13 hours ago
Florida Athletics
PALO ALTO, Calif. – The Florida softball team edged LMU, 3-2, in playoff fashion in their first game of the Palo Alto Regional hosted by 9th seed Stanford. UF takes on the winner of Stanford and Long Beach State on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET.
The Gators (37-20) rallied in the seventh inning for their sixth win of the season to advance to the winners’ group.
Trailing 2-1 heading into the final half, Sarah Longley tied the game 2-2 with a first spike on the left field wall. Longley’s seventh home run of the season brought the lineup back to the top of the command, allowing Reagan Walsh to drive a one-out single to the left side.
Christina Wellen came in to pinch the run for Walsh and was moved to second base after Charla Echols hit a hard hit ball to the leg of Lions starter Jenna Perez (13-12). Pal Egan provided the heroics on the ensuing at-bat as he clipped an RBI single down the middle that scored the game-winning second base run.
To start the game, Florida and LMU (27-21) were locked in a pitching duel between starters Elizabeth Hightower and Perez for the first four innings of action. Hightower limited LMU to just a pair of hits through the first four innings, while Perez (13-12) allowed just one through the first three.
Florida struck first in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 1-0 lead. Echols started the frame with an opening march, which was followed by a pinch bunt single from Sam Roe. After a SAC bunt from Emily Wilkie moved the pair to second-and-third, the Lions cleared Echols of third via a defenseman pick, but Roe and Kaila Pollard moved to second-and-third.
Kendra Falby led Roe via her second single of the game to score the game’s first run. The hit was Falby’s second of the game, which was his 21st multi-hit game of the year.
LMU immediately tied the score 1-1 in the top half of the 5th inning as Gabby Villa lifted Hightower’s offer over the left field wall to start the inning. The Lions took a 2-1 lead after a defenseman pick and an RBI single to left field by Izzy Jamgotchian. With one out, UF went to the bullpen and brought in Rylee Trlicek (14-5) to limit any further damage as she forced takedowns at first and on the court.
Trlicek didn’t allow a runner to base in the final 2 2/3 innings and struck out four of the eight batters she faced, allowing the Gators to rally and eliminate the Lions.
Notable
- Florida improved to 51-19 in the NCAA regional round and 101-50 overall in the NCAA tournament.
- The Gators win was the sixth of the season. The others: February 18, 2023 – UCONN – F, 4-3 (7) March 19, 2023 – Missouri – F, 4-3 (7) April 6, 2023 – Auburn – F, April 3-2 (8) April 19, 2023 – USF – W, 7-3 (7) April 28, 2023 – Ole Miss – W, 6-5 (7) May 18, 2023 – LMU – W, 3-2 (7)
- Kendra Falby notched her 21st team-leading multi-hit of the year in the win over LMU.
- Falby also stole his 26th base of the season in the bottom of the 6th inning.
- Sarah Longley hit her seventh home run of the season to tie the game 2-2 in the bottom of the 7th inning.
- Pal Egan landed the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 7th inning.
- Charla Echols notched her 20th multi-hit match of the year after going 2-for-3 in the win. It is the first time in her career that she has produced 20 or more multi-hit games in one season.
Following
UF takes on the winner of Stanford and Long Beach State on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET.