Junior Emily Wilkie blasted the second grand slam of her career in the bottom of the 7th inning to give Florida the midweek win over USF.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 13-ranked Florida softball team won, 7-3, in walk-off fashion Wednesday evening over USF at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium thanks to a grand slam from junior Emily Wilkie. The grand slam was the second of Wilkie’s career.
The Gators (32-11) and the Bulls (27-19) entered the bottom of the 7th inning tied 3-3, which set the stage for the Orange & Blue’s fourth walk-off victory of the season. Sophomore Reagan Walsh continued to stay hot at the plate as she led off the frame with her third hit of the game via a single through the left side.
USF opted to rotate pitchers between relievers Vivian Ponn (3-1) and Lexie Kopko for matchup purposes, but Pal Egan ultimately followed with a full-count walk and before the switch was made to bring in Ponn back to the circle, Sam Roe put down a SAC bunt down the first base line that moved the duo into scoring position.
Bulls head coach Ken Eriksen then opted to move Ponn back into the circle to face Sarah Longley. Ponn and USF intentionally walked Longley, which set up Wilkie’s game-winning heroics. Wilkie watched two balls off the plate offered by Ponn before blasting the 2-0 pitch off the scoreboard in left center field that ended the game.
Earlier in the contest, Walsh put the Gators ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the 1st inning with her fifth home run of the year that scored fellow teammate Skylar Wallace, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run scored and a pair of stolen bases.
Wallace’s RBI knock came in the 2nd inning of play when she singled to right-center to score Roe from second base which gave UF a 3-1 lead.
USF scored their first run in the top half of the 2nd inning via an RBI double down the left field line and eventually tied the game 3-3 on a two-run home run by Ponn to left field in the 4th inning.
In the circle for Florida, Elizabeth Hightower received the start and pitched five full innings before giving way to Rylee Trlicek (11-2) in the 6th inning. Trlicek held USF to just one hit on 17 total pitches and faced seven batters in two innings of work.
The Gators return to Southeastern Conference action with a three-game road series this Saturday, Sunday and Monday at Tennessee in Knoxville at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
Notables:
* Emily Wilkie launched her second career grand slam on a 2-0 offering with one out in the bottom of the 7th inning with the score tied 3-3 with USF.
* Her first grand slam since March 17, 2021 against North Dakota in the bottom of the 1st inning that gave UP a 4-0 lead.
* Reagan Walsh tallied her ninth multi-hit game and ninth multi-RBI game of the year after she went 3-for-4 at the plate with home run, two RBI and run scored.
* It was Walsh’s fifth home run of the year and the three hits tie her career-high in the category for the fourth time.
* Skylar Wallace continued to stay hot at the plate after going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles, an RBI, a run scored and two stolen bases.
* It’s the sixth time this season that she has stolen multiple bases and it’s back-to-back games that she has stolen two bases.
* Tonight was the Gators fourth walk-off victory of the season.
* Feb. 18, 2023 – UCONN – W, 4-3 (7)
* March 19, 2023 – Missouri – W, 4-3 (7)
* April 6, 2023 – Auburn – W, 3-2 (8)
* April 19, 2023 – USF – W, 7-3 (7)
* The Florida offense produced 10 hits in tonight’s game which is the 20th time this season that the offense has produced 10 or more hits.
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>
