GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Reagan Walsh hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Keagan Rothrock threw a two-hitter to carry NCAA tournament No. 3 seed Florida to a 6-1 win over Georgia in the opening game of the Gainesville Super Regional on Friday.
The second game of the best-of-three series is Saturday as the Gators (47-14) try to erase the memory of the last two times these Southeastern Conference rivals met in a super regional, both at Florida. The Bulldogs — unseeded then, just as they are now — knocked off the top overall seed in two games in 2016 and blanked the Gators twice in 2021.
Georgia fell to 34-22 with Friday’s loss.
Walsh’s one-out drive, her 14th home run of the season, went to left field on a 3-2 pitch from Randi Roelling (11-9), who had walked Taylor Shumaker and hit Jocelyn Erickson.
That was all Rothrock (15-5) needed. She took a no-hitter into the sixth, facing just one batter over the minimum. Emma Castorri doubled leading off the sixth, went to third on a single by Dallis Goodnight and scored on a throwing error by catcher Erickson on a pickoff attempt. Rothrock struck out seven batters, walked two and hit one.
Florida’s Ava Brown hit a two-run shot, her seventh homer in the past 11 games and 11th overall this year, and Kendra Falby had an RBI double.