Gators dominate Bubly Invitational ahead of SEC play

The Florida Gators softball team notched a pair of victories Sunday over Coastal Carolina (17-1) and Georgia State (8-0), going a perfect 5-0 at the Bubly Invitational in Gainesville.

Both Sunday games ended after five innings as No. 4 UF had run ruled each opponent.

The Gators are now undefeated in all four tournaments they’ve played in and have a 21-1 record on the season heading into conference play next weekend.

Florida outscored its opponents 25-1 on Sunday and 42-3 at the Bubly Invitational, getting to play just about the entire roster.

“I think we’ve recruited to be deep. I think we’ve trained to be deep,” UF head coach Tim Walton said.

The pitching staff dominated yet again

Elizabeth Hightower started in the circle against the Chanticleers. She allowed two hits, one run and threw five strikeouts in four innings pitched. She’s now 5-0 on the season.

Hightower was relieved by Marissa Mesiemore, who pitched the final inning of the game and gave up no hits against the three batters she faced.

In the second game of the day, Lexie Delbrey earned the start against the Panthers. She pitched a complete game and went 4.1 innings with a no-hit bid.

That ended up being the only hit she let up. Delbrey gave up no runs and tossed seven strikeouts on her way to her seventh victory of the season (7-1).

The freshmen duo of Delbrey and catcher Sam Roe have built quite a dynamic working together.

“Lexie‘s just really a really strong pitcher, and I saw that from day one since I got here,” Roe said. “I just, I love her energy. I love her presence that she brings out on the mound. I feel like us working together, we really just enjoy competing and that’s how we kind of pull together so well.”

Skylar Wallace led the Gators’ bats

Alabama transfer Skylar Wallace held the biggest highlights in both games. Against Coastal Carolina, she finished 2-3 with three runs and four RBIs.

Wallace continued to dominate against Georgia State, going 1-2 with one run and two RBIs. She had an inside the park home run against the Chanticleers, while her lone hit on the Panthers was a homer over the center field wall.

“Skylar, from home to home, is as fast as anybody I’ve ever seen,” Walton said.

Avery Goelz finished 3-5 against the Panthers with three RBIs.

“It was just really nice to see that my team had my back afterwards,” Goelz said. “Not only would I just get a hit, but everyone else through the lineup was getting hits along with me. So, we could just keep the lineup moving and keep runs scoring.”

Sam Roe ended the day early with a solo shot over the left field wall to give the Gators a run rule victory over Georgia State.

All of the Florida bats connected on Sunday as the team finished with 26 hits combined. The Gators now head into what Walton said is phase two: SEC play.

“It’s another level,” Wallace said. “I mean, you have to do the little things in the SEC. They have so much film on you. They know what’s gonna happen.

“They can prepare for things on our pitchers, our hitters. They can scout us, everything. So, just being able to do the little things correct is gonna go a far way in the SEC.”

UF gets a good rest this week before hosting Mississippi State for a three-game series starting Saturday at noon.