GAINESVILLE, Fla. – With the bases loaded, two outs on the board and down to her final strike in the bottom of the second inning, freshman Taylor Shumaker sent her first career grand slam out of Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
Shumaker’s swing was one of four Gator home runs on Friday evening, helping to lead the No. 9 Florida softball team (42-13, 13-10 SEC) to a 9-4 victory over No. 1 Oklahoma (43-6, 17-6).
The win was Florida’s first regular-season victory over the No. 1 team in the country since 2013 and first win over the top team in the nation at home since 2007.
On Senior Day, senior pitcher Kara Hammock picked up the victory in the circle, while Ava Brown earned up her third save of the season.
Hammock, Brown and Katelynn Oxley limited the Sooners to just five hits on the day.
NOTABLES:
* Senior Reagan Walsh went a career-best 4-for-4 at the plate with two RBI
* She now has 222 career RBI, passing assistant coach Francesca Enea for second-most career RBI in program history
* Walsh has had multi-hit outings in three straight games and in six of the last eight
* She has 17 multi-hit games this season, third-most on the team
* Mia Williams hit her second home run of the series and 19th on the season with a two-run shot in the fifth
* Her 19 home runs rank fifth-most in a single-season in program history. Brittany Schutte (2011) holds the single-season record
* Of her 19 home runs, 10 have come in SEC games
* Ava Brown went back-to-back with Williams, hitting a solo shot in the fifth, her seventh home run of the season and third in SEC play
* With her grand slam tonight, Taylor Shumaker now has 17 home runs on the season, tied for second-most by a freshman in program history
* The record is held by Brittany Schutte (19)
* Shumaker tallied her team-high 20th multi-RBI game of the season and her sixth game with four or more RBI
* She now has 75 RBI on the season, third-most in a single-season in program history
* The only other two players with more RBI in a season are Jocelyn Erickson (86) in 2024 and Megan Bush (80) in 2011
* The last time Florida beat the No. 1 team in the country was at No. 1/2 Alabama on March 6, 2013 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
* The last time the Gators beat the No. 1 team at home was against No. 1 Tennessee on March 10, 2007, head coach Tim Walton’s second season in Gainesville
* The Gators have hit a combined 10 grand slams this season from six players: Reagan Walsh (3), Kenleigh Cahalan (2), Rylee Holtorf (2), Korbe Otis (1), Ava Brown (1) and Taylor Shumaker (1)
* The last freshman Florida freshman to hit a grand slam was Reagan Walsh vs. Jacksonville on Feb. 15, 2022
* Florida has hit a grand slam in three different SEC series: vs. LSU and vs. Oklahoma and two against Arkansas
* The Gators are now 33-2 in games where they score six or more runs
* Florida hit four home runs in the same game for the sixth time this season and second time against a conference opponent
HEAR FROM THE GATORS:
On the feeling of beating the No. 1 team in the country …
“Obviously, winning is great. We love winning. But honestly, I don’t think rankings is anything we ever think about. It’s just ‘go out and give 1,000% of ourselves every day’. And honestly, with this team, I think it’s really easy to sit back, relax and have fun when we play. I think having fun and just sticking together is exactly what we did.” – freshman Taylor Shumaker
“I think today we played for something bigger, knowing it was our Senior Day. I feel like that part of the win was what made it better. It wasn’t the fact of the opponent that we beat, but the fact we were able to win for our teammates.” – sophomore Ava Brown
On the pitching staff working together to get 21 outs …
“Kara (Hammock) being able to go out there, get two times through the lineup, come out, we still have the lead. Red (Katelyn Oxley) being able to hold the lead and then me being able to come in and finish it. Being able to have all hands-on deck like that, knowing we have each other’s backs is the whole point of having a pitching staff. And our staff is so deep. We’ve been able to show that all year and specifically tonight.” – sophomore Ava Brown
On hitting her first career grand slam…
“I mean I didn’t really thing about anything other than doing my job. I knew that I had to step up for my teammates and just try not to make the moment too big, trying to make the game just feel like the game. All I can really say is that I saw a pitch to hit and I went for it.” – freshman Taylor Shumaker
On how it felt to hit her first grand slam against the number one team…
“I mean I can always say that I am proud of myself, but I try not to think about personal victories but the fact that it was just me stepping up for my teammates was exactly what they needed me to do. I’ve tried not to focus on the personal victories because I feel like the game can get very lonely if you focus on the personal victories. I think just seeing it as a team win allows you to feel that moment with your teammates and not just feel like a personal success. It just feels like a greater success than just feeling it by yourself.” – freshman Taylor Shumaker
On what makes it easier for each player to go out there and do their job…
“I think our relationships off the field are what make it that much better. We’re all best friends, so not only do we get to all live the athlete life together, but we get to live the student life together and live the college life together. But even better than the win we got today is the fact that I know some of my bridesmaids that are going to be in my wedding are on this team. So, that’s a victory in itself.” – sophomore Ava Brown
UP NEXT:
The Gators will look to clinch the series on Saturday at 5 p.m. on ESPN.