Saturday morning, Florida softball coach Tim Walton asked Ella Wesolowski to play right field.
The junior only started one game in the position. All other starts came at catcher — quite a different spot than right field.
There wasn’t any hesitation from Wesolowski.
“Anything my team needs, I’m going to do it,” she said.
The New York native shined with a couple of catches in right, along with an RBI double. Her mentality set the tempo for UF, which played like its season was on the line and delivered a scrappy win.
That makes sense since the Gators season was, indeed, on the line.
That campaign will now extend another day as Florida defeated Texas Tech 10-2 in Game 2 of the NCAA Gainesville Super Regional. The two will now play in a winner-take-all Game 3 at 12 p.m. at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
The Gators build positive momentum from Friday’s loss with its comeback and eight runs scored on NiJaree Canady and Kaitlyn Terry – two of the game’s best pitchers.
Still, Walton said he challenged his team after the loss – Florida’s first in a Game 1 of Super Regionals since 2022. He asked, “Why did you come here?”
“They really are echoing what kind of team we have,” Walton said. “We have a bunch of high character platers that care about the University of Florida, and I’m really proud of the way they answered.”
Tempo set early for Florida softball
Offense once again drove the Gators. Keagan Rothrock was outstanding with five hits and two earned runs after receiving two IVs Friday. The junior fell to the floor, with color all over her face, Walton said following the fourth inning Friday. A day later, she threw 108 pitches in a game with a heat index of over 100.
But the Gator offense rallied off another 10 runs to give them 18 over the weekend. 14 have come with two outs.
“Two outs, two strikes. We got to find a way to get runs in,” Walton said.
Jocelyn Erickson’s home run in the first inning certainly wasn’t that. She took the first pitch of her at-bat over the left-center wall.
As a senior, Erickson said she needed to show up. Madison Walker knows the Florida offense is lethal, but seeing success that early in the game gives them a boost.
“Seeing Jocelyn do that, you’re like ‘I want to do that,’” she said.
A mix of small and long ball
Walker joined the party herself with her second home run in as many days in the fourth inning to put UF up 5-1.
She called hitting contagious, which has helped her find success.
From the start of the Super Regional to that moment, all but one of UF’s runs came via the long ball. That changed.
The Gators moved to a scrappier attitude to fully put the Red Raiders away with bunts, clutch baserunning and RBIs from “unlikely” suspects like Wesolowski and Gabi Comia.
“The more hitters hit, the more opportunities we have to score runs,” Erickson said.
Reading the scouting report
Kenleigh Cahalan embodied this message more than anyone. She reached base in the fifth and seventh innings – the latter came on a bunt. Each time, she then stole second on a delayed steal, and each time, she scored.
Walton took pride in the actions, acknowledging he studied the scouting report on Texas Tech.
“Third base is playing back,” Walton said regarding the bunt. “Scouting report, there are some things there.”
Red Raider head coach Gerry Glasco didn’t deny that fact. He admitted Florida took advantage of TTU’s setup and “embarrassed” them.
“Our defense got exposed. I thought Walton did a good job exposing things that had been there but nobody else had exposed them all year,” Glasco said. “He was making a point to get that momentum in his dugout and embarrass our defense, and he did.”
The coach believes issues like that won’t transpire again with Canady or Terry in the circle. Samantha Lincoln was pitching in those innings.
As for Walton, how does he motivate the team after a near run-rule win? It’s quite simple.
“You dreamed about this since you were little. You wake up tomorrow morning and have one game to go play in the College World Series,” Walton said. “It’s going to take everyone. One person alone can’t do it.”
The game can be seen on ESPNU.
Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at nram@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1 and on Instagram @Ramreporter.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida softball uses variety to crush Texas Tech in Super Regionals
Reporting by Noah Ram, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
