Gators Hope To Bounce Back From Tough Weekend For Softball Team, Get Back On Track
- EDDIE GILLEY
- Apr 1
- 3 min read
They fell one pitch shy with two out against Arkansas
By EDDIE GILLEY
The Gators softball team was team was hoping to bounce back Wednesday night at Stetson after a tough weekend when it was just one pitch away from leaving Arkansas with a series win.
With two outs and two on in the bottom of the seventh inning, Gator Ace Keagan Rothrock delivered the pitch to Dakota Kennedy who got just enough of the pitch to send it over the left field fence for a walk-off three run home run to defeat the Gators 6-4.
It was the second three run homer of the day given up by Rothrock. The Gators once led 4-0 before the Razorbacks came back to take the series 2 games to 1.
The Gators won game two 12-6 on Saturday. They scored 7 runs in innings 2-5 after trailing 1-0 in the first.
Arkansas responded with 5 runs in the 5th and 6th innings to take the game to the 7th inning trailing by one. The Gators put up 5 runs in the top of the 7th to seal the victory. Katelynn Oxley picked up the win to move to 3-0 on the season.
Rothrock recorded her 3 save coming in to close the door in the 6th and 7th innings. Ella Wesolowski, Kenleigh Cahalan, Kendall Grover and Cassidy McLellan all hit home runs for the Gators. The Gator bats also contributed 6 doubles on the night.
Thy lost the Friday night game 6-2. Rothrock took the loss and with the loss on Sunday, she now stands at 17-4 on the season. The Gator offense was held to a season-low 3 hits on the night.
They had a chance to win the series despite a rare series of struggling at the plate by Taylor Shumaker who went 1-8 on the weekend. Jocelyn Erickson hit .300 which is great by many standards but far below her average coming into the weekend.
Other than the cold bats on the cold Friday night, the rest of the team picked up their leaders at the dish with enough runs and hits to potentially win the series.
However, a bloop single with one out in the seventh by Arkansas career hit leader, Raegan Johnson, a walk to Brinli Bain, a strike out of Ella McDowell, and the fateful blow by Kennedy spoiled their effort. The wind was definitely a factor on Sunday, blowing out both the dramatic walk-off homer and the two-run homer by Kenleigh Cahalan of the Gators in the 1st inning to center field.
Usually if you can get one win on the road in the SEC and win every series at home you have a good chance of winning the SEC Softball crown. If you can win the road series and sweep at home those are bonuses. So far the Gator program has been able to reach those goals. Time will tell if this tough loss will come back to bite the Gators chance of winning the championship.
The Gators, who defeated the Hatters, 3-2, on March 25 in Gainesville, are looking for their 14th straight win over Stetson going back to the 2006 season.
First pitch was set for 6 p.m. on ESPN+ from the Stetson Softball Complex.
Inconsistent pitching has been the bane of our team for a few seasons. There are hopes that Katelyn Oxley, Leah Stevens and Olivia Miller can step into the breech which widened with the injury to Ava Brown. Keagan Rothrock brings a lot of quality but does not thoroughly dominate as the very best pitchers of our championship years did. After seeing Keagan a few times I suspect opposing hitters figure out, with the help of analytics, how to attack her pitching. However, I’m plentifully confident Tim Walton will figure out its resolution.