Florida softball was too much for the FAMU Rattlers in the opening game of the Gainesville Regional held at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium on Friday, invoking the mercy rule in a 12-0 five-inning victory.
The Gators scored in every inning, getting one in the first, four in the second and fourth, and three in the third innings. The offensive outburst was highlighted by a three-run home run off the bat of Taylor Shumaker in the fourth; she finished with a team-leading five RBIs on the day.
Jocelyn Erickson was also a major force at the plate, going 3-for-3, including a pair of doubles and a walk while scoring three runs. Ava Brown and Townsend Thomas drove in a pair apiece, and Kenleigh Cahalan also tacked on an RBI for the Orange and Blue.
In the circle, Kegan Rothrock got the start and gave her team three innings of no-hit shutout ball to earn the win. Katelynn Oxley allowed a hit in her one frame of work while Leah Stevens issued a walk as she closed things out in the fifth.
The Rattlers still have not beaten the Gators in 24 tries dating back to 1997.
Next up for Florida is the winner of Game 2 of the Gainesville Regional on Friday between the Texas State Cougars and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. They will face off on Saturday at 10 a.m. ET in the winner’s bracket.
FINAL: Florida 12, FAMU 0 (5 innings)
Matsuno takes over at second, Desiderio takes over at third and right-hander Leah Stevens comes in to pitch.
Stevens gets Spooner to pop up to short for the first out in the top of the fifth, but Douglas draws a five-pitch walk to give the Rattlers a base-runner with one out. Samantha Smith takes over at designated hitter for Merriex and pops to first for out No. 2. Kiara Beltre pinch-hits for Register and fouls out to third on the second pinch she sees, securing the run-rule win for Florida.
Shumaker’s home run paces Florida’s 4-run fourth
Grover opens up the bottom of the fourth by watching three straight balls go by before drawing a five-pitch walk for the sixth free pass of the game for the Gators so far; Kalie Matsuno comes in to pinch run for her. McLellan follows her watching strike three go by on an offspeed pitch that gets the outside corner — that’s Florida’s first strikeout of the day.
Wesolowski hits a fly ball to left, where the two fielders collide, but the left fielder hangs on for the second out. Giulia Desiderio comes in as a pinch hitter for Comia and sees three balls go by before drawing another walk on a 3-1 count. Shumaker comes up for her fourth at-bat of the day and drills a line drive over the right field fence for a three-run home run —the Gators’ 100th home run of the season — giving Florida an 11-0 lead.
Erickson once again sees three balls before a strike is thrown to her; she then lines the fifth pitch she sees into center field for her third hit of the day. Brown comes up to bat and grounds the first pitch through the left side to put runners at first and second with two outs.
Thomas hits a hard grounder that bounces off the first baseman’s glove, driving in the lead runner while Brown advances to third. Cahalan grounds out to second to end the threat.
(E4: FAMU 0, Florida 12)
FAMU gets first hit, but nothing more
Right-hander Katelynn Oxley enters the game in relief of Rothrock, Erickson moves to first base and Ella Wesolowski comes in to cover duties behind the plate.
Oxley gets Lee out on a grounder right back to her on her second offering but then surrenders the first hit of the game to Ramos, who singles into right-center, where a pair of Gators gently collide trying to make the play. Townsend makes the second out with a pop-up to second and Brown flies out to center to end the top of the fourth.
(M4: FAMU 0, Florida 8)
Gators add three more, threaten with mercy rule
Right-hander Sariah Espada is now in the circle for the Rattlers to face Walker, who softly lines out to center for the first out of the frame. With a runner on first, the No. 9 hitter grounds softly up the middle on a ball that is a tough play for the second baseman, resulting in an infield single.
Now two on and one out for Shumaker, who watches three straight balls go by before grounding a single through the right side on a 3-1 count to give the Gators their sixth run of the game. Florida plates a pair of runners on a stolen base attempt that FAMU bungled for a pair of errors, and the mercy rule now enters the equation.
With the bases now clear, Erickson works the count full before crushing the ball over the right fielder’s head, hitting the bottom of the fence on a hop for a one-out double. Brown follows her with a fly-out to left field that is caught on the warning track, but Thomas keeps the inning alive with a four-pitch walk.
Cahalan lines the ball into right field in what looked like it would be extra bases, but the fielder made a fantastic diving play to keep Florida from scoring more runs.
