Behind four home runs, No. 3 Florida softball evened the series against No. 10 Arkansas with a 12-6 win Saturday at Bogle Park.
After only getting three hits in Friday’s series-opening loss, the Gators bats came back to life as they got 15 hits, the most against a conference opponent in two years.
Katelynn Oxley got the start in the circle for Florida (33-3, 9-2 SEC). The sophomore did not show her best work on Wednesday’s win against Stetson, but bounced back against the Razorbacks.
Oxley (3-0) picked up her second career SEC victory, pitching 4.1 innings, allowing four runs on three hits, four walks and a strikeout.
Arkansas (29-5, 4-4) picked up where it left off Friday, as Brinli Bain blasted a solo homer to right field in the first inning, giving the Razorbacks an early 1-0 lead.
Ella Wesolowski and the Gators answered in the second inning, with two on base the junior sent a moonshot to left center. The three-run homer completely flipped the game, and gave Florida all the momentum with a 3-1 lead.
After not hitting a ball over the fence since Feb. 28, Kendall Grover got her first home run in SEC play. The senior followed Wesolowski with a solo shot to left field to make it 4-1 in the third inning.
Townsen Thomas, who was recently moved back to the leadoff position, got in on the fun with an RBI single that scored Gabi Comia in the fourth.
In the fifth inning, yet another Gator would go yard, as Cassidy McLellan sent a no-doubter to center field. The two-run homer was McLellan’s fourth in her last 10 games and it made it a 7-1 ball game.
The Razorbacks showed why they are a top-10 team by bouncing back in the fifth and sixth. After Oxley had the bases loaded, coach Tim Walton brought in Olivia Miller to get out of the jam.
Miller didn’t get out of it with some damage as Bain notched an RBI single, scoring one and keeping the bases loaded. Ella McDowell reached first on a fielder’s choice that scored one and got one out at third.
They weren’t done there, ending a four-run fifth inning with a two-RBI double from Dakota Kennedy, to make it 7-5.
Keagan Rothrock came into the game in the sixth inning, and she immediately let up her only hit, a solo homer by Atalyia Rijo making it 7-6.
After Arkansas seemed to have all the momentum going into the final inning, Florida brought the Razorbacks down to earth with a five-run game deciding inning.
The seventh inning party started with a Kenleigh Cahalan solo homer to left field, as she crushed the first pitch she saw. Thomas followed with an RBI single to score pinch runner Allison Sparkman.
In the next at-bat Taylor Shumaker notched an RBI single of her own, scoring Comia. Finally Madison Walker ended it with an RBI double, scoring both Thomas and Shumaker to make it 12-6.
Rothrock struck two out in two innings pitched to close the game for the Gators, her third save of the season.
After both took a game, Florida and Arkansas are set for a Sunday rubber match at Bogle Park. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
