The third ranked Florida Gator softball team already had the series in hand after defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Friday and Saturday. The Gators were three outs away from the series sweep, but a last inning rally from the Bulldogs was enough to get at least one win. Mississippi State scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh to win the game, 5-3 on Sunday.
Florida’s record now sits at 32-4, 5-4 in the SEC.
Gator pitcher Aleshia Ocasio went into the seventh inning without allowing a run. The freshman had struck out 10 in the game and looked for her eighth shutout of the year. Mississippi State had other ideas. The Bulldogs were able to get a couple of runners to cross the plate and with two outs and then third baseman Caroline Seitz hit a walk-off three-run home run. It gave Ocasio just her third loss on the year.
Florida’s offense did not produce much. The only run batted in the entire game was off a Aubree Munro sacrifice fly which drove in Bailey Castro. Kelsey Stewart and Kirsti Merritt scored the other two runs for the Gators on an error and an illegal pitch respectively. The Gators had the bags loaded twice during the game but were not able to get more runs.
The Gators will be back home this week for a midweek game against UNF on Wednesday. Then the South Carolina Gamecocks will be coming into town this weekend for a three-game series.