Florida senior Kristen Butler (Orlando, Fla.) hit her 16th home run of the season to set the new school record for single season home runs and lead her team to a 5-3 come-from-behind victory over Kentucky (21-28, 4-20 SEC). The No. 24 Florida Softball team improves to 36-19 on the season and 14-10 in Southeastern Conference play. With the win, the Gators took the series two games to one.

Kentucky scored first in the top of the first inning. With one out, Megan Miller started the Wildcat offense with a base hit. She advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a two out hit by Katie Campbell. An Ashley Fertic base hit scored Miller and Campbell came in on a Brooke Marnitz single. Fertic scored on a wild pitch to put the Wildcats in the lead 3-0.

Florida took over the lead in the bottom half of the third. Senior Stacie Pestrak (Gainesville, Fla.) and freshman Kim Waleszonia (Fontana, Calif.) reached base on back-to-back bunt singles. Pestrak came home on a senior Lindsey Cameron (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) base hit that hugged the left field line. Butler put the Gators ahead by one run at 4-3 with a three-run homer that hit the scoreboard to set the school record.

The Gators added a run in the bottom of the fourth. Senior Lindsay Norfleet (Madison, Fla.) was hit by an Amy Kendall pitch to lead off the inning. Junior Shelley Stevens (Gainesville, Fla.) came in to pinch run for Norfleet at first and stole second. She scored on a Waleszonia base hit to right to give the Gators the 5-3 lead.

Pestrak provided a spark for the Gators both offensively and defensively. She finished the day 1-for-3 with her two-strike bunt single that started the Gator rally. She also made some spectacular defensive plays at both second base and short stop, recording five put outs and two assists on the day. Waleszonia finished the day 2-for-2 with a RBI, a run scored and a stolen base.

Freshman pitcher Stacey Nelson came in to replace junior starter Stacey Stevens (Gainesville, Fla.) with one out in the third inning. Nelson gave up only two hits and struck out three Wildcat batters in the remaining 4.2 innings to earn the win and improve her record to 11-10 on the season. Kentucky starter Jessica Trueblood took the loss for Kentucky to move her record to 8-15 on the year.

Florida returns to action at the Florida Softball Stadium on Wednesday. The Gators will face off in a midweek doubleheader with the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats beginning at 4 p.m. It is Lindsey Cameron Day and the first 250 fans will receive a free T-shirt featuring Lindsey’s No. 2.