BOX SCORE
Columbia, Mo. – The No. 1-ranked University of Florida softball team won its seventh consecutive Southeastern Conference series on Saturday with a 9-6 victory at No. 11 Missouri. Freshman Aleshia Ocasio worked 6.2 innings to improve to 16-3 on the season, while sophomore southpaw Delanie Gourley recorded the final out to stave off a Tiger comeback attempt and notch her fourth save.
Florida (49-4, 18-4 SEC) opened the scoring when Taylore Fuller led off the second inning with a home run to left-center field. Missouri (37-13, 13-10 SEC) tied the game at 1 in the home half with a two-out RBI single.
The Gators broke out with four runs in the third to take a 5-1 lead. Kelsey Stewart drew a leadoff walk, advancing when Lauren Haeger reached on an error. Both runners moved up two bases on a passed ball before Stewart scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Kirsti Merritt followed with a double to left-center to bring home Haeger before Bailey Castro launched a two-run home run to raise the Gators' edge to four.
UF scored for a third consecutive inning in the fourth. Stewart hit a one-out single up the middle, advancing to third on Nicole DeWitt's knock through the right side and then scoring on Merritt's sacrifice fly. The runs kept coming in the fifth as Castro hit her second home run of the game, a solo shot to left-center that made the score 7-1.
The Gators drew five walks in the sixth, the last two coming with the bases loaded to raise the UF advantage to eight. Two singles set up a three-run home run for the Tigers in the home half and cut the Florida lead to 9-4. A solo shot and an RBI single in the seventh made the score 9-6 before Gourley entered and induced a groundout to seal the victory.
STARS OF THE GAME
· Bailey Castro: The Pembroke Pines, Fla., native logged her second multi-homer game of the year (last: 4/8 at Florida State).
· Kirsti Merritt: The junior's RBI double in the third maintained Florida's momentum during a four-run third inning.
· Nicole DeWitt: The first-year Gator recorded her third straight multi-hit game and her 11th of the season.
NOTABLES
· Florida Head Coach Tim Walton earned his 200th career SEC win, becoming the fifth active head coach to win 200 games in the league.
· Castro's home runs were her eighth and ninth in 12 games dating back to April 3.
· The senior's blasts give her 16 on the season to take the team lead.
· The Pembroke Pines, Fla., native set a season high with four RBI.
· Fuller's solo home run was her 11th of the year, setting a career high.
· Fuller (five games) and DeWitt (four games) both extended their hitting streaks to career highs.
· The Trenton, Fla., native has five homers in SEC play to rank second on the team (Castro, Haeger – 6).
· Stewart's single to lead off the game extended her hitting streak to a career-best 19 games.
· The Wichita, Kan., native tallied her team-best 26th multi-hit game and her fourth in five contests dating back to April 24.
· Merritt posted her 13th multi-RBI game of the year, which stands second on the squad (Haeger – 16).
· The Lake Panasoffkee, Fla., native's first-inning hit-by-pitch was her 29th this season and the 51st of her career, extending her school records.
WALTON'S WORDS
On withstanding Missouri's late rally:
“You could tell I wasn't comfortable, even with a 7-1 lead. The way their offense swings and the way they can score runs at a high frequency, we've got to do a good job of being able to sustain runs throughout the whole seven-inning game.”
On Castro's late-season surge:
“It's a cool story. That's who I recruited. I recruited a ferocious home-run hitter, and she's growing into that role now. Nothing has changed other than the fact that she's swinging at better pitches. She's a lot more confident, and she's taken advantage of her opportunities here during the last year and a half when she's been an everyday starter.”
— Florida Head Coach Tim Walton
UP NEXT
The UF-MU series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. The contest will be streamed live on SEC Network+ through participating television providers only via WatchESPN. Florida Sports Talk will have the radio broadcast with Adam Schick (play-by-play) and former Gator All-American Megan Bush (analysis) on the call. In addition, a live stats link can be found on the schedule page on GatorZone.com.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
In the Polls: NFCA | USA Softball
Preseason SEC Favorites
GatorZone.com
Twitter
Head Coach Tim Walton on Twitter
Facebook
