ChompTalk.com

The Florida Gators gave No. 1 Oklahoma all they could handle until the ninth inning of Thursday’s series opener. Ultimately, Florida fell just short of pulling off the upset, dropping the contest 6-5 in an extra inning thriller.

Oklahoma got the scoring started with Abigale Dayton’s RBI double on the thirteenth pitch of the at-bat in the top of the second inning. The Sooners added a run in the third on a Kasidi Pickering solo home run.

The Gators, however, finally struck in the bottom of the third inning. Taylor Shumaker scored on an error at first that allowed Jocelyn Erickson to reach base. The next hitter, Reagan Walsh, singled up the middle to score Korbe Otis and tie the ballgame. A fielder’s choice put runners on the corners for the Gators with two outs and Mia Williams at the plate.

With Kenleigh Cahalan at first and Erickson at third, OU pitcher Sam Landry spiked a ball that went all the way to the first base side of the backstop and allowed Erickson to score easily to put the Gators in front.

Oklahoma had a scoring opportunity in the fourth, but an incredible defensive play by Mia Williams put that to bed. The Sooners had runners on first and third with one out. Sydney Barker attempted to steal second, the throw pulled Mia Williams towards first base and into a run down. As Williams chased Barker, Ailana Agbayani broke for home. Williams rifled a perfect strike to Erickson at the plate, who easily made the tag in time for the second out.

The Sooners did even things on the top of the sixth, though. Ella Parker crushed a Rothrock riseball to right, well beyond the park’s fence.

Following the leadoff homer, Rothrock hit a batter and walked two more to load the bases with one out. Tia Milloy and Hannah Coor hit back-to-back RBI singles to give Oklahoma a 5-3 lead.

That lead lasted three batters into the bottom of the inning as Williams crushed her 18th homer of the year deep to straight-away center to tie things up, again. Williams recorded just 18 hits as a true freshman in 2024 but has hit at a .353 clip this season entering play Thursday.

Florida had a chance to win the game in the seventh with runners on first and third with two outs but a groundout ended the threat and forced extra innings.

Despite chances for both teams to win the game in the latter frames of the game, Oklahoma broke through in the top of the ninth. The Sooners loaded the bases without recording an out, but were limited to just one before Ava Brown was able to retire the side.

Walsh finished the game 3-4 while Williams (2-3) and Shumaker (2-3) also reached with multiple base hits.

In the circle, Rothrock tossed six innings while allowing five runs. She gave up nine hits and walked three while striking out three more. Brown took over in the seventh, played with fire each inning until getting burned in the ninth. Two Sooners reached base in both the seventh and eighth innings.

Florida will face the Sooners Friday and Saturday to conclude the regular season before traveling to Athens, GA for the SEC Tournament that begins early next week.