OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Florida’s run in its third straight trip to the Women’s College World Series ended up shorter than its previous two Saturday night, with one of their biggest rivals in the Southeastern Conference, the Georgia Bulldogs, doing the deed, 3-2, at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.
After throwing a six-hitter to keep Florida alive in the tournament with a 5-0 elimination of Missouri in the afternoon, junior Stephanie Brombacher couldn’t match the effort in the nightcap against the Bulldogs, an SEC Eastern Division rival team that Gators did not play because of inclement weather on March 10.
Brombacher finished the season 35-8 for Florida, which ends its season 49-10.
In the heat of Oklahoma, where temperatures have been closer to 100 than to 90, the Bulldogs, who did not have to play twice on Elimination Saturday, were a little more refreshed, jumping on Brombacher early with a two-run homer off the bat of Alisa Goler in the bottom of the first inning.
But after Florida tied it at 2-2 with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, Georgia got the game-winner in the bottom of the fifth when Brianna Hesson singled home Megan Wiggins, and reliever Erin Arevalo finished off the Gators with 2.2 innings of two-hit ball by striking out the final five Florida batters she faced.
Florida got a leadoff home run in the fourth inning from freshman Brittany Schutte, her third of the day, and a run in the fifth when pinch-runner Lauren Heil scored on a wild pitch thrown by Arevalo, who had relieved starter Alison Owen. Schutte finished with two of Florida’s six hits in the game. She concluded her freshman season with 19 home runs and 59 RBI—both records for a freshman.
The Bulldogs move into the Bracket I championship game against UCLA, which started the tournament with a 16-3, six-inning rout of Florida on Thursday that featured six illegal-pitch calls against Brombacker (4) and reliever Ensley Gammel (2).
After a day off Friday, Brombacher was back in the groove against Missouri, looking more like the pitcher who won All-America honors by winning more than 30 games.
Her pitching line against Missouri didn’t surely didn’t tell the whole story. Yes, Brombacher struck out six while allowing six hits, two walks and hitting one batter—impressive indeed considering the pressure she and her Gator teammates faced in the game: Win and move on or lose and go home.
What the line didn’t show: Brombacher was illegal-pitch free, something that has haunted her much of this season but particularly so in Florida’s tournament-opening game here Thursday night against 11-time WCWS champion UCLA. She was detected four times of throwing an illegal pitch—she was airborne before letting the softball go—and it so unnerved her that the Bruins took advantage by taking an early lead and cruising to a 16-3, six-inning victory, the first time since 2007 Florida was run-ruled in a game.
But thanks to some hard work in the bullpen, Brombacher was back to being her dominating self, moving to 35-7 as Florida remained alive to face Georgia.
After both teams failed to score in the first three innings and Missouri was held scoreless in the top of the fourth, coach Tim Walton’s Gators got rolling on a 2-run home run by Schutte off losing pitcher Kristin Nottelmann.
The home run scored pinch-runner Lauren Heil, who replaced Francesca Enea after she was hit by a pitch for the third time during the WCWS. It was only Florida’s second hit of the game—Michelle Moultrie had bunted her way aboard in the bottom of the first—but it clearly allowed the Gators to breathe again.
In the bottom of the fifth, junior Kelsey Bruder homered off the right-field foul pole to make it 3-0, and Schutte then led off the sixth with a solo homer—Florida’s fourth and final hit of the game—to center off Missouri reliever Jana Hainey.
Florida would later add a run in the inning when Megan Bush reached on an error and was replaced by pinch-runner Gammel, who had been called for two illegal pitches after relieving Brombacher against the Bruins. Gammel hustled all the way to third when it was left uncovered by Missouri on Tiffany DeFelice’s sacrifice bunt and then scored on senior Corrie Brooks’ sacrifice fly.
In 2009, Florida worked its way back from an opening loss to Louisiana-Lafayette, forcing a second game against Texas A&M before losing in its bracket championship game. Last season, Florida went undefeated through its bracket but then ran into Washington, which won the first two games in the best-of-three championship series.
(10) Arizona 4, (3) Washington 3: The Wildcats, who were dropped into the losers’ bracket by Tennessee in a 9-0 setback, ended the reign of 2010 champion Washington, which had won last year’s best-of-3 championship series from the Gators, 2-0, behind the magnificent pitching of Canadian Olympian Danielle Lawrie.
Saturday, however, Arizona bounced back, scoring three unearned runs as Lawrie, the player of the year for the second straight campaign, ended her final season at 40-4 for the 50-9 Huskies. Arizona moved into an evening elimination game against Hawaii.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES / ASA Hall of Fame Stadium / Oklahoma City, Okla. / Thursday-Sunday, June 3-6, 2010 / Double-elimination
BRACKET 1
Thursday, June 3
Game 1: (16) Hawaii 3, (9) Missouri 2
Game 2: (5) UCLA 16, (4) Florida 3 (6 innings)
Friday, June 4
Game 5: (5) UCLA 5, (16) Hawaii 2
Saturday, June 5
Game 7: (4) Florida 5, (9) Missouri 0 Missouri (51-13) eliminated
Game 9: (6) Georgia 3, (4) Florida 2 Florida (49-10) eliminated
Sunday, June 6
Game 11: (5) UCLA (47-11) vs. (6) Georgia (50-12), 1 p.m. (ESPN) Winner (if unbeaten) to Championship Series; Loser eliminated
Game 13 (if necessary): Winner Game 11 vs. Loser Game 11 (if Loser Game 11 has one loss), 7 p.m. (ESPN2) Winner to Championship Series; Loser eliminated
BRACKET 2
Thursday, June 3
Game 3: (15) Tennessee 9, (10) Arizona 0 (5 innings)
Game 4: (6) Georgia 6, (3) Washington 3
Friday, June 4
Game 6: (15) Tennessee 7, (6) Georgia 5
Saturday, June 5
Game 8: (10) Arizona 4, (3) Washington 3 Washington (50-9) eliminated
Game 10: (10) Arizona 5, (16) Hawaii 1 Hawaii (50-16) eliminated
Sunday, June 6
Game 12: (15) Tennessee (49-13) vs. (10) Arizona (50-12), 3 p.m. (ESPN) Winner (if unbeaten) to Championship Series; Loser eliminated
Game 14 (if necessary): Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 12 (if Loser Game 12 has one loss), 9 p.m. (ESPN2) Winner to Championship Series; Loser eliminated
CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES / Monday-Wednesday, June 7-9, 2010 / Best-of-3 series
Monday, June 7
Game 1: Bracket 1 winner vs. Bracket 2 winner, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
Tuesday, June 8
Game 2: Bracket 1 winner vs. Bracket 2 winner, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
Wednesday, June 9
Game 3 (if necessary): Bracket 1 winner vs. Bracket 2 winner, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)