Schutte’s blast sends Gators to sweep

After junior Tiffany DeFelice broke her hand at UCF Wednesday, freshman Brittany Schutte was thrust into the starting catcher’s position for Florida’s pivotal softball series with No. 12 LSU at the Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium.

No stranger to the starting lineup, having started every game this season, mostly at designated player, Schutte quickly quelled any doubts with a seamless transition behind the plate. Where Schutte truly made her mark in the series was at the plate, where she hit the go-ahead two-run home run that helped Florida to a 7-1 victory and a three-game sweep of the Tigers.

Coach Tim Walton’s sixth-ranked Gators (27-4, 9-2 SEC) piled on four more late runs to take over first place in the SEC from the Tigers (29-7, 8-3 SEC). The Gators will travel to Arkansas next weekend for a three-game series.

DeFelice’s injury in the ninth inning on Wednesday didn’t give Schutte much time to prepare to take over the starting catcher’s job for at least the next several weeks, but she said she stayed after practice to take reps at catcher. The quick transition has been a little bit of a shock to Schutte’s system, as she is still getting used to playing catcher every day.

“It’s been a little rough on the body,” Schutte said. “But I’m used to catching, so I’ve got to get back into the swing of things—catching in back-to-back games and catching more often.”

While Schutte was adjusting to her new role, she struggled a little bit at the plate, going 0-for-5 in Saturday’s doubleheader, but she quickly got back on track with her third-inning bomb.

“Actually, this weekend, I’ve been struggling a lot,” Schutte said. “So I was just trying to settle down and see my pitch and just contribute like I have been doing.”

It was her second go-ahead home run this week as Schutte also hit the ninth-inning game winner against UCF. Schutte now has nine home runs and 26 RBI this season, both good for second on the team behind senior Francesca Enea. Schutte is just four home runs behind junior Megan Bush’s Florida record of home runs for a freshman.

Sunday’s victory also saw the second straight all-around performance from freshman Ensley Gammel, who went 2-for-2 at the plate with a sacrifice bunt and an RBI. As Gammel continues to hit well, Walton expects her to solidify a spot in the lineup.

“I’ve always done this,” Walton said. “If kids come in and do their job for me, I always reward them. She did, 3-for-3 in her last three with a sacrifice bunt. Ensley did everything I wanted her to do and got rewarded for that and will continue to get rewarded.”

Gammel also pitched four innings of relief, earning her seventh win of the season while surrendering three hits, no walks and an unearned run.

Gammel’s relief appearance came after junior Stephanie Brombacher surrendered only one hit in the first three innings, but Walton said that it was part of the plan all along to switch up the pitching on LSU’s bats.

“It was predetermined,” Walton said. “I went in there (thinking) with a lead, with a tie, whatever the situation was with Stephanie going in the second time through their lineup, the heart of their lineup, the meat of their lineup, I was going to bring in Ensley. The goal was to then bring Stephanie back in to finish the game off to change up the looks.

“They’re a good hitting team with good coaches and a lot of preparation. You could tell with the way they came out swinging against Ensley that they definitely prepared for her overnight.”

Florida’s pitching was lights-out for the second straight day, and the only question might have been which was more impressive: Florida’s pitching or its hitting against an LSU team that entered the series ranking first in the nation in team ERA.

The Gators constantly worked through the Tiger rotation, knocking out Brittany Mack after only one third of an inning to start the game, when Mack loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter. The Gators then dented Rachele Fico for six runs in 4.2 innings before putting one last run up on Cody Trahan.

It was a testament to how hard it is to contain Florida’s bats for an entire series, much less an entire game.

“You’ve got to give our hitters a lot of credit and I think they would do the same thing,” Walton said. “Their pitchers were making good pitches, but any time they put a ball just a little bit over the plate, we seemed to find a way to knock it in there. Francesca swung at a pitch that was probably over her head and it hits the fence. So give our hitters credit. I thought that was one of the best pitching staffs I’ve seen in a long time, for sure.”

Florida saw contributions from all parts of the lineup. Junior Aja Paculba went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Sophomore Michelle Moultrie went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Enea went 1-for-1 knocking home a run off the aforementioned double, while Bush, senior Corrie Brooks and freshman Samantha Holle each added a hit of their own.

It was a series victory that gave Walton’s Gators a huge momentum swing with first place in the conference on the line, a pivotal momentum that he won’t soon forget.

“To sweep anybody in this league is such a tough thing to do,” Walton said. “We have a lot of respect for LSU and the players they have, the team they have and the coaches they have. A huge win, a huge series win and something I’ll be proud of our team for the whole year for that.”

As the year goes on Walton may go back to this series as the moment when his pitching staff started rounding into championship-contender form. Going back to which he was more impressed with—the hitting or the pitching—there really was no contest in Walton’s eyes.

