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The No. 3 Florida Gators softball team defeated the Samford Bulldogs 9-1 on Friday night at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Gators coach Tim Walton recorded his 1000th career win at Florida when the Gators recorded their 13th run-rule win of the season.
“You’re a heck of a lot better coach with good players, and we’ve had a lot of them,” Walton said of his milestone. “To be a really, really good coach, you have to be humble. You have to embrace each day. The more milestones you accumulate, the longer your career is, the more people there are that have impacted you.”
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Florida’s starting pitcher Kara Hammock (4-0) made quick work of Samford (10-6) in the opening frame, recording a five-pitch, 1-2-3 inning.
The Gators (20-1) followed up Hammock’s strong start in the circle by scoring three runs in the bottom of the first. After Kendra Falby began with a lead-off single and stolen base, Taylor Shumaker hit an RBI single to give the Gators a 1-0 lead. Kenleigh Cahalan then hit an RBI double to make it 3-0. The Gators have outscored their opponents 60-5 in the opening frame this season.
In the bottom of the third inning, Shumaker, Korbe Otis, Reagan Walsh and Gabi Comia hit doubles to extend the Gators lead to 7-0.
In the top of the fourth inning, Samford finally found a way to get on the board, ending what would have been Florida’s 10th shutout of the season. With the bases loaded, Logan Champion drew a walk to cut the deficit to 7-1.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Gators continued to find the gap in the outfield. Both Cahalan and Walsh hit doubles to extend Florida’s lead to 8-1.
In the bottom of the sixth, Florida sealed the deal thanks to Cahalan’s sacrifice fly.
Hammock pitched five innings, allowing just four hits and one run with four strikeouts and one walk. Ava Brown pitched the sixth inning, giving up no hits, no runs and just one walk.
“Confidence was the biggest thing,” Hammock said. “My teammates have been really trying to feed me confidence and I think tonight just clicked. They have my back and I can just put the ball in play and trust them to make the plays behind me. That obviously makes my job so much easier.”
Falby, Shumaker, Otis, Cahalan and Walsh all recorded multi-hit games. Falby has reached base every single game this season, extending her on-base streak to 21 games. Shumaker, meanwhile, has 38 RBIs, 40 runs and 71 total bases on the season, which rank first in the country. And she’s only a freshman.
The Gators ended their eight-game streak of hitting at least one home run.
Up Next
The Gators play a doubleheader Saturday in the Florida Invitational. Florida faces Troy (10-7) at 11:30 a.m, followed by a showdown with Western Michigan (5-8) at 2 p.m. ESPN 98.1-FM/850-AM begins coverage at 11:10 a.m.
“No, we got a lot of work to do,” Walton said regarding if his team exceeded expectations. “I told this team from the beginning, the better this team does, the more individual accolades we’re gonna accumulate along the way. We’ve got some really special athletes out there.”