(E3: FAMU 0, Florida 8)
Leadoff walk results in FAMU pitching change
Bottom of the frame opens up with McLellan working a five-pitch leadoff walk, which results in a pitching change for FAMU.
(B3: FAMU 0, Florida 5)
Leadoff hit-by-pitch caught stealing after pair of Ks
Samantha Smith steps to the plate to open the top of the third inning against Rothrock and gets hit by a 66 mph offering that just nips her to give FAMU its first baserunner of the game; Sakiya Merriex comes in as a pinch runner.
Makayla Register comes up next and goes swinging on just three pitches for the first out, followed by Aniya Canty, who recovers from an 0-2 count to run it full before swinging through strike three for out No. 2. Erickson fires a rocket on a pitch way low and away to catch Merriex trying to steal second, and Rothrock has still seen the minimum nine through three.
(M3: FAMU 0, Florida 5)
Florida tacks on four more in second inning
Madison Walker leads off the second for the Gators with a five-pitch walk on a ball four that just barely missed the zone. Gabi Comia shows bunt on the first two pitches she sees; she stands in the box for the third offering, but quickly squares up and beats the throw at first — which required a review to overturn the initial out call —to give Florida a pair of baserunners with no outs.
The batting order turns over, bringing up Shumaker, who lines a single to center to plate the second run of the day for the Gators. Runners on first and second and still no outs for Erickson, who sees three straight balls before the catcher comes out to quickly chat with Hughes; she throws ball four anyways and loads the bases.
FAMU now has a pair of pitchers warming up in the bullpen as Brown walks up to the plate; she hits a two-run double on a deep drive into the left-center gap, and the Gators are now up 4-0 and still no outs. With runners at second and third, Thomas hits a sacrifice fly to left field to bring in run No. 5.
Cahalan flies out to left field on the first pitch she sees for out No. 2; two pitches later, Grover lines out to third base and the threat is over.
(E2: FAMU 0, Florida 5)
Rothrock makes it six straight outs
Rotthrock opens the second by getting Amari Brown to pop up on the second pitch she throws for out No. 1 before getting Keeleigh Spooner to swing at a riseball high and away for the second out of the frame. Jordan Douglas then goes down swinging for a three-pitch strikeout for a nine-pitch, 1-2-3 inning.
(M2: FAMU 0, Florida 1)
Florida gets on the board, but strands bases loaded
Taylor Shumaker leads off against right-hander Zoryana Hughes by running the count full before hitting a high chopper to the shortstop, who makes a great play to throw her out. Jocelyn Erickson follows that up by also loading the count before hitting a liner into the left-center gap for a double, beating the relay throw at second.
Ava Brown comes up to the plate with a runner in scoring position, but grounds out to shortstop for the second out, keeping Erickson at second. With an 0-2 count to Townsen Thomas, FAMU’s coach comes out to talk to her pitcher and infield before Hughes issues a five-pitch walk to keep the inning alive.
Kenleigh Cahalan comes up to the plate with two outs and two on and lines an opposite-field ground-rule double that bounced off the bottom of the wall before ricocheting off the leftfielder’s glove over the fence. That brings in Florida’s first run and puts runners at second and third.
Kendall Grover gets hit by the first pitch she sees to load the bases, bringing up Cassidy McLellan, who flies out to left to end the threat.
(E1: FAMU 0, Florida 1)
Rothrock goes 1-2-3 in the first for Florida
Kegan Rothrock opens up the game with a strikeout on a changeup to the leadoff hitter, Neriah Lee. Amya Ramos follows that with a groundout to the shortstop for the second out and Jamison Townsend goes down looking for the K to quickly end the frame.
(M1: FAMU 0, Florida 0)
Florida vs FAMU starting lineups, pitchers
Right-hander Keagan Rothrock (26-6, 2.55 ERA) gets the start in the circle for the Gators.
Right-hander Zoryana Hughes (14-4, 3.27 ERA) will start in the circle for FAMU.
Stream Florida vs. Florida A&M with Fubo (free trial)
What channel is Florida vs. Florida A&M?
Florida vs. Florida A&M will be broadcast nationally on the SEC Network on Friday, May 15. Streaming options for the game include Fubo.
Florida vs. Florida A&M time
The Florida vs Florida A&M game starts at 11 a.m. ET from Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, Florida.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida run-rules FAMU in Gainesville Regional: Final score, recap
Reporting by Adam Dubbin, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
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