NCAA TOURNAMENT

GAINESVILLE SUPER REGIONAL GAME 3 

GAINESVILLE, Fla.  – Freshman outfielder Taylor Shumaker hit the second of Florida’s two fifth-inning home runs, with her blast tying the single-season school record for both homers and RBI, but of far more significance helping send the third-seeded Gators to the 2025 Women’s College World Series with a 5-2 victory Sunday over rival Georgia in their decisive third game of the Gainesville Super Regional at Pressly Stadium.

Shumaker’s two-run blast, her 22nd of the season, came two batters after senior shortstop Rylee Holtorf clubbed a two-run shot that turned what was a precarious 1-0 lead to start the inning into a 5-0 cushion. That was a big relief for the home team and its fans, who not only had to sit through a 71-minute weather delay in the middle of the fifth but also endure the first four innings when the Gators stranded 10 base runners in a one-run game.

With a comfortable lead, sophomore Keagan Rothrock (16-6) put the finishing touches on the Bulldogs. After facing just two batters over the minimum through six innings, Georgia got a pair of runs in the seventh on a two-run homer by Jaydyn Goodwin with nobody out. Rothrock, though, responded by getting three outs over next four batters to send UF to its second straight WCWS and its 13th in 20 seasons under Coach Tim Walton.

A finalist for NFCA Freshman of the Year, Shumaker started the scoring with a RBI single in the first inning. Her homer tied the single-season mark held by Brittany Schutte (2011) and also gave her 83 RBI on the season, tying the single-season mark set last year by Jocelyn Erickson. Shumaker will have at least two more games to break both records; in Oklahoma City, no less. 

The first inning was a combination of Game 1 UF and Game 2 UF. The Gators, who jumped on the Bulldogs for a 3-0 lead in the series opener, took a 1-0 lead on Shumaker’s single to center, then loaded the bases with nobody out and clean-up batter Erickson stepping to the plate. Erickson, though, lined hard to second, with Shumaker picked off for a double play. The next two UF hitters reached base to reload the bases, but Mia Williams grounded out to end the inning and strand three more runners after the team left 13 on in Game 2. The Bulldogs, who yanked starter and Game 2 winner Lilli Backes (16-11) for Randi Roelling after just three batters, escaped the inning down just 1-0. 

Much to the frustration of the home crowd, it was rinse and repeat in the second through fourth innings. UF left two more on in the second, the bases loaded again in the third and after a 71-minute weather delay got the first two batters on in the fourth only to see the meat of the order — Erickson, Reagan Walsh and Korbe Otis, the 3-4-5 hitters — go down on infield pop-ups. 

The fifth inning did not follow suit. 

Holtorf, the No. 9 hitter, snapped her 1-for-12 slump for the NCAA Tournament by parking her sixth homer of the season to give UF some breathing room at 3-0. After Falby drew a two-out walk, Shumaker crushed her homer well over the right-field fence to go up 5-0. 

PLAY OF THE GAME: Holtorf’s home run broke the seal for an offense that had scored just two runs through 11.2 innings over the previous two games and had left 23 runners on base. The transfer from Washington came to the plate hitting .083 in the six tournament games.   

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Shumaker, hitting .389 on the season, will be a marquee attraction in her first appearance in her sport’s grand spectacle at OKC. 

STAGGERING STATISTIC: The Gators improved to 7-1 all-time in Super Regional Game 3s, with all but one of those series coming at home. 

UP NEXT: Florida (48-15) will open the WCWS Thursday against sixth-seeded Texas (51-11), which defeated Clemson in their three-game Austin Super Regional. The game will be the first of the of the double-elimination tournament, with a start time of noon (ET) on ESPN. The Longhorns took two of three from the Gators in their regular-season Southeastern Conference series at Gainesville, with UT winning the first two games 7-2 and 13-7, and UF winning the third 3-1.

SENDING OFF THE GATORS: Florida softball fans are invited to cheer on the team at an official send-off event on Monday at 11 a.m. at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium, where the Gators will depart for Oklahoma City.

QUOTES

Coach Tim Walton 

* (Opening statement): “Congratulations to Georgia on an outstanding postseason run. [They] gave us a run for our money, that’s for sure. Nothing was easy at all this whole entire weekend. A lot of respect for what they do. Tony Baldwin and his staff work really hard and I know what that feeling is like, so hats off to them. I couldn’t be more proud of not just these two up here, but my entire team, program and staff for working really hard and staying focused on the goal; the goal is getting to the College World Series. Now we have to re-assess our goals and get ready in a short period of time for the College World Series. Just really proud and thankful too for our crowd. Our crowd did a fantastic job, not just this weekend, but the entire season. Obviously, the attendance was fantastic. We decided to play three games so we could increase our revenue for postseason, so it was an awesome run for us. We sold a lot of beer and concessions and made it interesting, made everybody stay to the end, so thanks to everybody for sticking with us.” 

* (On Shumaker’s 3-for-3, 3-RBI performance after going 0-for-4 in Saturday’s loss): “If she would have taken the collar today, she would have been o-fer for the series. That’s never happened for her, I would imagine. But she had four walks in the first game [Friday]. I don’t think that frustrated her. Just the fact that [Saturday] she had so many opportunities to deliver that she didn’t, she came out today and put the work in. I wake up this morning to a text message that she was hitting already. … She’s a worker, not a talker. The more we can get work and more swings and watch the ball flight, the better she gets.” 

Rylee Holtorf    

* (On coming up with the clutch home run): “Going into the at-bat, it wasn’t the best series, best weekend [for me], but we talked all year about the pitch that matters now is most important. Just being in the moment and knowing my teammates have my back. Keagan was pitching a really good game. We were getting people on base, so doing it for the Gators, together, is what we were all trying to do.” 

Kendra Falby  

* (On Holtorf turning the line up and the top of the order capitalizing): “That’s how it’s been all year. Rylee has been turning the lineup all year, then with me giving it to Taylor. It was a little slow, but when we go we go – and in that inning, we went. For sure. That home run was huge and I was so glad she was able to do that today.” 

 

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