Florida beats Baylor 4-2 to begin Gainesville Super Regional behind Otis' home run in the fifth
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Senior Katie Kistler hit a two-run double in the first inning, Korbe Otis smashed her ninth home run of the season in the fifth and fourth-seeded Florida beat Baylor 4-2 on Friday in Game 1 of the best-of-three Gainesville Super Regional.
Florida (50-12), which extended its winning streak to 12 games, has a chance to sweep Baylor (35-22) on Saturday to advance to the Women’s College World Series. The Gators are playing their first super regional at home since 2021 when they were swept by rival Georgia with a pair of shutouts. Florida's last super regional title at home came in 2019 against Tennessee.
Jocelyn Erickson, the SEC player of the year, tied it a 1-all in the first inning with a two-out RBI double down the left-field line. Kistler sent a shot into the gap in left-center field that rolled to the wall and Skylar Wallace scored from first for a 3-1 lead.
Wallace set a Division I record for most career runs with 303.
Florida freshman Keagan Rothrock (29-6) retired 9 of 10 batters over the final three innings and closed with her fifth strikeout.
Baylor pitcher Aliyah Binford (13-12) helped herself out with an RBI single in the first and a homer in the third.
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