Gators Softball Ties Series With South Carolina In 8-1 Win

Entering their Saturday night matchup against the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Florida softball team had its backs against the wall. With the Gamecocks coming off a series-opening victory on Friday, Florida needed to find a way to bounce back. Otherwise, they would end up dropping their second consecutive SEC series.

Despite the pressure they faced, the Gators proved why they remain one of the top squads in the country. They handled South Carolina with ease from start to finish in an 8-1 victory on Saturday.

After Reagan Walsh knocked out a two-run homer to put the Gators up early, they never looked back. Pal Egan followed up Walsh with a home run of her own, while Skylar Wallace went 3-for-4 at the plate with a triple. Kendra Falby and Sarah Longley also chipped in with a combined four runs batted in.

In the circle, Elizabeth Hightower dominated from start to finish. She pitched a complete game, only allowing four hits, two walks and one run. Hightower ended up throwing out a staggering 129 pitches on the day. That mark proved to be a career-high for the Gators’ graduate pitcher.

Walsh Gets The Gators Started Off Right

Florida took a bit of time to get going in the first inning. After the team picked up two consecutive outs in their first two at-bats, Charla Echols cracked a double into left to keep the offense alive. Walsh immediately followed her up in the batter’s box. With the count at 2-2, she blasted a ball over the left field wall for UF’s first lead of the day.

Smoked 🔥

CC: @ReaganWalsh17

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— Gators Softball (@GatorsSB) April 1, 2023

The Gators were still not done. Egan stepped up to the plate right after Walsh. Not to be outdone, she belted a ball over the right fielder’s head and into the stands. Florida had already taken a 3-0 lead before the Gamecocks could even get any at-bats of their own.

South Carolina opted to replace their pitcher, forcing a call to the bullpen before the first inning could conclude. While their reliever Karsen Ochs briefly got the situation under control, the Gators offense would not stay quiet for long.

After two scoreless innings, they came back swinging in the fourth inning to score three more runs. Egan led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch and managed to advance to third on a throwing error from Ochs. That same error saw Sam Roe reach first base.

Egan made it home on a sacrifice fly from Sarah Longley. A pair of singles from Avery Goelz and Katie Kistler subsequently loaded the bases for Florida. They managed to score two runs via an RBI single from Wallace and a bases-loaded walk from Kendra Falby. However, a double play in the following at-bat stranded all three of Florida’s remaining runners.

Hightower Stays Hot All Night

While the Gators offense continued building their lead, Hightower got to show off her pitching prowess all evening long. In the first three innings, she did not allow a single hit. She gave up a double in the fourth inning but then stranded the runner by picking up back-to-back outs.

The Gamecocks eventually started to put up some offensive resistance in the fifth inning. Hightower surrendered two singles and a walk to load the bases with zero outs. In spite of this less-than-ideal situation, Hightower remained calm. South Carolina only managed to score a single run on a fielder’s choice, as the Gators strung together three straight outs to hang on to a 6-1 lead.

In the final two innings, the Gators simply finished off what they had already started. With two outs already on the board in the sixth, Wallace blasted a triple into right center. Falby then knocked in a single to bring her home.

Wallace rips her 6th TRIPLE of the season‼️ #GoGators

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— Gators Softball (@GatorsSB) April 1, 2023

One inning later, Sarah Longley secured her second sacrifice fly of the day to bring Christina Wellen home. Florida had now extended its lead to 8-1 as they entered the bottom of the seventh.

Despite having a pitch count in the triple digits, Hightower stayed in the circle for the final inning of play. She went on to sit down the Gamecocks 1-2-3. Back-to-back ground outs to third and a fly out to left spelled out South Carolina’s doom, as Hightower went on to pick up her 11th win of the season.

The Gators will go for the series victory on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field.