Florida has outscored its opponents 63-9 through seven games.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 2 Florida softball team improved to 7-0 with a 10-1 victory over Jacksonville in five innings on Tuesday night at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
The win marked the fifth Gator run-rule just seven games into the 2025 slate.
Taylor Shumaker continued her hot start, smashing her sixth home run, while Rylee Holtorf hit her first career grand slam.
Eight different Gators have accounted for 15 home runs this season.
Florida right-handed senior pitcher Kara Hammock got the start in the circle, holding the Dolphins scoreless in the first.
The Gator bats wasted no time in the home half of the first.
Shumaker got the scoring started with a solo home run to get Florida on the board.
The Gators then loaded the bases via a Korbe Otis walk, a Jocelyn Erickson double and a Reagan Walsh walk, before Kenleigh Cahalan and Ava Brown drew back-to-back walks to plate another pair of runs.
Florida continued the scoring frenzy with a grand slam off the bat of Rylee Holtorf, the first of her career, and an RBI single by Shumaker to put the Gators up 8-0.
The Gators scored one run in each of the next two frames.
Erickson scored on a wild pitch in the second inning and then drove in another, bringing home Kendra Falby in the third with an RBI ground out.
Brown entered the circle in the top of the fourth to close out the game.
The sophomore pitcher faced six batters through two innings and set them each down in order, tallying three strikeouts.
Notables:
* The Gators are now 17-0 in the all-time series against Jacksonville
* Holtorf’s grand slam was the first of her career and her 18th home run overall. It was Florida’s second grand slam of the season (Reagan Walsh vs. Michigan on Feb. 8)
* The eight runs Florida scored in the first inning were the most since scoring nine against No. 23 Kentucky on Mar. 22, 2024 in the third inning
* Senior Brooke Barnard made her first career appearance at catcher, catching Brown in the last two innings of the game
* Hammock made her 56th career start and third appearance as a Gator (54 at UNC Wilmington)
Hear from the Gators:
Coach Tim Walton on the Gators getting out to quick starts…
“I think that the formula for success, obviously, is to get one of your first two hitters on base, and it sets you up for more RBIs. If you look at our first two hitters in the lineup, with Kendra scoring 13 runs and Taylor scoring 12 this season, they’re getting on a lot. By them getting on, it puts us in position to score more runs. We’ve walked a ton, probably close to 40 walks already. So that right in itself is setting us up for more opportunities to bat.”
Rylee Holtorf on her first career grand slam…
“It felt pretty good. It was cool that the girls in front of me had really good at bats. Getting up there I knew I had a job to do and it felt good right off the bat. The pitch before I pulled and I was just thinking about getting a pitch over the plate that I could do something with since the were bases loaded.”
Taylor Shumaker on what has contributed to her hot start to the season…
“I think to be able to have such an amazing coach that knows so much about the game has helped. Not only to have coaches that know about the game, but other teammates that know just as much about the game and are willing to help each other I think that really helps. The fact that I’ve been able to come here and have coaches that put as much effort into me as I put into myself has been really important to me. I’m able to trust what I’m doing and know that they’re giving me the tools to succeed.”
Up Next:
The Gators host Stetson on Wednesday at 6 p.m. on SEC Network +.
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