Florida softball advances to NCAA Gainesville Regional finals with win over South Alabama

Florida softball shortstop Skylar Wallace was antsy waiting through a two hour, 44-minute weather delay during Saturday's NCAA Gainesville Regionals at Katie Seashole Pressley Stadium.

"I sat on Tik Tok and was freezing in the locker room because the AC got fixed in the locker room, it was 65 (degrees)," Wallace said,

It didn't cool off Wallace's bat. Wallace went 2 for 2 with an inside-the-park home run and 4 RBIs, lifting the Florida Gators (48-12) to a 9-1 win over South Alabama (33-19-1) in five innings on Saturday.

Fourth-seed Florida won its 10th straight to advance to Sunday's finals, which will begin at 4 p.m. against an opponent to be determined (TV TBD).

The game was tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the third before the rain in lightning came. First baseman Ava Brown had just tied the score for UF, leading off the third inning with her 13th home run of the season, a solo shot over the right field wall.

After the lengthy delay, the Florida bats woke up. Wallace energized the crowd with a two-run, inside the park home run in the fourth inning, putting UF ahead to stay 3-1. In the fifth inning, Florida scored six runs on a two-RBI single by Wallace, three-RBI double from first baseman Katie Kistler and RBI double from third baseman Ariel Kowalewski to clinch the win.

"I was really appreciative of our fans just to be able to stay through the weather delay," Florida softball coach Tim Walton said. "Obviously we brought great energy back out from that delay"

Here are three takeaways from the Florida win:

Florida softball shortstop Skylar Wallace remains locked in at the plate

Wallace, who entered the game batting .404, walked in her first at bat and was caught stealing. In the fourth inning, after Korbe Otis led off with a double, Wallace laced a low line drive to center field that South Alabama center fielder Mackenzie Brasher attempted to make a diving catch on. But the ball bounced under Brasher's glove and rolled all the way to the center field wall.

Wallace turned on the jets and rounded the bases for her 14th home run of the season and second inside-the-park home run of her career.

"I honestly thought she was going to catch it and once I kind of got to first base I turned the burners on," Wallace said.

In the fifth inning, with the bases loaded, Wallace laced a two-RBI single up the middle, extending UF's lead to 5-1.

Overall, Wallace has gone 4 for 5 in two games in the Gainesville Regional with a double, home run and 6 RBIs.

"Just seeing the ball well and doing my thing," Wallace said. "I'm not really trying to focus too much on the pitchers. See a ball I can hit and get a good piece of it, just have fun."

Florida softball RF Katie Kistler delivers another big hit

Kistler came up with the bases loaded in the fifth and drove a three-RBI double to the right-center field gap, extending UF's lead to 8-1. She's drove in 42 RBIs on the season.

"I'm just trying to keep it simple," Kistler said. "Coach Walton harps a lot on knowing what we can do and what's best for us in the batters box. So, knowing my approach, sticking to my approach and knowing what pitches I like, I go into the batters box knowing the pitches I want to see."

Florida softball P Keagan Rothrock picks up second win of NCAA Gainesville Regionals

Rothrock (27-6) allowed one run on three hits in five innings to earn the run. The lone run of the game for South Alabama came in the first inning when Brasher led off the game with a single, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Gabby Stanger.

Rothrock struck out 2 and did not walk a batter. She pitched 6.1 scoreless innings in UF's regional-opening win against FGCU.

"Keagan wasn't as good as she was yesterday, but that's OK," Walton said. "Something we've talked about is her not having to be perfect the whole time and she wasn't. We made some good defensive plays behind her."

One of those solid defensive plays came in the second inning, when Florida freshman second baseman Mia Willams made a diving stab of a line drive to her left, and then doubled off the runner at first base to end the frame.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida softball advances to NCAA Gainesville Regional finals with win over South Alabama