Florida defeats Baylor to win Super Regional, advance to 12th Women's College World Series

GAINESVILLE — Pack your bags Gator fans!

Florida softball is heading back to Oklahoma City.

UF clinched its 12th ever appearance in the Women's College World Series Sunday afternoon with a 5-3 win over Baylor to win the NCAA Gainesville Super Regional.

The fourth-seeded Gators will open Thursday against No. 5 Oklahoma State. Game times are still to be determined.

Florida won Sunday and 4-2 on Friday, the Bears defeated the Orange and Blue 5-2 on Saturday.

"It takes everybody, and I think our team did a really good job of buying in especially to their roles here late in the season," Florida coach Tim Walton said. "Nothing better than ending your season and/or your career at the College World Series and proud of our team and our program."

Walton added that coaches spent hours after Saturday's game reflecting how they can be better.

"We did a little bit of a reset today," Walton said. "We just talked about how can we be part of the solution, not part of the problem? Why are we going to blame someone for acting a little out of character? Why are we going to blame someone for poor pitch selection?"

From the get go, Florida proved this game wasn't like Saturday, or even Friday for that matter.

Pitcher Keagan Rothrock got through the top of the first unscathed for the first time this weekend and continued that energy to start.

She allowed just one base runner in each of the first three innings.

The Gator offense also came to play Sunday. It kept constant pressure on the Bears, starting with a Jocelyn Erickson sac fly in the first.

Walton noted the importance of starting fast and putting runners like Kendra Falby and Skylar Wallace on base.

"Kendra is by far the most important ingredient to our offensive success. It just is what it is. Jocelyn (Erickson) bats in the first inning, there's a lot of things that happen," he said. "She tied the school record for RBIs today, but for us to be good, she's got to break that record."

UF added another run in that inning, and in the second, Mia Williams found the power she possessed at the SEC Tournament.

The freshman blasted a two-run homer to right center to put Florida up 4-0. This forced Baylor to pull starter Rylee Crandall, who had handled Florida Saturday, in favor of Friday's starter Aliyah Binford.

Williams home run came one pitch after an attempted bunt went just foul.

"I think just going back up there with a two strike approach and trusting in my plan and my process and that it paid off," Williams said. "I knew it was a home run right away."

"That was freaking awesome," Wallace said. "To try to bunt and do that with two strikes, that's legit."

Binford ran into loads of trouble to start the third as UF loaded the bases with no outs. But a timely Baylor challenge, combined with a clutch double play on a line out, ended the inning with no runs for Florida.

In the fourth, Rothrock ran into her first real trouble of the game. Binford hit a lead-off double, and Sydney Collazos blasted an RBI single to deep left to put Baylor on the board.

The freshman remained calm and composed after a circle meeting from coach Tim Walton, and she got three straight outs to end the inning.

Baylor continued that energy into the fifth. Taylor Strain led off with a single, and Emily Hott hit her 11th home run of the season to right, making it a one run game.

Once again, Rothrock kept her cool and got out the Bears 2-3-4 hitters, keeping the lead intact.

In the bottom of the frame, Florida added an insurance run as Ariel Kowalewski drove in Erickson on a sac fly of her own.

Two Bears reached base in the top of the seventh to lead, sending up the 2-3-4 hitters. Rothrock said her approach remained the same.

"I continued to have trust, and knowing that I have a defense behind me, and an offense that's gonna come out and back me up," Rothrock said. "I was relaxed."

Rothrock won two state championships in high school at Roncalli in Whiteland, Indiana, but she knows this WCWS appearance holds more meaning.

"I think this one's a lot harder to do, and a lot more special just because everybody knows everybody with film," Rothrock said. "I think that makes it all the more sweet just because you have to work hard. you have to scout the other team and go in with the mindset like 'we got this and we can do it.'"

On the contrary, Wallace know heads to her third WCWS and her second as a Gator. This one feels more sweet for her, but not because it's her final season or because of the team's struggles last season.

It's because of all the hard work, all the dedication, all the grind that we've gone through, the adversity that we've gone through as a team I think that's what makes it sweet," she said. "I get to finish my career, my senior year, my sixth year out, playing in Oklahoma City with the best team I played for."

Noah Ram covers Gainesville-area high school sports and University of Florida athletics for The Gainesville Sun. Contact him at Nram@gannett.com and follow him @Noah_ram1 on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida softball tops Baylor to win NCAA Super Regional, advance to WCWS