Fort Myers, Fla. – No. 3 Florida picked up its 14^th shutout win of the season with a 3-0 decision Wednesday afternoon at Florida Gulf Coast University. The victory was also the 950^th overall win of head coach Tim Walton's illustrious career.

Walton has a career record of 950-241 (.798) over 19 seasons as a head coach and holds the nation's highest win percentage among active NCAA DI head coaches.

The Gators (33-6) were able to shut out the Eagles (21-16) by way of a pair of stout pitching performance by starter Natalie Lugo (11-1) and reliever Katie Chronister. Lugo hurled 5.0 complete innings and only allowed three base hits, while she struck out four on just 55 pitches.

Chronister entered at the beginning of the 6^th inning and allowed only one runner to reach via hit-by-pitch over 2.0 innings of work to secure her team-leading fourth save of the season. UF currently has a total of 11 saves on the year with Chronister now being tied for fifth nationally in the category.

Offensively, Cheyenne Lindsey put Florida ahead 2-0 with a two-run home run to right field in the top of the 1^st inning of play. Lindsey drove home Hannah Adams, who reached with a single up the middle to leadoff the game, when she lifted the 3-2 offering from Sarah Lawton (7-5) over the right field wall.

The Eagles only really threated once to score in the game as they were able to put runners on the corners in the 3^rd inning with two outs via two of their three hits in the game. Adams dispelled the scoring attempt whenever she made a great play to retire Reedy Davenport on a popup in shallow center field.

Florida was able to tack on one more run in the final frame of play to extend the lead out to 3-0.  Julia Cottrill produced a single to left field and was pinch-ran for by Katie Kistler. Kistler advanced into scoring position on a wild-pitch and was later moved over to third on a pinch-hit single by Jordan Matthews to left field.

Avery Goelz reentered the game for Matthews and proceeded to steal her second base of the season before Sarah Longley was hit by a 1-0 pitch to load the bases. Jaimie Hoover drove in Kistler for the final run with her third SAC fly of the season.

The Gators return to Southeastern Conference action this weekend with a three-game series against South Carolina this Friday through Sunday. The program will also celebrate the senior class on Saturday prior to the game on ESPNU.

Notable Notes:

• Florida improved to 6-1 overall against FGCU and 1-0 when playing in Fort Myers.
  • The Gators have outscored non-conference opponents 128-42 this season.
• Earlier this season, Walton captured his 800th win as a Gator against Charlotte Feb. 20, 2021 at the Bubly Invitational and won the 950^th of his career today in a shutout at FGCU. Walton is the active career leader among NCAA DI head coaches with a .798 win percentage.
• The combined shutout by Natalie Lugo and Katie Chronister is the 14^th by the Gators this season.
  • Chronister is now a 7.0 scoreless inning streak, while Lugo now holds a 5.2 inning streak.
• Cheyenne Lindsey belted her third home run of the season and first since March 28, against LSU.
  • This season the Gators are 21-2 when hitting a home run.
  • It was also the 13^th first inning home run of the season for Florida.
  • Today was also Lindsey's 6^th multi-RBI game of the year.
• Hannah Adams went 2-for-3 in today's game with a base knock up the middle and bunt single.
  • Adams now has a team-leading 15 multi-hit games on the season and she is 4-for-4 on the year when bunting for a hit.

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