Jocelyn Erickson's walk-off grand slam capped a five-run fifth, lifting
Florida softball to a 14-6, five inning win over Florida Atlantic in the NCAA Gainesville Regional on May 17 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Erickon's blast was one of four home runs for the
Florida Gators (45-14) who are now one win away from clinching the regional title. UF will next play on May 18 at 1 p.m. against an opponent to be determined. Taylor Shumaker finished with two home runs and 5 RBIs and Ava Brown belted a go-ahead two-run homer in the fourth inning, putting the Gators up 4-3. "Good softball game," Florida coach Tim Walton said. "Obviously as a coach, both dugouts you are frustrated at times but it was a dang good softball game from start to finish ... They punched; we punched back." Erickson delivered a walk-off hit for the second straight game as her game-winning, RBI single in the fifth inning gave UF an 8-0 win over Mercer. Erickson's blast against FAU was her first career grand slam. "I was just trying to do whatever I could do for my team because they had just walked Taylor to get the bases loaded," Erickson said. "I was not going down without a fight. I didn't even realize it was game ending, but I was excited." Bella Cimino went 2 for 3 with a homer, double and 2 RBIs for Florida Atlantic (45-11), who will play in an elimination game later in the day.
Taylor Shumaker continues power tear for Florida softball
Shumaker belted a two-run, opposite shot to left field off FAU starter Jaden Martinez, tying the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the first inning. After walking in the third inning, Shumaker then greeted FAU reliever Gabby Sacco with a three-run homer into the trees in right in the bottom of the fourth, extending UF's lead to 7-3. With 21 homers, Shumaker has broken Brittany Shutte's freshman UF record of 19 home runs set in 2010. Her 83 RBIs is three shy of UF's record of RBIs in a season (86) set by Erickson in 2024. Shumaker posted her fifth multi-homer game of the season. "Just trying to do what I can to help this team score some runs and keep us in the games," Shumaker said.
A rocky start for Florida softball starter Keegan Rothrock
Rothrock (13-5) earned her 13th win of the season, but it didn't come easy. She lasted 4 2/3 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits with no walks and two strikeouts. Rothrock surrendered a pair of home runs, including a three-run shot to FAU catcher Cloe Yeatts in the bottom of the fourth that cut UF's lead to 7-6. Ava Brown retired the lone batter she faced for UF, before the Gators erupted for a seven-run fifth inning to close out the game.
Walks, hit batters doom Florida Atlantic softball
Three Florida Atlantic pitchers combined to walk eight batters and hit three more batters. Florida's patience at the plate paid off during its seven-run fifth inning and three hitters in the inning reached via walk and two more were hit by pitches. "Our lineup is very dangerous," Shumaker said. "You get one batter on base and the game can be broken open within one pitch."
