KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 1 Florida has waited 41 days to try and exact some revenge from No. 3 Alabama, the last team (and only one this season in the Southeastern Conference) to beat coach Tim Walton’s Gators in their magical season.
This afternoon at 1:30 ET, the Gators (54-3) will get their opportunity to erase whatever disappointment remains from the Crimson Tide’s 6-4 victory on March 29 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium, a triumph that ended Florida’s then 23-game winning streak.
That was 20 victories ago, the latest of which came Friday night in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament at the University of Tennessee’s Lee Softball Stadium. After sophomore Stephanie Brombacher surrendered three runs in the first inning, senior ace Stacey Nelson shut the host Volunteers down over the next four innings while the Florida offense scored four runs in the first and second innings on the way to an 11-3 victory in five innings.
Florida, which had four home runs among its 12 hits, got a 2-run homer in the first inning off the bat of senior Ali Gardiner (her seventh of the season) and then back-to-back-to-back home runs with two outs in the second inning by Francesca Enea (a two-run shot that was her team-leading 17th homer and her 64th and 65th RBI of the year) and solo shots by Kelsey Bruder (15th) and Corrie Brooks (9th). Florida now has 75 home runs this season and surrendered just four.
“That was good. We learned something about our team tonight,” Florida coach Tim Walton said. “I really look at it as a positive. We got fired up and answered. We’re down three in the first inning in a single-elimination tournament and score four.”
Alabama (47-8), meanwhile, needed eight innings to beat Kentucky, 2-1, to advance to the championship game, which will be televised by FSN. It will be the fourth meeting between Alabama and Florida, which won the first two games of that late-March series, each in five innings, 9-1 and 10-1.
And if Florida freshman Michelle Moulter had maybe eaten one more biscuit for breakfast on March 29, her attempt at a game-winning 3-run home run might have carried over the fence instead of landing in the glove of Alabama right fielder Jazelyn Lunceford, and the Gators might be in the midst of a 44-game winning streak.
Brooks, who also tripled in the first inning, went 3-for-3 with two RBI, while Bruder was 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI. Enea, who somehow ended up on the All-SEC second team despite being second in the league in home runs and third in RBI, is anxious to have a chance to play the Crimson Tide once again.
“They’re always a tough team,” said Enea, who had a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh after Florida trailed 6-1 to set up Moultrie’s chance at glory. “Kelsi Dunne is a hard pitcher to hit. We’re just going to start mentally preparing tonight and do what we have to do to try and come out with a ‘W’ tomorrow.”
Nelson improved to 34-3 with her 16th straight victory, allowing just two hits while walking three and striking out two in four innings of relief. Brombacher allowed three unearned runs on two hits and two walks while facing eight Volunteers in the first inning.
“What I told Stephanie was that we fought so hard to come back like that, that we can’t give up another run,” Walton said about his switch to Nelson. “We can’t give up the momentum that our offense just fought so hard to get back. At that point in time, I felt really handcuffed. (If the score was) 3-2, we’re still going with Stacey.”
Despite a pair of errors, Florida’s defense had two double plays tha prevented any further Tennessee scoring.
Jen Lapicki had an infield single that drove in the first Tennessee run and Erinn Webb doubled home two more for a 3-0 lead.
But Florida responded when Aja Paculba doubled to lead off the bottom of the first and Gardiner homered to left one out later. Following another out, Bruder was hit by a pitch and Brooks tripled down the right-field line to tie the game 3-3. Bush, whose error in the top of the first got Brombacher in a hole, preserved her teammate’s 40-0 record over two seasons by singling in Brooks for a 4-3 lead.
After Nelson got herself out of a bases-loaded hole in the top of the second, Florida scored four more runs after two were out. Gardiner walked and Enea hit a home run to center for a 6-3 lead, and then Bruder and Brooks went yard to make it 8-3. Florida scored single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings, the last one on Bruder’s double to left center that ended the game.
“We’ve seen them, this will be the fourth time, there’s not much more you can do now,” said Alabama coach Patrick Murphy about today’s championship game. “I think we’re all kind of tired of seeing each other and we’re ready to see someone else.”
After today, he will get his wish.
Florida, meanwhile, hopes to get its revenge.
Alabama 2, Kentucky 1 (8): Left fielder Whitney Larsen hit a walk-off solo home run to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning that lifted No. 3 Alabama (47-8) over Kentucky (32-21) in the opening semifinal game.
Both teams managed five hits in the contest with center fielder Brittany Rogers leading the way with two hits in three at-bats. Alabama shortstop Kellie Eubanks (1-for-3, HR) and Larsen (1-for-2) each knocked in a run. Kentucky shortstop Molly Johnson went 4-for-4 with a run scored, while designated player Rachel Riley (1-for-4) knocked in Kentucky’s only run.
Charlotte Morgan (16-6) picked up the win for the Tide by allowing just one hit in two innings of relief of starter Kelsi Dunne. Riley (6-6), who pitched four innings after starter Chanda Bell went the first three innings, took the loss after permitting two hits, one of them Larsen’s home run.