The Gators and the Wildcats will meet for the fourth time this season in the 2023 SEC Softball Tournament this Wednesday, May 10, at 8 p.m. (ET).
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The 16th-ranked Florida softball team fell to No. 23 Kentucky, 1-0, in the series finale at John Cropp Stadium on a cloudy Sunday afternoon.
The Gators (35-19, 11-13 SEC) and the Wildcats (30-19-1, 10-14 SEC) squared-off in the second pitcher’s duel of the weekend as UF right-handed starter Elizabeth Hightower (15-12) and UK’s Alexia Lacatena (11-7) battled for a pair of complete-game performances.
The Orange & Blue tallied four hits, two doubles, while Kentucky earned five, which include one extra-base hit that proved to be the difference in the game.
Hightower and Florida stifled Kentucky’s offense and left them scoreless for the first five innings of play. The Monticello, Fla. native and UF’s fielding only allowed the Wildcats to reach scoring position twice over that span and were able to produce highlight worthy defensive plays by Charla Echols, Skylar Wallace and Kendra Falby.
The Wildcats finally were able to bypass the Gators defense as Grace Lorsung gave UK a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 6th inning with a one-out solo home run.
Florida made a valiant attempt to rally in the top of the 7th inning and put the tying run at third and the winning run at second. Emily Wilkie led off the frame with a scorched groundball down the third-base line, but Lorsung made a diving stab at the bag and threw to Meeko Harrison at first for the initial out.
Pinch-hitter Kaila Pollard followed up with a line drive single to left and pinch-hitter Sam Roe doubled to right field with two outs to threaten Kentucky’s lead. However, Lacatena was able to work out of the jam and induced a popup in the next at-bat to secure the complete-game victory.
The Gators and the Wildcats will meet for the fourth time this season in the 2023 SEC Softball Tournament this Wednesday, May 10, at 8 p.m. (ET).
Notables:
* Skylar Wallace swiped her 30th base of the season and is 30-for-31 on the year. The mark establishes Wallace as one of only two players in program history to record two seasons with 30 or more stolen bases.
* Kelsey Stewart | 36-of-39 (2013) & 36-of-41 (2014)
* Skylar Wallace | 52-of-56 (2022) & 30-of-31 (2023)
* Wallace also ranks third in UF history in career stolen bases with 82 total stolen bases.
* Kelsey Stewart | 113-of-124 (2013-’16)
* Michelle Moultrie | 83-of-99 (2009-’12)
* Skylar Wallace | 82-of-87 (2022-’23)
* Elizabeth Hightower logged her seventh complete-game of the season and it was her fourth seven-inning complete-game of the year.
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