“I’m always more impressed with the pitching because the pitching is going to win us championships,” Walton said.

If the Gators continue to play like they did against the Tiger, those goals may be within reach.

SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE

Conference Overall

EASTERN DIVISION W-L Pct. W-L Pct.


Florida 9-2 .800 27-4 .871

Tennessee 10-3 .769 29-7 .806

Georgia 6-6 .500 26-8 .765

Kentucky 7-9 .438 22-15.595

South Carolina 0-16 .000 10-26.278

WESTERN DIVISION W-L Pct. W-L Pct.

Louisiana State 8-3 .727 29-7 .806

Arkansas 8-3 .727 24-13.649

Alabama 10-4 .714 27-9 .750

Mississippi 5-7 .417 20-15 .571

Auburn 5-9 .357 20-15 .571

Mississippi State 3-9 .250 21-18 .538

RESULTS

SUNDAY / April 4


Florida 7, Louisiana State 1

FRIDAY / April 2

Arkansas 3-10, Georgia 2-5

Kentucky 5-2, Mississippi State 4-0

Tennessee 9, South Carolina 1

Alabama 5, Auburn 1

SATURDAY / April 3

Florida 4-2, Louisiana State 1-1

Tennessee 3-8, South Carolina 1-0

Alabama 9-10, Auburn 1-2

Georgia 4, Arkansas 0

Mississippi State 1, Kentucky 0

SCHEDULE

MONDAY / April 5

Georgia Southern at Georgia, 5 p.m.

TUESDAY / April 6

USC Upstate at South Carolina, 6 p.m.

Southern Mississippi vs. Mississippi at Ridgeland, Miss., 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY / April 7

Kentucky at Louisville, 7 p.m.

Louisiana State at Alabama (2), 6 p.m.

Samford at Auburn, 7 p.m.

Georgia at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m.

Mississippi Valley State vs. Mississippi State at Ridgeland, Miss., 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, April 10

South Carolina at Kentucky (2), 1 p.m.

Florida at Arkansas (2), 2 p.m.

Tennessee at Auburn (2), 2 p.m.

Georgia at Mississippi (2), 2 p.m.

Mississippi State at Louisiana State (2), 2 p.m.

Northwestern at Alabama, 2 p.m.

SUNDAY, April 11

Florida at Arkansas, 2 p.m.

Tennessee at Auburn, 2 p.m.

Georgia at Mississippi, 2 p.m.

South Carolina at Kentucky, 2 p.m.

Mississippi State at Louisiana State, 2 p.m.

Northwestern at Alabama, 2 p.m.

RESULTS

All times Eastern

TUESDAY / March 30


North Carolina 17, South Carolina 7 (5)

WEDNESDAY / March 31

Florida 4, UCF 3 (9)

Mississippi 9-9, Alcorn State 0-1

Georgia 8, Kennesaw State 3

Tennessee 9, Middle Tennessee 1

Tulsa 13-1, Arkansas 2-3

Louisiana State 7, McNeese State 2

Mississippi State 4, Southern 1

Auburn 3, Troy 1

POLLS

As of March 30


ESPN.com/USA SOFTBALL DIVISION I

1.Washington (28-2); 2. Arizona (28-3); 3. Michigan (24-5); 4. Missouri (23-4); 5. UCLA (26-4); 6. Alabama (24-9); 7. Georgia Tech (29-5); 8. Georgia (24-6); 9. Florida (23-4); 10. Arizona State (31-4); 11. Stanford (25-5); 12. Louisiana State (28-4); 13. Oklahoma (27-9); 14. California (28-6); 15. Oklahoma State (29-7); 16. Florida State (31-6); 17. Texas (26-8); 18. Texas A&M (29-7); 19. Tennessee (25-7); 20. Illinois (23-4); 21. Oregon (24-5); 22. North Carolina (24-10); 23. Ohio State (18-10); 24. Baylor (19-10); 25. Brigham Young (20-7).

USA TODAY/NATIONAL FASTPITCH COACHES ASSOCIATION

1. Washington (28-2); 2. Michigan (24-5); 3. Arizona (28-3); 4. Missouri (23-4); 5. UCLA (26-4); 6. Florida (23-4); 7. Arizona State (31-4); 8. Alabama (24-9); 9. Stanford (25-4); 10. Georgia Tech (29-5); 11. Georgia (24-6); 12. Louisiana State (28-4); 13. Oklahoma (27-8); 14. California (28-6); 15. Oklahoma State (29-7); 16. Tennessee (21-7); 17. Texas (26-8); 18. Illinois (23-4); 19. Florida State (31-6); 20. Texas A&M (29-7); 21. Ohio State (18-10); 22. North Carolina (24-10); 23. Massachusetts (17-7); 24. Notre Dame (24-5); 25. Louisville (21-12).