Florida shortstop Skylar Wallace went 6-7 at the plate with four home runs, eight RBIs and six walks this past weekend as the Gators won two of three home games against rival Georgia.
“I just hate to lose,” Wallace said. “I just don’t want to have someone beat me at something I’m good at, so I just try to play my hardest at all times and fire my team up because once we get rolling, we roll.”
After run-ruling the Bulldogs in Friday’s series opener, Florida clinched the series Saturday with a 8-7 victory. Georgia avoided a series sweep Sunday with an 8-2 win in front of a record-setting crowd at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
Florida improves to 31-11 overall, 8-7 in conference play — sixth in the SEC — and 20-4 at home.
Game 1 Box Score (F/6)
No. 12 Georgia: 4 / 7 / 0
No. 15 Florida: 13 / 13 / 0
Wallace led off the series Friday with a solo shot followed by a two-run bomb in her second at-bat. The redshirt junior hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth before she capped off the run-rule win in the sixth inning with a three-run homer that just left the yard in center field.
Wallace leads the SEC in batting average (.465), on-base percentage (.616) and slugging percentage (1.061). The former Alabama transfer leads the nation in on-base plus slugging (1.677).
Florida right-hander Elizabeth Hightower started in the circle and pitched 4 1/3 innings en route to earning her 14th win this season. Senior southpaw Rylee Trlicek recorded the final five outs to pick up her third save this year.
Game 2 Box Score
No. 12 Georgia: 7 / 6 / 3
No. 15 Florida: 8 / 12 / 1
Down 7-6 entering the fifth inning, Florida first baseman Avery Goelz hit a go-ahead two-run shot — her first home run this season.
Sophomore right-hander Lexie Delbrey started in the circle and gave up seven runs — five earned — before Trlicek came in for relief and threw three shutout innings to earn her 10th win this year.
In the bottom of the first, third baseman Charla Echols put Florida on the board with a two-run double into the right-center gap. Echols recorded her 49th RBI this season and is tied for the most in the SEC.
Game 3 Box Score
No. 12 Georgia: 8 / 8 / 0
No. 15 Florida: 2 / 5 / 1
Hightower made her 20th start this season in the circle but yielded four earned runs across four frames. The graduate student picked up her sixth loss of the year as the Gators scored only two runs via sophomore second baseman Regan Walsh’s two-run single in the bottom of the fifth.
On Deck
The Gators will welcome USF Wednesday for a doubleheader before they travel to Knoxville to face No. 7 Tennessee in a three-game series beginning Saturday. The first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader will air on ESPNU at 6 p.m. Saturday’s series opener against the Lady Vols will air on ESPNU at 4 p.m. before Sunday and Monday’s contests air on the SEC Network at 7 p.m.