Florida’s gritty weekend comeback jumpstarts its SEC hopes

Florida Softball came into the weekend a bit shorthanded with its pitching staff. While the Gators are hoping to get Ava Brown back later in the year, she is going to be sidelined for the near future, and Florida is going to need someone besides Keagan Rothrock to eat up innings.

So while Florida’s sweep over Missouri didn’t come as easily as some would have liked, the Gators didn’t emerge from the series with a key contributor they hope can bridge the gap until Brown comes back.

Florida sweeps Missouri to open SEC play

Florida beat Missouri 5-4, 4-3, and 5-2 to sweep the series and open SEC play 3-0. Given that the Tigers were 7-13 coming into the weekend, there is a case to be made that Florida didn’t want to get dragged into the mud as much as they were.

But it is the game two win that went 11 innings that also showcased an important element of grit to the 2026 edition of Florida Softball. Florida took a 2-0 lead, but three solo home runs in the 3rd inning put the Gators behind 3-2. It wasn’t until the bottom of the 7th that Jocelyn Erickson hit a game-tying home run, and the Gators eventually prevailed in the 11th inning with a Madison Walker RBI single.

In between all of that was Olivia Miller coming in during the 3rd inning and holding the fort down all the way through the 10th inning. Miller went 7.1 innings, gave up just five hits with three walks and three HBPs. Most importantly, she didn’t allow a run.

Tim Walton was quite impressed by her outing:

“I mean, to say it didn't surprise anybody, that wouldn't be fair to her and her hard work and just watching her get better every single inning. The goal is to try and get two-plus innings out of her. For her to go seven-plus, that's just an amazing job. 

She made pitches when she had to and didn't let a whole lot of leadoff runners on base, which makes it a lot harder to score. She was essential to our sweep and she was essential to us winning the game yesterday. If she comes in and pitches just okay then we lose, but she came in and pitched great.”

Florida’s bats as a whole relied heavily on the long ball all weekend. Eight of the fourteen runs Florida scored over the weekend came via a home run. Erickson had a two-run home run in game one that proved to be the winner, while Taylor Shumaker hit a two-run shot in game three.

The question mark for Florida moving forward is how the squad will hold up as it hits the meat of its schedule. The Gators are 5th in RPI, while Missouri is just 67th. The next four weekend series for Florida are:

• Kentucky - 29th
• Tennessee - 1st
• Arkansas - 6th
• Mississippi State - 9th

Survive that stretch, especially if Brown isn’t back yet, and there is no telling what Florida could accomplish in 2026.