The No.
22 Florida Softball team (27-14, 5-6 SEC) completed the series sweep of No. 18
Georgia (28-12, 4-4 SEC) with a 5-1 win at the Florida Softball Stadium Sunday
afternoon.
Florida put the game away in the bottom
of the third, as they overcame a one-run deficit with a five-run inning.
Sophomore Ali Gardiner (Waccabuc, N.Y.) knocked a lead off home run to right
field to tie the game at 1-1. Senior Melissa
Zick(Tampa,
Fla.) drew a one-out walk on four
straight pitches. With two outs, freshman Corrie Brooks (Christmas, Fla.) reached
and moved all the way to second and Zick scored on a Georgia error.
Sophomore Savana Kelly (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) brought Brooks around to score as she
dropped a base hit into left for the 3-1 Gator lead. Sophomore Brooke Johnson (Lakeland, Fla.)
came in to pinch run for Kelly. The second Georgia
error of the inning found sophomore Kristina
Hilberth (Dunedin,
Fla.) safe at first and Johnson
at third. Hilberth stole second to put two runners in
scoring position for sophomore Kim Waleszonia (Fontana,
Calif.). Waleszonia’s
bases clearing double hugged the left field line and put Florida up 5-1
Georgia struck first in the opening
frame. With one out, Sojourner Moody dribbled a base hit back to Florida sophomore pitcher Stacey Nelson (Los Alamitos, Calif.).
Kellie Middleton’s double to left center scored Moody and out the Bulldogs up
1-0.
Florida’s sweep was the first conference
series sweep of the Bulldogs since they were swept by LSU on March 30 and 31,
2002.
Waleszonia finished the day 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI. She also stole a
base and now has 12 on the season, tying her team-leading total from the 2006
season. She is now on a five-game hit streak. Lauren Roussell
extended her hit streak to six games, which ties her career high, on 1-for-4
hitting on the day.
Nelson
(16-7) earned the win in the circle for the Gators for her fourth win of the
week. Christie Hamilton (8-5) took the loss for Georgia.
The
Gators are off until next weekend when they travel to Oxford, Miss.
for a three-game series with the Ole Miss Rebels. First pitch in Saturday’s
doubleheader is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.
