Freshman Kim Waleszonia (Fontana, Calif.) led Florida with a 4-for-4, three RBI performance while senior Stacie Pestrak (Gainesville, Fla.) extended her team-leading hit streak to eight games as the Gator Softball team (24-10) defeated Jacksonville (16-22), 5-0 at the Florida Softball Stadium on Tuesday night. The Gators had 10 hits on the night, none of them being for extra bases, and three players had multiple hit performances.

The Gators scored four runs with two outs in the Gator half of the second. Junior Lauren Roussell (Cerritos, Calif.) drew the lead off walk to start the inning. Fellow junior Lacy Howard (League City, Texas) followed with a base hit. Senior Lindsay Norfleet (Madison, Fla.) reached base on an error by the Dolphin third baseman to load the bases. The Jacksonville defense retired the next two Gator batters, but Waleszonia was not going to let the inning end there. Waleszonia knocked a base hit into center to score Roussell and Howard and give the Gators a 2-0 lead. Senior Lindsey Cameron (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) added a RBI base hit through the left side to score Norfleet. Senior Kristen Butler (Orlando, Fla.) knocked in the final Gator run of the inning with a base hit to center to score Waleszonia for the four-run Gator lead.

With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Pestrak reached on a bunt single to the catcher. She stole second and third to move into scoring position for Waleszonia. Waleszonia drove Pestrak home with a base hit through the right side to put Florida up 5-0.

All four Gator pitchers saw action in the game. They allowed only four Jacksonville runners on as each of the first three pitchers gave up a hit and one gave up a walk. Freshman Stacey Nelson (Los Alamitos, Calif.) started the game for Florida and pitched two innings. Junior Stacey Stevens (Gainesville, Fla.) came in to start the third and pitched three innings, striking out four batters and walking none to earn her 10th win of the season. Freshman Lindsay Littlejohn (Bartow, Fla.) pitched 1.1 innings and sophomore Lisa Hasson (Seminole, Fla.) pitched the final two outs of the game. Shannon Jensen pitched the complete game loss for Jacksonville.

It’s back to league play this weekend as the Gators host their first home Southeastern Conference series of the year. Saturday’s doubleheader with the Arkansas Lady Backs begins at 1 p.m. The first 1,000 fans will receive a free water bottle courtesy of Gatorade. There will be a bounce house set up for kids before the first game and between the two games.