Florida now makes the quick turnaround to play another Top 5 opponent in No. 5 Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla. this upcoming Wednesday at 6 p.m. (ET).
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The 13th-ranked Florida softball team dropped its series finale, 10-6, to No. 4 Tennessee Monday night at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
The Gators (32-14, 8-10 SEC) churned out eight hits compared the Lady Vols (38-5, 16-2 SEC) 13 hits in the effort.
Florida struck first for the second consecutive game as Skylar Wallace, Kendra Falby and Charla Echols notched back-to-back singles to give UF a 1-0 lead. Wallace pounded a ball into the ground in front of home plate off freshman UT starting pitcher Karlyn Pickens, which was then followed up with an infield single to shortstop by
Falby. Echols drove Wallace home in the following at-bat with a shot back up the middle.
The Lady Vols struck back in the bottom of the 1st inning to tie the game 1-1 on a pair of hits. Kiki Milloy singled through the left side for a leadoff hit off Lexie Delbrey and was eventually brought home on a one-out RBI single to right center by McKenna Gibson.
The lead didn’t last long as junior Emily Wilkie blasted her fifth home run of the season to right field to give the Gators back the lead 2-1 in the top of the 2nd inning. The Orange & Blue followed up the leadoff blast with a four-pitch walk drawn by Sarah Longley and a defensive miscue by Zaida Puni allowed Avery Goelz to reach, which turned the lineup back to Wallace and the top of the order.
Wallace cleared the bases when she belted her seventh home run in six games to extend UF’s lead out to 5-1 over UT. The Lady Vols brought in Payton Gottshall (11-0) to close out the frame without any further damage.
Tennessee bounced back to close down the lead to 5-4 after a two-RBI single from Lair Beautae and a bases loaded full-count walk drawn by Puni.
The two teams recorded a scoreless 3rd inning with action as Rylee Trlicek (11-3) entered the game in relief of Delbrey with two on and two outs to keep the score at 5-4. However, the Lady Vols struck for three runs to take the lead 7-5 later on in the bottom of the 4th inning of play.
Echols closed down the lead to 7-6 in the top of the 5th inning. The solo shot cleared the center field wall for her ninth home run of the year.
The Lady Vols struck back with a three-run frame to extend their lead out to 10-6 in the bottom of the 5th inning. Rylie West drove her third home run over the center field wall for a three-run shot that scored McKenna Gibson and Puni.
The Gators will make the quick turn around and head to Tallahassee, Fla. Wednesday, April 26, for the Sunshine Showdown with No. 5 Florida State at 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
Notables:
* Skylar Wallace extended her hit-streak out to 11 games after going (2-for-4) at the plate and has now reached base safely in 11-straight games and 41 out of the 42 games play so far this year.
* Wallace crushed her 16th home run of the season and seventh in six games to give UF a 5-1 lead in the top of the 2nd inning.
* The Woodstock, Ga. native’s multi-hit game was her 14th of the season.
* Charla Echols (2-for-4) deposited her 51st RBI of the season with an RBI single up the middle that scored Wallace in the 1st inning. She went on to add her 52nd RBI of the year via her ninth home run of the year in the top of the 5th inning.
* Echols multi-hit game was her 15th multi-hit performance of the year.
* Emily Wilkie cranked her fifth home run of the year with a leadoff solo shot to opposite right field in the top of the 2nd inning.
* Wilkie finished the night 2-for-3 for her fourth multi-hit game of the season.
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