GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 4/5 Florida softball team pushed past Georgia Tech, 5-1, during the third and final day of the Florida Classic at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

With the victory over the Yellow Jackets, the Gators improve to 12-0 on the season.

Freshman Leah Stevens made her first career start and picked up her first career win against Georgia Tech, allowing one run in four innings of work with a pair of strikeouts.

The Florida offense continued to hit the long ball well, with both Cassidy McLellan, Kendall Grover and Madison Walker sending balls out the park.

Eight of the Gators’ nine starters combined for 15 home runs over five games at the Florida Classic: Kendall Grover (4), Jocelyn Erickson (2), Cassidy McLellan (2), Kenleigh Cahalan (2), Townsen Thomas (1), Madison Walker (1), Ava Brown (1), Taylor Shumaker (1) and Ella Wesolowski (1).

Grover finished the with a tournament-best four home runs and 11 RBI.

NOTABLES:

• Madison Walker hit her first home run as a Gator in the bottom of the fifth, a two-run home run

  • It was Walker’s first home run since April 26, 2025, vs. Alabama when she was at Missouri
  • She has now hit 20 home runs in her career

• Ava Brown picked up her third save of the season and 10^th of her career on Sunday

  • She is now tied with Aleshia Ocasio (2015-18) for fifth-most career saves in program history

• Coming into the weekend, Cassidy McLellan had hit one home run in her career. She has now hit home runs in back-to-back games
• McLellan and Kenleigh Cahalan have reached base in all 12 games this season
• The Gators recorded four multi-home runs in five games at the Florida Classic

  • In just the last three games alone, Florida has slugged 12 home runs

• Four different Florida pitchers recorded at least one win during the Florida Class: Keagan Rothrock (vs. Marshall), Leah Stevens (vs. Georgia Tech), Ava Brown (vs. Marshall) and Olivia Miller (wins vs. Georgia Tech & FIU)

HEAR FROM THE GATORS..
On Leah Stevens making her first career start…
“It was a great time for her to start for us. She hasn’t pitched a ton for us. She’s been injured off and on throughout the fall. Every time she’s thrown, she’s shown really, really bright spots, just like you saw out there today. I thought she pitched really well. She was ahead in the count, got the leadoff batters off base, other than the first inning, and was ahead a lot. She got some weak contact a lot. I thought she really did a good job in her first college start.” – head coach Tim Walton

On what he saw from the Gators this weekend…

You know, the first weekend I wasn’t very happy. I thought we played okay. This week we played much better. More to character of what I’ve seen these guys work like. Ella, get her in the game, and boom, she gets a hit. Put Madison in and boom, she gets a hit. She had a lot of really good at bats. Kendall got off to a slow start and then had probably one of the best weeks of anybody we’ve had this week with RBIs and home runs So I’m really happy with us being patient and we have a lineup that allows us to be patient. So, I think our players are becoming a little more settled.” – head coach Tim Walton

 

On making her first career start…

” I was really excited. It meant a lot to me that Coach Walton trusted me to give me the start. And I know that we have amazing hitters and I knew that they were going to do their job. I knew that going into this game, I needed to focus and do my job. And everyone is super supportive. Jocelyn really helped me stay settled in that first inning and then I was able to keep rolling with everyone’s encouragement. So, it felt really amazing.” – freshman Leah Stevens

On her experience so far playing at Florida this season…

“It’s different, but it’s a good different. I feel like I have grown so much as a player and, honestly, as a person as well. I’ve been able to experience so much and I’m just so thankful that Coach Walton, Coach Thomas, Coach Nan, Coach Steph found me in the transfer portal and I’m just so thankful to be here. It’s been a great experience already.” – senior Kendall Grover

On having such a successful weekend at the plate…

“Obviously, on Friday I didn’t have my best day. I was like, ‘what is going on’? And Coach Thomas texted me and said, hey, let’s watch some film. So, we watch some film, and made just little adjustments. And thank God that he knows me well as a person and a hitter. We just made some slight adjustments and then I was able to find my groove. And thank God for my teammates as well because, yeah, I had a good day, but I didn’t score however many runs we scored this weekend. They had my back and I had their backs, too.” – senior Kendall Grover

 

UP NEXT:

The Gators play a home-and-away series with UNF. The Ospreys come to Gainesville for a 6 p.m. game on Tuesday, before Florida travels to Jacksonville for a 6 p.m. rematch on Wednesday.

FOLLOW THE GATORS

FloridaGators.com

Florida Softball on Twitter

Head Coach Tim Walton on Twitter

Florida Softball on Facebook