No. 8 Florida Softball Run-Rules USF, 9-1

The No. 8 Florida Gators defeated the USF Bulls 9-1 in five innings Wednesday night in a Sunshine State matchup at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. This marks the second time Florida has run-ruled USF this season, with the previous meeting resulting in a 5-0 win back in February.

After two innings of scoreless softball, the Gators (40-10) broke through in the third inning. Rylee Holtorf hit a solo home run down the left field line to give the Gators a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Mia Williams got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score a run. Then, Kenleigh Cahalan hit a single up the middle to make it 3-0.

SOLO SHOT TO PUT US UP x @ryleeholtorf

SECN+ | #GoGators pic.twitter.com/KtaT1zgyWE

— Gators Softball (@GatorsSB) April 23, 2025

The Bulls (36-13-1) got on the board in the top of the fifth inning when Alexa Galligani hit an RBI single to right field to cut Florida’s lead to 3-1.

Offense Was Wide-Awake

The Gators really broke things open in the bottom of the fifth, scoring six runs to complete the run-rule. Reagan Walsh, Ava Brown and Kendra Falby all had RBI singles. Holtorf and Taylor Shumaker also collected RBIs.

“I thought we did a good job,” Gators coach Tim Walton said. “We came out ready to play. Hitters did a good job. Red (Oxley) got better. But up and down the lineup, good outs, a lot of line drives … I thought we did a really good job consistently just having a good approach.”

Both Falby and Cahalan had multi-hit games. It’s Falby 100th career multi-hit game. The 2024 Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner also recorded her 34th stolen base of the season and the 116th of her career.

“This is the best season she has had in her career,” Walton said. “Offensively, defensively, leadership, accountability, calmness, confidence, you name it. She’s playing some of the best softball of anybody in the entire country.”

Speaking of offense and leadership, Holtorf did her part as the No. 9 hitter for the Gators, hitting her fourth home run of the season while recording two RBIs.

“I feel like my job as a nine hole is to get on base, to pass the bat, to get it to the top of the lineup because if I do that, we are very likely to score,” Holtorf said.

The Washington transfer and graduate student continues to impact the Gators on and off the field in her first and only year with the program.

“What’s cool on a team like this is that I can learn from freshman, sophomores, juniors, just as much as they can learn from us seniors,” Holtorf said. “I think that throughout the year there’s things that we go through, whether it’s facing adversity, losing a game, winning a close game, being in a close game, there’s just different points of the season that when you are older, you have experienced them.”

Freshman Throws Clinic in Circle

Katelynn Oxley (8-4) had an efficient outing in the circle Wednesday night. The freshman from Bartow, Florida pitched five innings while giving up just three hits and one run along with two walks and two strikeouts. Oxley now has a 2.08 ERA on the season, which leads all Gators pitchers.

“It was fun, it was like being little me again,” Oxley said. “We’ve been working a lot of different pitches in the bullpen and just getting better and better. It was fun to come out there and actually be placing the ball where I wanted to. It was just a fun experience.”

Oxley’s season has been one of fluctuation, to say the least. She started the season injured, and then saw a lot of time in the circle when ace Keagon Rothrock went down with injury. Now, with Rothrock back, Oxley is fighting for appearances.

“Doing what I need to do for my team, no matter what the situation is,” Oxley said. “If I’m coming in bases loaded, if I’m starting, it doesn’t matter. I’m doing it for my team. I’m doing it for my coaches. And I’m doing it for the Gators. I would say, like, at the beginning of the season it was not as fun to not be on the field. But I love being able to support my teammates. And then it was all of a sudden, I got thrown in and it was stressful, it was facing the top five teams in the nation and SEC. Just being a freshman and getting through everything, but relying on my teammates and coaches to be the best I can be in those situations.”

The Gators’ bats have surely provided their pitchers with some much-needed hitting this season. Eight of Florida’s nine starters in the lineup are hitting above .300 this season. The Gators are fourth in the country in home runs, eighth in hits and tenth in runs.

Next Up

The Gators will have a few days of rest before traveling to Baton Rouge to take on No. 10 LSU (37-10) in an SEC matchup that has potential implications when it comes to seeding in regionals.

“Winning,” Walton said regarding what the Gators will be focusing on during the final six games of the regular season. “We’ve worked really hard in really the last week, just working a little bit more on our dirt chemistry, getting our chemistry on the dirt to get a little bit better. We got a bunch of type A personalities that are super competitive. It doesn’t matter who is right, who is wrong, we got to find a way to mesh and get better. That’s the same thing at a highly successful organization. It doesn’t matter how good your organization is, you gotta mesh relationships, you gotta have accountability, you have to have ownership.”