Injury to Ava Brown Dampens Florida’s Sweep of Day 1 at Judi Garman Classic
No. 4 Florida softball kept its unbeaten streak going on Day 1 of the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif., a sweep of Cal and East Texas A&M.
However, Florida lost one of its captains in Ava Brown against the Golden Bears. The junior stretched out to convert a play at first base and went down in intense pain before being was carted out for medical attention. Her status has not been announced.
The Gators (21-0) continued their dominance from the Florida Tournament with two run-rule victories Thursday, when they beat the Golden Bears 8-0 and the Lions 28-0.
VS. East Texas A&M (5-13)
Florida continued to show off its dominant offense in the night cap by setting a program record in runs scored in a game.
A 17-run first inning in which every Gator went up to bat at least twice carved the path.
Madison Walker got the 17-run first inning started with an RBI double that scored two runs and was immediately followed by Cassidy McLellan’s three-run home run that gave Florida a 5-0 lead.
McLellan kept it going with another multi-RBI hit, scoring two runs on a single to make the lead 11-0.
In her third at bat of the inning, Taylor Shumaker made it a memorable homecoming by hitting a ball deep to right field for a three-run home run to extend the lead to 17-0.
The Gators took their momentum into the second inning where Jocelyn Erickson went up to bat with the bases loaded. The senior had a multi home run game against Cal in the first game. Erickson did exactly what she did against the Golden Bears and hit a ball out to center field, and there was no doubt about it.
A grand slam for Erickson and her third of the day, gave Florida a 23-0 lead through two innings.
Kendall Grover’s RBI single capped the third inning and gave Florida the record for runs scored.
The Gators set program records for runs in a single inning (17), runs scored in a game (28), hits (26) and RBIs (28).
Freshman Leah Stevens showed out during the Florida Tournament, pitching her first complete game and shutout. This allowed coach Tim Walton to give the freshman the start against East Texas A&M.
Stevens (3-0) took her A game to the West Coast, pitching a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts before stepping out of the game for Katelynn Oxley.
Oxley followed with a 1-2-3 inning of her own in the second, before being taken out for Allison Sparkman.
Sparkman and Olivia Miller rounded off the pitching rotation for the historic blowout win against the Lions. All four pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts and only three hits.
VS. Cal (5-13)
In the bottom of the second inning, Brown received a ball from Shumaker to get the runner out at first. Brown stretched for the ball, got the out but immediately went down in pain. The captain was carted off the field.
After an electric outing against Middle Tennessee last Sunday where she threw for a season-high 11 strikeouts, Walton gave ace Keagan Rothrock the start in the circle.
Rothrock (9-0) continued her dominance by not allowing Cal to get a hit until the last inning of the game. She finished with five innings pitched, two hits and three strikeouts.
Kenleigh Cahalan got Florida started in the top of the first with an RBI single that scored one run. Erickson got her first of two home runs in the second, a three-run moonshot to center field that the Gators on top by five.
Shumaker continued to shine by roping her second RBI double of the game to give the Gators a 6-0 lead. Shumaker went 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Erickson then hit her second home run of the game in the fifth inning. This time around it was a two-run shot to right field that gave Florida the commanding 8-0 lead it needed to end the game in five.
The senior captain notched her third multi-home run game of the season and the fifth of her career.
The Gators will play in two more games Friday, headlined with a 5:30 p.m. ET matchup against No. 8 UCLA (13-3). Florida ends its day against Loyola Marymount (13-2) at 8 p.m. ET.
Category: College Softball, Feature Sports News, Gator Sports, Gators Softball
