NCAA TOURNAMENT / GAINESVILLE REGIONAL 

GAINESVILLE, Fla.  – Junior Jocelyn Erickson blasted a walk-off grand slam, one of four home runs smacked Saturday by host and No. 3-seed Florida, including two from freshman phenom Taylor Shumaker, as the fifth-ranked Gators run-ruled Florida Atlantic 14-6 in second-round play of the NCAA Gainesville to reach the bracket’s championship round. 

Erickson’s homer, the first grand slam of her career, plated the last four runs of a seven-run fifth inning. UF started the frame with a dicey 7-6 lead after FAU’s Choloe Keatts hit a two-out, three-run homer that closed FAU within 7-6 and chased Gators starter Keagan Rothrock. Enter reliever Ava Brown, who needed five pitches to get out of the inning.

In the Florida fifth, the Gators’ first two batters, Reagan Walsh and Mia Williams, were hit by pitches, with FAU then opting for a pitching change. Ainsley Lambert relieved Gabby Sacco and struck out the first two batters she faced. But Lambert walked Kenleigh Cahalan to load the bases, then walked Rylee Holtorf to push the UF led to 8-6. Kendra Falby’s two-run slap single up the middle made it 10-6, and after Shumaker, already with two towering homers, walked to load the bases again, Erickson smashed the game-ender, her 15th of the season, to right. 

Rothrock (13-5) got the win for the Gators, despite giving up six runs on eight hits over just 4.2 innings. 

FAU, the regional’s second seed, jumped on Rothrock in the first inning for a 2-0 lead, with singles from two of the first three batters. The Owls scored their first run by baiting the Gators with a stolen base attempt, as Jesiana Mora got into an intentional rundown, with UF first baseman Walsh trying and to get Kylie Hammonds on a dash home. The throw was late, Mora was safe at second, then scored two batters later when Bella Cimino doubled off the center field wall. 

UF got both runs back in its first, however, on Shumaker’s opposite-field blast. It was her 20th of the season — her second in as many tournament games — and broke the freshman single-season record for home runs that she tied in Friday night’s win over Georgia Tech. She wasn’t done. 

The Owls, ranked 24th and regular-season champions of the American Athletic Conference, retook the lead in the their fourth, courtesy a solo shot by Cimino for a 3-2 advantage. The Gators needed a half-inning to cancel that out and retake the lead. Williams led off the UF fourth with a walk and Brown followed with a go-ahead two-run homer that caromed off the FAU right-fielder’s glove and over the fence to put the Gators in front 4-3. With two outs, Holtorf was hit by a pitch, followed by a Falby walk. Shumaker then stepped in a ripped her three-run shot over the right-field wall, giving her five multi-homers games this season and at least five RBI in three games. Florida led 7-3. Temporarily. 

Rothrock gave up a pair of singles in the Owls’ fifth, then served up a 3-run homer to Yeatts, who took the pitch the opposite way, sticking it just inside the right-field foul pole to close the Gators’ lead to 7-6 and set up Florida’s big bottom half. 

PLAY OF THE GAME: Erickson’s homer, of course, but how ’bout this fun fact: Regarding the aforementioned Brown homer that bounced off the right fielder’s glove? That right fielder was sophomore Kiley Shelton, younger sister of UF baseball’s current second baseman Colby Shelton.   

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Shumaker not only has the all-time freshman home run record, but is now one homer away from tying the single-season program record of 22 set by Brittany Schutte in 2011, as well as four RBI from breaking Erickson’s single-season mark of 83, set in 2024. 

STAGGERING STATISTIC: When Erickson stepped to the plate in fifth, the Gators had batted around in the inning despite putting just one ball in play. She made it two balls in play. 

UP NEXT: Florida (45-14) will play the bracket’s lone survivor for the regional title Sunday. Whoever it is — be it FAU (45-11), Georgia Tech or Mercer, each of which faced elimination games later Saturday — that team will have to beat the Gators twice on Sunday, starting with the first game set for 1 p.m. Should UF fall, an elimination game would be played immediately afterward at approximately 2:30. 

QUOTES

Coach Tim Walton 

*  “They punched, we punched back. It was a good game.”  

* (On FAU) “Yeah, they did a good job. I said that from the beginning. You look at the board, and they have no errors. I think the only thing that they would probably address in the locker room is just the free passes, but that’s our M.O. You’ve got to throw over the plate; we’re not going to chase a ton. It’s frustrating to some at times—even our own fans get frustrated at our approach sometimes. At the end of the day, all of our hitters are wired differently. They have different strengths and weaknesses, and we just focus on the plan that suits each one individually. I think we executed a pretty good plan today. We had a couple of wasted swings, but you’re going to have that with good pitching and they have good pitching.”

Jocelyn Erickson 

* (On getting runners on base and capitalizing): “Yeah, I think it was super essential getting those strong at bats — hit by pitches, walks — [because] that’s what makes the game go ’round. Those people ultimately end up scoring, so I think that played a big factor in the win.”

Taylor Shumaker 

* (On Florida’s potent lineup): “I think that something that makes this team so special is the fact that our lineup is very dangerous. You get one batter on base and all of a sudden the game can be broken open within one pitch. That’s what I enjoy so much about being in this lineup. Even if I don’t do my job, I know for a fact the girls behind me are going to, and it kind of takes a lot of pressure off the hitters because you know there are so many amazing hitters around you that are going to end up doing their jobs if you fall short.”

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu