The No. 24/25 Florida Softball team (34-18) improved to 5-3 on the season against instate teams with a 3-0 victory over the UCF Golden Knights (16-31) in Orlando on Wednesday night. The Gators out hit the Knights 9-5 in the win.

Florida put runners in scoring position in each of the first two innings, but did not push the first run across until the top of the third. The hometown senior Kristen Butler (Orlando, Fla.) drew a leadoff walk to get the Gators started. Junior Melissa Zick (Tampa, Fla.) took a walk on a full count. With one out, junior Lacy Howard (League City, Texas) grabbed a hit to left field. The ball went through the left fielder’s legs, allowing Butler, Zick and Howard to score for a 3-0 Gator lead.

Freshman pitcher Stacey Nelson (Los Alamitos, Calif.) went the distance in the pitching circle for the Gators to earn the win and improve her record to 10-9 on the year. Nelson struck out five and did not allow a walk in the game.The shutout was her team-leading fourth of the season. Allison Kim took the loss for UCF to move her record to 11-15 on the year.

Cameron and Norfleet led the Gators offensively. Cameron finished the game 2-for-4. Norfleet was 1-for-1 with a career-high three walks.

Florida returns to the Florida Softball Stadium this weekend for a three-game Southeastern Conference series with the Kentucky Wildcats. The two teams face off in an 11:30 a.m. doubleheader on Saturday and a noon single game on Sunday. Saturday is Kristen Butler Day and the first 250 fans will receive a free replica T-shirt of Butler’s No.12 jersey.