The No. 11 Florida Gators softball team beat the No. 8 Texas A&M Aggies 2-1 on Friday night at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
The Gators (41-12, 15-7 SEC) scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to secure the series-opening win and move into a tie for second place in the SEC with the Aggies (39-10, 15-7). Tennessee (18-5 SEC) won the conference regular-season title Friday with an 8-3 win against Kentucky.
Rothrock Rebounds
Florida starting pitcher Keagan Rothrock (22-5), who gave up eight earned runs in her last outing against Florida State, rebounded against A&M. She pitched her 18th complete game of the season while only giving up one run. She gave up five hits, two walks and struck out five batters. The only run was in the second on an RBI single from Allie Enright.
Fantastic Fifth
The fifth inning has been an inning where the Gators have struggled lately. On Friday, the fifth inning is where Florida won the game.
They finished with four hits in the game and all came in the fifth inning. Aggie starter Emiley Kennedy (20-8) pitched six innings and struck out three batters, but she gave up seven walks and two runs.
Korbe Otis recorded the first hit of the game for the Gators on an infield single that extend her hit-streak to 13 games and advanced to second on an error. Skylar Wallace delivered an RBI double to tie the game. Back-to-back singles by Jocelyn Erickson and Reagan Walsh set up the game-winning sacrifice fly by Ava Brown to make it 2-1.
Defense Steps Up
After the Gators took the lead in the fifth, the Aggies got a leadoff bunt single in the sixth from Koko Wooley. Jazmine Hill hit a deep flyout to right field and Wooley tried to take second base.
A strong throw from right fielder Katie Kistler beat her to second and she was tagged out on the play.
Up Next
Game 2 of the series is Saturday at 2 p.m. It’s Senior Day for the Gators. The game will be televised on the SEC Network and air on ESPN 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF.