The Florida Gators wasted little time in claiming their seventh win of the season. The Gators plated eight runs in the first inning before cruising to a 10-1 win over Jacksonville in front of 1,298 fans Tuesday night in Gainesville.
The Dolphins had two runners reaching base in the top of the first thanks to a lead off hit by pitch and a two-out walk, but Florida starter Kara Hammock notched a strikeout to end the threat.
The Gators (7-0), however, would not miss on their opportunity in the bottom half of the inning. Freshman Taylor Shumaker crushed a solo homer to right-center, her sixth of the season (already!), to make it 1-0. Four walks to the next six batters made it 3-0 when Rylee Holtorf hit a grand slam to left-center. Two batters later, Shumaker again connected on a ball down the line in left that scored Kendra Falby from second, easily.
The 8-0 lead was all Florida needed though they did add a run in the second and third innings.
Hammock (2-0) threw the first three innings, running into a little trouble in the second when she loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a single. JU got one back on an RBI single by Madis Bratek.
Hammock struck out five and walked three before turning the ball over to sophomore Ava Brown. Brown recorded a pair of 1-2-3 innings to clinch the run-rule victory.
Shumaker went 2-2 with the homer and two RBI. Falby, the team’s lead-off hitter, finished 2-3 with a pair of runs scored. Holtorf, who hit 11 home runs at Washington in 2024, hit her first home run as a Gator.
Florida continues midweek action against Stetson at 6:00 PM on Wednesday. The Hatters are 5-0 heading into the matchup that will be streamed on SEC Network+.
ChompTalk.com 
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