Florida Softball Advances At NCAA Gainesville Regional

Third-seeded Florida didn’t waste much time in defeating Mercer 8-0 in Friday’s opening round of the NCAA Gainesville Regional at Pressly Stadium.

Sophomore Mia Williams knocked in four runs on a pair of doubles and freshman Taylor Shumaker tied the Florida freshman record with her 19th home run of the season to rout Mercer in five innings.

Florida (44-14) will play the regional’s second seed, Florida Atlantic (45-10), in Saturday’s winner’s bracket scheduled for noon (ESPN+). The Owls needed nine innings to defeat Georgia Tech 5-4 in Friday’s first game. The Yellow Jackets (27-23) and Bears (38-25) will play the regional’s first elimination game Saturday at about 2:30 p.m. The winner of that game will play the UF-FAU loser at approximately 5 p.m. to determine which team advances to Sunday’s regional title round at 1 p.m.

Former Gainesville High and P.K. Yonge standout Parris Wiggs went 2-for-2 for Mercer.