{"id":274468,"date":"2026-05-17T21:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T21:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/274468\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T21:13:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T21:13:09","slug":"shumakers-record-breaking-day-powers-no-6-florida-to-sweep-of-2026-gainesville-regional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/274468\/","title":{"rendered":"Shumaker\u2019s record-breaking day powers No. 6 Florida to sweep of 2026 Gainesville Regional"},"content":{"rendered":"

After an uncharacteristic 0-for-3 performance on Saturday, sophomore center fielder Taylor Shumaker wasn\u2019t going to let the same happen Sunday. She led off the bottom of the first inning with a double down the left-field line, getting herself back into the hit column.<\/p>\n

The extra-base hit was historic, as it set Florida\u2019s single-season doubles record with 113.<\/p>\n

Shumaker wasn\u2019t finished rewriting the record book. In the bottom of the third, sophomore second baseman Gabi Comia lined a two-out double into right field, setting the stage once again for the sophomore slugger.<\/p>\n

She delivered, launching her 40th home run of the season over the left-center-field fence and moving into sole possession of 10th place on Florida\u2019s all-time home run list.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels great. Obviously, we have so many Gator greats who have done so many great things for this program,\u201d Shumaker said. \u201cUltimately, I just feel like the program has done a really good job of just fostering a really competitive drive that makes me want to be great like everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Behind Shumaker\u2019s excellence, No. 6 Florida (51-10) swept the 2026 Gainesville Regional with a 5-2 win over Georgia Tech (32-29). The Gators advance to Super Regionals for the 17th time in school history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Head coach Tim Walton reflected on his players\u2019 professionalism day in and day out this season\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat makes me really proud of our players,\u201d Walton said. \u201cWhen they put this uniform on, it’s just a reflection of what we’ve instilled in them day in and day out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the third time in regional play, junior Keagan Rothrock earned the start in the circle for UF but ran into trouble early after issuing a four-pitch leadoff walk to sophomore Alyssa Willer. Rothrock quickly settled in, retiring the next three batters in order.<\/p>\n

On the other side, Georgia Tech turned to freshman Madalyn Johnson for the third time this weekend. However, despite tossing two complete games against Texas State, Johnson did not find the same success Sunday. She finished with 2.2 innings pitched, allowing five hits and four earned runs.<\/p>\n

After Shumaker\u2019s leadoff double, senior catcher Jocelyn Erickson drew a four-pitch walk, and junior designated player Ava Brown laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position.<\/p>\n

From the cleanup spot, redshirt freshman left fielder Townsen Thomas put Florida on the board with a fielder\u2019s choice, allowing Shumaker to cross home plate for a 1-0 advantage.<\/p>\n

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In the top of the second, Rothrock retired the Yellow Jackets in order, inducing two groundouts and a flyout. She continued to cruise in the third, recording her first strikeout of the afternoon against Willer.<\/p>\n

Looking to extend its 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third, Florida loaded the bases with no outs after bunt singles from Thomas and senior shortstop Kenleigh Cahalan, followed by a hit-by-pitch to senior third baseman Kendall Grover.<\/p>\n

Yet again, the Gators capitalized on a fielder\u2019s choice when junior catcher Ella Wesolowski grounded out to first base, allowing Thomas to score and extend the lead to 4-0.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That saw Johnson\u2019s day in the circle come to an end, and Georgia Tech turned to sophomore Sydnie Watts to work out of the jam. She struck out Comia, stranding runners at second and third.<\/p>\n

Moreover, Shumaker drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth, and Brown followed with a walk of her own, giving UF runners on first and second. The left fielder Thomas then recorded her second RBI of the day on a single to center field, allowing Shumaker to score her third run of the afternoon.<\/p>\n

Rothrock continued to dominate in the circle, retiring the Yellow Jackets in order in both the fourth and fifth innings.<\/p>\n

Holding a no-hit bid through five frames, Rothrock saw it end in a crucial moment in the top of the sixth. After surrendering two walks, Georgia Tech cleanup hitter Addison Leschber lined a two-RBI double into left-center, cutting the Gators\u2019 lead to three.<\/p>\n

Rothrock returned to the circle in the seventh, looking to punch the Gators\u2019 ticket back to Super Regionals, and did just that, slamming the door on the Yellow Jackets\u2019 season.<\/p>\n

Florida now awaits the winner of the Lubbock Regional in next weekend\u2019s Super Regionals. Dates are still to be determined, with the Gators expected to begin play either Thursday or Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told them after the game, we can\u2019t take moments like this for granted,\u201d Walton said. \u201cThis team has won 51 games, Keagan has won 29 games in the circle, we\u2019re regional champions and moving on to the super regionals. None of it is easy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Contact Zach Moore at zmoore@alligator.org<\/a>. Follow him on X @zach_moore27. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n The Independent Florida Alligator has been independent of the university since 1971, your donation today could help #SaveStudentNewsrooms. Please consider giving today.\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Zach Moore<\/p>\n

Zach is a sophomore sports journalism student in his first semester at The Alligator, covering softball. He also has experience as an intern in the Florida Collegiate Summer League. Zach enjoys watching sports in his free time, primarily the Minnesota Vikings, Orlando Magic, and Arsenal FC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After an uncharacteristic 0-for-3 performance on Saturday, sophomore center fielder Taylor Shumaker wasn\u2019t going to let the same…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-274468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}