After the first series loss at Missouri last weekend, the No. 10 Florida Gators bounced back in an 11-run outing to win game one of the three-game series against the South Carolina Gamecocks (29-16, 5-11 SEC).
The offense came alive after a relatively quiet weekend in Columbia, scoring only eight runs in three games with the Tigers.
Today, though, the Gators (36-9, 11-5 SEC) were swinging early. They plated their first run in the first before exploding in the second to add four more. The runs in the second came on a pair of RBI singles, a bases-load walk and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch.
In the third, Korbe Otis cleared the bases with an RBI double. She led the team with four RBIs.
“Everybody puts good swings on the ball,” Otis said postgame. “Everybody was seeing good pitches.”
Then, Reagan Walsh singled to score two more Florida baserunners before Emily Wilkie hit an RBI single of her own to give the Gators the 11-1 lead.
From there, the offense cooled down. While the Gamecocks chipped away slowly at the deficit, they were unable to overcome it.
They scored five runs within the fourth and sixth innings, but they fell short of the win.
The Gators used three pitchers in Friday’s contest, as the Gamecocks started to figure out their early offensive woes later in the game. South Carolina totaled 10 hits to the Gators’ nine.
Relief pitcher Mackenzie Wooten came in for starter Keagan Rothrock and collected her first win this season. Olivia Miller finished out the game, pitching the last two innings.
Florida will play for the series win Saturday at noon at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
ChompTalk.com 
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