No. 3 Florida Dispatches Jacksonville in Home Opener
The Gators turned in their fifth-consecutive five-inning run-rule victory to start the season.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The third-ranked Florida softball team took the field at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium for the first time of the 2023 season and dazzled the 1,740 fans in attendance with an 11-0 (5 innings) victory over Jacksonville Wednesday evening. Its’ fifth-consecutive five-inning run-rule victory of the season.
The Gators (5-0) and the Dolphins (3-3) squared up for a rematch of last night’s game and the Orange & Blue continue to blister opposing pitchers. The squad produced double digit hits (11) and runs (11) for the third straight game as eight batters registered at least one hit and nine different players scored once or more.
In the circle, Rylee Trlicek (3-0) earned her third win in as many appearances as she hurled four innings of shutout ball. The Hallettsville, Texas native only relinquished one hit and allowed one walk before she gave way to reliever Olivia Gigante for the final inning of work.
The Florida batters provided support for Trlicek right away as Kendra Falby (2-for-2) led the game off in the bottom of the 1st inning with a single to left field then proceeded to swipe second base for her second stolen base of the season. Skylar Wallace (2-for-2) drove in Falby to give UF a 1-0 lead later in the inning with her first triple of the season when she blistered a ball to right center field.
The flood gates opened for the Gators offense in the bottom of the 2nd inning of action as the team rallied for five runs to take a 7-0 lead. Avery Goelz (1-for-2) and Sarah Longley (1-for-2) initiated the rally with back-to-back singles to left field and Katie Kistler (1-for-1) plated Goelz for the first run of the frame with an RBI single to center field.
Falby kept the inning going and loaded the bases with an infield single placed in between the Jacksonville battery. Wallace drove in her second RBI of the night and scored Longley from third later in the frame with a SAC fly to right center field.
The highlight of the 2nd inning came in the next at-bat by Charla Echols (2-for-3). Echols launched the offering from the Dolphins hurler over the center field wall for a three-run home run that extended the Gators lead out to 7-0.
Echols’ RBI producing night continued in the 4th inning of action when she followed up a Wallace double with a run producing single up the middle of the JU infield that extended the lead out to 8-0. After a line out to center and a foul out to first, Gigante entered the game for the first time as a pinch-hitter and drew a walk to put runners on second and third, which set the table for fellow pinch-hitter Emily Wilkie (1-for-1).
With two outs, Wilkie launched a three-run home run over the pitching lab in left field to cap the scoring and extend the lead out to 11-0.
Notables:
* Florida improved to 27-0 all-time against Jacksonville.
* The squad turned in its fifth straight run-rule five-inning victory of the season.
* No other UF team in program history has started the season with five run-rule victories.
* Tonight’s shutout was the Orange & Blue’s third of the year.
* The Gators have outscored opponents 65-4 through the first five games, a feat which has never been accomplished by a UF team.
* Charla Echols and Emily Wilkie each blasted a home run in tonight’s win over Jacksonville.
* Echols blasted second home run of the season with a three-run home run in the 2nd inning.
* Wilkie crushed her first home run of the year with a gargantuan shot over the Florida bullpen beyond left field.
* The Gators have hit multiple home runs over the last three games and now have 10 on the year.
* Rylee Trlicek currently is on a nine-inning scoreless inning streak, which is the second longest of her career.
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