GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Senior Jocelyn Erickson went 3-for-4 and junior Keagan Rothrock picked up her third win of the weekend as No. 5/8 Florida (26-1, 3-0) downed Missouri (7-16, 0-3), 5-2, to sweep its Southeastern Conference opening series on Monday night.

Erickson, who had the go-ahead home run in game one and the game-tying home run in game two, drove in two of Florida’s five runs in the series finale. She finished the series batting .417 (5-for-12) with a team-best five RBIs and a pair of home runs.

Rothrock (14-1) pitched 15 of Florida’s 25 innings against the Tigers, including tonight when she tossed her second complete-game of the weekend. She allowed just four hits scattered over seven innings and shut Missouri out until the seventh inning, when the Tigers scratched across a pair of runs.

Rothrock is the first Florida pitcher to earn all three wins of an SEC series since Hannah Rogers at Ole Miss during the 2011 season.

Sophomore Taylor Shumaker added insurance in the fourth inning, hitting a two-run home run to right field, her 11^th long ball of the season.

NOTABLES:

• The series marked Florida’s first sweep in Gainesville over an SEC opponent since taking three from No. 8 Texas A&M on May 3-5, 2024

  • It’s also Florida’s first three-game sweep over the Tigers in Gainesville and second sweep overall over Missouri (2018 in Columbia)

• The Gators are now 22-8 in the all-time series against Missouri and have won five straight over the Tigers
• Both Jocelyn Erickson and Townsen Thomas extended their hitting streaks to 11 games
• Kenleigh Cahalan extended her season on-base streak to 27 games with a walk. The senior has reached in every game this season
• The Gators turned two double plays against Missouri in the series finale, matching a season-high

  • Florida has turned seven double plays this season

HEAR FROM THE GATORS:
Opening statement…
“First, I want to thank our crowd. To eclipse two thousand people on both Saturday and Sunday, I thought that was awesome. The support is very much appreciated and very well felt. I thought that we played well. Defensively, we made some really nice plays and we made a lot of tough plays look really easy. I thought Keagan had a really good weekend for us. She pitched in all three games, but came in the game with a new role yesterday that she hasn’t had a bunch of times this year. And today’s start was really efficient and she didn’t give up a whole lot of free passes. I thought we played some good defense behind her, so overall, we played really good this weekend.” – head coach Tim Walton
 
On Olivia Miller’s performance yesterday…
“I mean, to say it didn’t surprise anybody, that wouldn’t be fair to her and her hard work and just watching her get better every single inning. The goal is to try and get two-plus innings out of her. For her to go seven-plus, that’s just an amazing job. She made pitches when she had to and didn’t let a whole lot of leadoff runners on base, which makes it a lot harder to score. She was essential to our sweep and she was essential to us winning the game yesterday. If she comes in and pitches just okay then we lose, but she came in and pitched great. The thing I really liked about it was that she stayed composed and did a good job as she kept going. She kept locating her pitches better and better. – head coach Tim Walton

On how having five 1-2-3 innings helped her tonight..

“I think it helps me keep my pitch count low, but on the flip side, it helps our offense more than it helps me. It keeps the momentum with them and it allows them to get on base and do their jobs easier.” – junior Keagan Rothrock

On what has been working for her offensively this year compared to past seasons…

“I think I just found a good routine. And, obviously, the game is ninety percent mental, so I just play for me, have fun and I don’t think about the pressure. I just try and go up there and do it the way I do every day in practice.” – senior Jocelyn Erickson

On watching Olivia Miller’s performance last night…

“It makes me so happy. It just gives me the chills. We’ve actually played together since we were sixteen or seventeen, so just being able to see her succeed at her dream school and in this environment is amazing. It’s a really good feeling for the rest of us to watch her go out and succeed and to just have fun and do her thing.” – junior Keagan Rothrock

 

UP NEXT

The Gators travel to Lexington, Ky., for a three-game series at Kentucky from March 13-15.

FOLLOW THE GATORS

FloridaGators.com

Florida Softball on Twitter

Head Coach Tim Walton on Twitter/X

Florida Softball on Facebook