GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Charla Echols hit a go-ahead home run. Kendyl Lindaman later padded the score with a towering blast. When it was over, the Florida Gators had defeated rival Florida State at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. 

And then it was over. All of it. 

As in the entire season. 

Yes, all the above happened last March 11, with the Gators defeating the Seminoles in what turned out to be the final game of the 2020 season. COVID-19 shut down college athletics (and the world) the next day. 

Exactly 51 weeks later (just shy of a week to the day), UF, FSU and KSP got together again Friday, with some fitting circumstances coming into play, as Echols broke a scoreless tie with a monster homer to right in the fourth and Lindaman blasted a three-run shot in the fifth. Elizabeth Hightower, meanwhile, threw a one-hit gem for the fifth-ranked Gators in their 5-0 shutout Friday of the 16th-ranked Seminoles. The victory kept UF (14-0) unbeaten — compared to 23-4 at the time last season — heading into Saturday's rematch in Tallahassee.

Both teams left the ballpark Friday night knowing their next game will be played and that, ultimately, they'll see just where their respective softball journeys take them.

Such was not the case 348 days ago. 

It's safe to assume that no one expected the worst. The 2020 Florida-Florida State game was the Wednesday night all hell broke loose in the NBA (see Gobert, Rudy) and, eventually, beyond.

Earlier in the day, the SEC had decided that games across all sports would be played without fans, starting with the first night of the league's men's basketball tournament in Nashville. With that in mind, UF softball coach Tim Walton met with his team before taking the field against FSU. 

"I don't know that it was a great coaching moment for me, to be honest with you," Walton said Friday night. 

Who's to say? But it was definitely prescient. 

Walton told his players, amid the mounting uncertainty, to leave everything on the field. The team's big upcoming weekend series against Baylor (two days away) was going to played in an empty stadium, so let it all hang out against the Noles and the adoring Florida fans. Take nothing for granted because, well, you never know.

"It was starting to get weird, right before that game," Echols recalled. "I don't think any of us expected it to end so quickly. We didn't expect it to be our last, that's for sure."

But they played like it.  Fast forward to present day, and Walton's message hasn't changed that much. Ask Echols. 

"I would say our team this year is appreciating every moment we get to play," she said. "Every practice, or team meeting, we're grateful to be here. We're making sure we're laying it on the line every game."

Friday's game was scoreless when Echols jerked a full-count pitch about 30 feet over the right-field wall. It got out in a hurry to give the Gators a 1-0 lead in the fourth. An inning later, UF played some two-out small ball, with a bunt single from Cheyenne Lindsey, followed by a walk for leadoff hitter Hannah Adams. 

Lindaman then stepped into the box and skied a monster three-run shot off the bullpen roof in left field. 

UF added another run in its sixth and it was more than enough for Hightower, the junior right-hander who grew up as part of a FSU family in Monticello, Fla. Hightower, an emotional young woman who shed a few tears of joy afterward, improved to 7-0 on the season, thanks to a fourth one-hitter, with her ERA dipping to 0.59. This time last year, that number was 2.59.

This time last year, the Gators learned also their season was over. 

"It was devastating," Lindaman said. 

For that, the appreciation for this season grows. Don't think of it as the Gators making up for lost time. Think of it as making the most of the time they're getting in the here and now. So far, Walton likes what he sees, but he knows this bunch is capable of more and he's asking them for more.

"I'm not dissatisfied," he said. "I'm just hard to please." 

The Gators will wake up Saturday knowing they get a next chance to make their coach happy. And another. 

On to Tallahassee, they go. To play.