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The No.2 Gator softball team powered past Hampton Friday evening by the score of 7-1 to win their first game in the Gainesville Regional.
Florida trailed 1-0 early in the first inning after Gator third baseman Katie Medina fired high to first, letting Margaret Wilkins reach second on the error. Wilkins then advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and would score on a sacrifice fly. Hampton would not score again.
Alyssa Bashe was lights out from then on in the circle for Florida, allowing only two hits and striking out four in seven innings of work. The Lady Pirates would out reach base four times in the entire game against Bashe.
Bashe says she wanted to help the team win at all costs.
Florida’s offense picked things up in the bottom of the third when they scored four runs on Lady Pirate Jailynn Jackson (26-12). Lauren Haeger plated the first run for the Orange and Blue on a bases-loaded single. Taylor Schwarz would follow that up with a sac-fly to give the Gators the lead. Senior Kelsey Horton got in on the fun as well, singling in the third run of the inning. Brianna Little then hit her second triple of the season to put Florida up 4-1.
The Gators would tack on more runs in the bottom of the fifth to increase Hampton’s deficit. Kelsey Horton blasted her 10th homer of the season to make it 5-1 and two batters later Taylore Fuller wacked a pitch high and far off the left field foul pole to make it 6-1.
Kelsey Horton says she made some adjustments throughout the game that led to the homer.
With the win Alyssa Bashe moves to 9-0 on the season and Florida improves to 53-7 on the year. SEC Coach of the Year Tim Walton talks about Bashe’s dominating performance.
The regional continues all weekend as Florida now plays USF, the team that knocked the Gators out of a regional last year. USF beat Georgia Southern to advance.
