GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The 10^th-ranked Florida softball team turned in its 19^th run-rule victory of the season with a 10-2 (6 inning) decision over Mercer in front of 1,591 fans Friday evening at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
 
The Gators (23-4) rallied from being down early 2-0 in the first inning of action against the Bears (9-14). Tori Hedgecock put Mercer ahead with her 11^th home run of the year that followed a one-out walk.
 
Florida punched right back in the home half of the first inning and close down the lead to 2-1. Skylar Wallace ripped a one-out single through the right side and Korbe Otis drove her home from first with a double down the left field line.
 
UF starting pitcher Keagan Rothrock (10-3) settled down in the second frame as she struck out the side for the sixth time this season. The offense went on to tie the game 2-2 in the bottom of the second inning of action as Kowalewski drove home Katie Kistler on a groundout to the shortstop.
 
Both squads held each other off the scoreboard in the third frame, but the Gators drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fourth to take a 3-2 lead. The two-out rally started with a Cassidy McLellan single through the left side, a Kendra Falby double and a Wallace hit-by-pitch to load the bases. Korbe Otis worked a full-count and eventually drew an RBI walk that scored McLellan.
 
Kowalewski stretched the lead out to 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Reagan Walsh led the frame off with a full-count walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Mia Williams. Kowalewski then lifted her third home run over the year with a convincing 260-foot shot that cleared the center field wall.
 
The Gators put the game away with five-run sixth inning rally that ended the game 11-2. Wallace initialed the rally with a leadoff walk, stole second and then scored when the throw to second went wild into center field. Otis and Jocelyn Erickson followed with back-to-back walks and Avery Goelz drew a two-out walk to load the bases for Kowalewski.
 
Kowalewski drove in Erickson and Otis in the ensuing at-bat on as she laced a two-RBI double up the middle of the Bears infield to center field. Pinch-hitter Brooke Barnard kept the two-out rally alive with a full-count walk, while freshman pinch-hitter Alyssa Hovermale secure the game-ending two-RBI single that scored Kowalewski and Goelz.
 
Florida is set to take on Indiana tomorrow for a solo contest that is set to start at 2:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.
 
Notables:

• Ariel Kowalewski set a career-high tonight with five-RBI. She finished 2-for-4 with her third home run of the season and a double, while also tying her career-high in runs scored.
• Keagan Rothrock recorded her 10^th complete-game of the season as she pitched six inning and struck out 11 Bears.
  • It's the second 10-plus strikeout game for Rothrock and it's the second most strikeouts she's produced in a game.
  • Rothrock's 10^th complete-game ties her for sixth all-time among UF freshmen along with Stephanie Brombacher (2008) and Aleshia Ocasio (2015).
• Florida picked up its 19^th run-rule victory of the season, which is the most since the Gators had 21 run-rule victories in 2016.

 
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