The Florida Gators softball team was ahead 5-0, and the Mississippi State Bulldogs were pulling their starting pitcher in favor of a sophomore with an 8.54 season ERA. It sounds like a late-game disaster, except this all happened before the Bulldogs registered their first out of game one of Wednesday‘s doubleheader at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
For Mississippi State U, the rest of the day wouldn’t get any easier. The day would end with the Gators sweeping the doubleheader behind an 8-0 victory in the first game and an 18-1 triumph in the second game.
The No. 2 Gators (27-1) dominated the Bulldogs in every aspect of the two five-inning games shortened by college softball’s eight-run mercy rule in front of 836 fans.
Offensive production showed up early and hung around until the early evening slipped over the Univ. of Fla.
Bulldog pitcher Misty Flesher brought a 4-2 record into game one of the doubleheader but was no match for the dynamic first five slots of the Gators batting lineup. After left fielder Kelsey Bruder singled in Michelle Moultrie from second, and catcher Brittany Schutte walked, the stage was set for Megan Bush.
“That’s really hard as a pitcher on the opposing team,” Bruder said. “You really don’t get to take a pitch off for anybody.”
Bush, the Gators’ star first baseman who extended her career-long hitting streak to 16 games on Wednesday, turned an 0-1 pitch into her fifth career grand slam with a hard shot to left field.
With Wednesday’s performance, Bush has now hit a home run against Mississippi State in all four years of her college career. Her grand slam chased Flesher from the game and brought in the Bulldogs’ second of five pitchers to be used on the day.
Shana Sherrod would take the loss for the Bulldogs (12-14) in game two.
Meanwhile, pitching was very much a strong suit for the Gators on Wednesday as freshman Hannah Rogers filled in for the injured Stephanie Brombacher and pitched nine of the ten innings played, taking her record to 13-1 with the two victories.
“Hannah is amazing,” Bruder said. “She is pitching well beyond her years, and we’re lucky to have her.”
Rogers completely controlled game one, throwing just 53 pitches over five innings of work. She gave up two hits, both coming in the fourth, and struck out three batters.
The second game was only different because of two hits and a run that came during a fourth inning in which the Gators did some shuffling to their defensive lineup. Otherwise, Rogers only gave up two hits that came in a first inning which was Mississippi State’s first scoring threat of the day.
Sophomore Ensley Gammel pitched the fifth inning of game two for the Gators.
The Bulldogs had runners at second and third with one out in the first inning of the second game but failed to capitalize. Head coach Tim Walton paid a visit to his freshman pitcher and infield. The result was a ground ball that third baseman Kasey Fagan threw home for the second out, and another groundout to shortstop Cheyenne Coyle as the Gators escaped unharmed.
“I feel like every day we get better and better,” Coyle said.
Things would quickly get out of hand once again for the Bulldogs due to an offensive outburst fueled by Bruder, who had a career day at the plate.
The senior had nine RBIs and six hits on the day including a two-run home run in game one and a three-run homer in game two to increase her season home-run count to eight.
“I was seeing [the ball] really well,” Bruder said.
Bruder broke her career-high RBI total for a single game when she drove in six runs in game two. Her previous high was five RBIs, a total that she had previously reached four times with the most recent coming against USF last month.
She was also a triple away from hitting for the cycle in game two.
“I’m not fast enough for a triple, so I think this is probably one of my better days,” Bruder said.
As far as pitching, Walton said that Brombacher is day-to-day with her still undiagnosed injury but is expected to pitch this weekend against Ole Miss.
Senior catcher Tiffany DeFelice remains out with what Walton calls a hand contusion. Walton said that he doesn’t see her returning or the offensive lineup changing in the foreseeable future.
The Gators will now head to Oxford, Miss., for a three-game series against the Ole Miss Rebels who are 9-18 on the season.
“The good thing is we only have one fly trip after this weekend, and then everything else is a bus and then home,” Walton said. “So if we can get though this stretch staying relatively healthy, I think we’re going to be in a good position to contend for this league.”
Mississippi State will bus home for a weekend series against the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Gator Country reporter Bryan Holt can be reached at BryanHolt@GatorCountry.com. You can also follow him on Twitter at http://www.Twitter.com/BryanHoltGC.