace stole her eighth base of the season, sophomore Jocelyn Erickson put UF ahead 1-0 with an RBI single up the middle for her 17th RBI of the year.
The Orange & Blue added four runs in the bottom of the second to extend the lead out to 5-0 over UNF. Senior Katie Kistler and freshman Ariel Kowalewski drew back-to-back walks to start the frame and freshman right-handed starting pitcher Ava Brown helped herself out as she blasted a three-run home run over the left field wall.
Junior Kendra Falby kept the rally going with a single to left field for her 20th hit of the season and went on to steal second before being driven home on Wallace’s RBI double to left field.
After three scoreless innings, UF’s offense kicked back into high-gear and scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning to push the lead out to 10-0. Falby and Wallace started the frame with back-to-back walks and Korbe Otis drove in Falby during the next at-bat with an RBI single up the middle. Wallace then showed off her speed as she scored Erickson’s fourth SAC fly of the season when she flew out to the shortstop in shallow left field.
Reagan Walsh continued the rally with the third walk of the inning for the Gators. Kistler came through to score a pair via her second double of the season and Brown capped the scoring with her fourth-RBI of the game on a single to center field.
Brown went the distance in the circle for the complete-game, two-hit shutout, with two strikeouts and two walks.
The Gators offense started game two of the doubleheader much like the first inning of game one and jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a leadoff walk drawn by Falby and back-to-back triples from Wallace and Otis.
The Orange & Blue poured on three more runs in the top of the second inning to take a 5-0 lead. UF loaded the bases with two outs and earned back-to-back RBI walks from Erickson and Brown for the first two runs and a fielding error by the shortstop where the ball popped out of her glove on a hard-hit, line drive allowed the third runner to cross home play.
Kistler, an Orange Park, Fla., native put the Gators into run-rule territory with her first home run of the season in the top of the fourth inning. The three-run blast over the right-field wall gave UF an 8-0 lead and scored Eickson and Cassidy McLellan, who reached on back-to-back singles.
Florida added six more runs in the top of the fifth inning to stretch the lead out to 14-0. Baylee Goddard, another Orange Park, Fla., native ripped a two-run home run to start the rally, which was then followed by a solo home run by Erickson and Brooke Barnard capped the rally with her first home run of the season with a three-run shot to right center field.
The Gators return to action Friday, Feb. 23, with a pair of games at 3 p.m. against Colgate and at 5:30 p.m. versus Lafayette College to open the T-Mobile Tournament.
Notables:
* Senior outfielder Katie Kistler went 4-for-7 in the doubleheader with six RBI, four runs scored and a three-run home run.
* Florida’s offense hit four home runs in game two of the doubleheader, which is a season single-game high for the program this year.
* It’s the fourth time this year that UF has hit three or more home runs in a single game this year.
* Ava Brown, Katie Kistler, Jocelyn Erickson, Baylee Goddard and Brooke Barnard all hit home runs today.
* The Gators pitching staff hurled a one-hitter and a two-hitter this evening.
* Keagan Rothrock and Olivia Miller’s combined one-hitter is the fourth of the season for the program.
* It’s the seventh game this season that the pitching staff has held opposing batters to two hits or less.
* Keagan Rothrock was pitching a perfect game until the bottom of the fourth inning with two outs when a low popup fell onto the infield behind the circle for a base hit.
* Kendra Falby entered tonight’s doubleheader ranked third in the nation in hits and added two more to her tally. The Odessa, Fla. native has 21 hits so far on the season.
* Jocelyn Erickson entered tonight ranked sixth in the nation in RBI and first in SAC flies. She added her fourth SAC fly of the season tonight and four RBI to bring her season tally to 20 RBI.
* Ava Brown tallied a season-high four RBI in game one of the double header and hit her second home run of the season.
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>
