After dropping three of four games last week on the west coast, No. 10 Florida bounced back in Birmingham, Alabama, with a series sweep against the UAB Blazers.
Head coach Tim Walton picked up his 900th career win at UF following Friday’s 9-0 run-rule victory.
The Gators run-ruled UAB in again Saturday before they prevailed 4-1 Sunday to improve to 14-3 this season.
Gator Standouts
Sophomore right-hander Lexie Delbrey struck out six batters Saturday en route to a one-hit, complete-game shutout. Through three starts this year, Delbrey maintains a perfect ERA and a team-low 0.75 WHIP.
Florida right-hander Elizabeth Hightower started in the circle Friday and earned her seventh win already this season.
At the plate, Florida racked up 34 hits across 18 innings of at-bats.
Shortstop Skylar Wallace — who missed last week’s Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic due to an illness — returned to lineup and extended her hit streak to 10 games. Wallace went 3-3 with a home run in Friday’s series opener and matched her career-high in RBIs.
After scoring only three runs through four frames Saturday, the Gators unleashed a home-run derby beginning with senior third baseman Charla Echols’ solo shot in the top of the fifth.
Freshman Kaila Pollard and junior Emily Wilkie led off the sixth inning with back-to-back homers before Echols hit a three-run shot to open up a 10-run lead.
On Sunday, senior catcher Sarah Longley hit a pair of solo shots, while Echols drove in the go-ahead run to cap off a seven-RBI weekend. Echols leads the Gators with 24 RBIs this season.
Game 1 Box Score
UF: 9 / 9 / 1
UAB: 0 / 4 / 1
Game 2 Box Score
UF: 10 / 15 / 1
UAB: 0 / 1 / 1
Game 3 Box Score
UF: 4 / 10 / 2
UAB: 1 / 5 / 0
On Deck
The Gators will return to Gainesville to face in-state rival UCF Wednesday at 7 p.m. Florida is 6-0 at home this year and 23-6 versus the Knights dating back to their first meeting in 2003.
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