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Grand Gators Get Big Wins as Softball Topples No. 1 Oklahoma, Baseball Defeats South Carolina

Softball's Taylor Shumaker and baseball's Ty Evans each hit a grand slam as the team's got important wins on Friday night.

Cam Parker

Florida outfielder Taylor Shumaker (21), rounds second after hitting a home run during an NCAA softball game against Alabama at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Friday, April 18, 2025. Florida won 12-4 in the fifth inning. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun
Florida outfielder Taylor Shumaker (21), rounds second after hitting a home run during an NCAA softball game against Alabama at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Friday, April 18, 2025. Florida won 12-4 in the fifth inning. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / Alan Youngblood / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Both the Florida Gators' baseball and softball programs entered the weekend with important series as the baseball team travelled to South Carolina for a must-win series and softball hosted No. 1 Oklahoma in need of a season-defining win.

While each series is far from over, both programs on Friday got big wins and did so in grand fashion.

Softball freshman Taylor Shumaker, one of NCAA's brightest young stars, and baseball veteran Ty Evans each smacked a grand slam as UF softball upset the top-ranked Sooners, 9-4, in Game Two of its series and UF baseball downed the Gamecocks, 9-5, in a rain-delayed Game One.

Both grand slams can be viewed below.

Shumaker's grand slam, the first of her young career, marked her 17th home run of the year and was one of four Gator home runs as Florida defeated a top-ranked team for the first time since 2013 and the first time at home since 2007.

Meanwhile, Evans' grand slam was his second home run in as many appearances, which accounts for his total on the season. The Gators' win, which came after a two-hour weather delay in the middle of the first inning, marked the team's eighth conference win in its last ten SEC games after a brutal 1-11 start in league play.

Florida softball will look to clinch the series against Oklahoma on Saturday at 5 p.m. with television coverage on ESPN, while baseball will look to clinch its series in back-to-back games at 4 p.m. with streaming coverage on SEC Network+.

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Cam Parker
CAM PARKER

Cam Parker is a contributing writer at AllGators.com of FanNation-Sports Illustrated and is a recent graduate of the University of Florida with a degree in journalism. He also covers and broadcasts Alachua County high school sports with The Prep Zone and Mainstreet Daily News. When he isn't writing, he enjoys listening to '70s music such as The Band or Lynyrd Skynyrd, binge-watching shows and playing with his cat, Chester.

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