Wednesday, April 8
Gainesville. Fla.
7 p.m.
Florida Gators
37-5
4
vs
1
USF
29-13
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
USF
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
2
1
FLORIDA
2
0
1
0
1
0
X
4
7
0
Katelynn Oxley is 3-0 in three career starts vs. USF.
No. 6/7 Gators Blow Past Bulls, 4-1
Wednesday, April 8, 2026 | Softball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 6/7 Florida softball team (37-5), secured the two-game series sweep over USF (29-13) on Wednesday night, downing the Bulls, 4-1, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Wind gusts were in excess of 30 mph during the in-state battle.
The Gators have now won 31 of the last 32 games over USF going back to the 2013 season.
In the circle, Katelynn Oxley (4-1) picked up her second win of the season against USF, tossing a complete-game. She allowed just one run on two hits with five strikeouts.
Kendall Grover reached on all three of her plate appearances, drawing two walks and driving in two runs with an RBI single in the first inning.
Taylor Shumaker went 3-for-4 with three base hits and two stolen bases, while Ava Brown drew two bases-loaded walks, her seventh multi-RBI game of the season.
NOTABLES:
On Giulia Desiderio making her first start as a Gator…
"She's an interesting kid because she could have hit a home run today. She also could have struck out today, but tomorrow, she's just going to come to the ballpark and go back to work and support her teammates, support herself and work hard. Everything she hit in the cages pregame was a line drive, line drive, line drive. She had very few misses today on just bad swings. You have to be locked in, and to not have that many SEC at-bats and still perform that way, it takes a specially focused person. I'm really happy that she's bought into her role, but more importantly, that she's ready to go whenever I give her the green light." - head coach Tim Walton
On the trust she has in her defense …
"You have to trust in your teammates first before you go on to that field. I think that's very valuable and I think that's something that this team is utilizing a lot. We understand that we don't have to do it all by ourselves. There are eight other players on the field with you. You're going after one batter with nine people versus me vs the batter. It's not a selfish team, it's a very loving and trusting team." - sophomore Katelynn Oxley
On the heavy winds and how that impacted the game …
"I feel like a team we've gotten really good at controlling the controllables. So, yes, the wind might be blowing in, it's a little bit more difficult for hitters, but like how do we tackle that? How do we make sure that we just keep the ball low, stick to our strikes and try to control what we can control. And Giulia had a really well hit ball and the wind grabbed it. Jocelyn Erickson also had a really well hit ball and the wind grabbed it. After that happens, it's just about making sure that we're backing each other up and doing the things to help control what we can." - sophomore Taylor Shumaker
UP NEXT:
The Gators travel to Columbia, S.C. for a three-game series at RV/No. 24 South Carolina from April 10-12.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
FloridaGators.com
Florida Softball on Twitter
Head Coach Tim Walton on Twitter
Florida Softball on Facebook
The Gators have now won 31 of the last 32 games over USF going back to the 2013 season.
In the circle, Katelynn Oxley (4-1) picked up her second win of the season against USF, tossing a complete-game. She allowed just one run on two hits with five strikeouts.
Kendall Grover reached on all three of her plate appearances, drawing two walks and driving in two runs with an RBI single in the first inning.
Taylor Shumaker went 3-for-4 with three base hits and two stolen bases, while Ava Brown drew two bases-loaded walks, her seventh multi-RBI game of the season.
NOTABLES:
- Katelynn Oxley is 3-0 with two complete games in three career starts against USF
- She earned a complete-game victory over the Bulls as a freshman on April 23, 2025 and is 2-0 against USF this season
- In 16 career innings pitched against South Florida, Oxley holds a 1.31 ERA, allowing just three runs with 11 strikeouts
- Taylor Shumaker recorded her sixth game this season with three or more hits
- The sophomore now has a team-best 22 multi-hit outings
- Giulia Desiderio made her first start as a Gator at catcher
- It's her first start since May 19, 2024 at Duke when she was a junior at South Carolina
- Kendall Grover recorded her ninth multi-RBI game of the season
- Florida is now 10-0 against in-state opponents this season, with wins over USF (2x), Jacksonville (2x), FIU, UNF (2x), Stetson (2x) and Bethune-Cookman
- The Gators are outscoring in-state opponents 91-16
On Giulia Desiderio making her first start as a Gator…
"She's an interesting kid because she could have hit a home run today. She also could have struck out today, but tomorrow, she's just going to come to the ballpark and go back to work and support her teammates, support herself and work hard. Everything she hit in the cages pregame was a line drive, line drive, line drive. She had very few misses today on just bad swings. You have to be locked in, and to not have that many SEC at-bats and still perform that way, it takes a specially focused person. I'm really happy that she's bought into her role, but more importantly, that she's ready to go whenever I give her the green light." - head coach Tim Walton
On the trust she has in her defense …
"You have to trust in your teammates first before you go on to that field. I think that's very valuable and I think that's something that this team is utilizing a lot. We understand that we don't have to do it all by ourselves. There are eight other players on the field with you. You're going after one batter with nine people versus me vs the batter. It's not a selfish team, it's a very loving and trusting team." - sophomore Katelynn Oxley
On the heavy winds and how that impacted the game …
"I feel like a team we've gotten really good at controlling the controllables. So, yes, the wind might be blowing in, it's a little bit more difficult for hitters, but like how do we tackle that? How do we make sure that we just keep the ball low, stick to our strikes and try to control what we can control. And Giulia had a really well hit ball and the wind grabbed it. Jocelyn Erickson also had a really well hit ball and the wind grabbed it. After that happens, it's just about making sure that we're backing each other up and doing the things to help control what we can." - sophomore Taylor Shumaker
UP NEXT:
The Gators travel to Columbia, S.C. for a three-game series at RV/No. 24 South Carolina from April 10-12.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
FloridaGators.com
Florida Softball on Twitter
Head Coach Tim Walton on Twitter
Florida Softball on Facebook
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Oxley, Katelynn (4-1)
L: ANNE LONG (11-4)
Batting:
RBI: JAMIA NELSON 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ALEX WILKES 1
HBP: OLIVIA ELLIOTT 1
Batting:
RBI: Grover, Kendall 2 ; Brown, Ava 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Shumaker, Taylor 2 ; Cahalan, Kenleigh 2
SB: Shumaker, Taylor 2 ; Cahalan, Kenleigh 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
UTL
/ Softball
C
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
RHP
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballRoad to Gameday: Florida Softball
Friday, March 27
Road to Gameday: Florida Softball (Season 2)
Friday, March 27
Keagan Rothrock | Carwash Convos
Tuesday, February 24
Florida Softball Highlights | North Florida | February 18, 2026
Thursday, February 19
