TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 6 Florida softball team showed some true grit Saturday in splitting an Southeastern Conference doubleheader with No. 7 Alabama. After the Crimson Tide used an 8-run fifth inning to win the opener, 10-4, the Gators came back to win the nightcap 7-5 on junior Aja Paculba’s game-winning two-run home run in the eighth inning.
Florida (22-4, 5-2 SEC East) and Alabama (24-8, 7-3 SEC West) meet Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in the third game of the series.
Junior Stephanie Brombacher, who was victimized in the opening game, earned the nightcap victory in relief.
Junior Megan Bush went 3-for-6 on the day while extending her hitting streak to a career-long 10 games. Freshman Brittany Schutte knocked in five runs in the two games, including three with a home run in the sixth inning of the second game that brought the Gators within one.
In the opening game, Alabama overcame a 4-1 Florida lead with its eight-run fifth that ended Brombacher’s work in the opener. The tall junior right-hander, who threw a 10-0 perfect game against South Florida earlier in the week, surrendered five hits and five walks and eight runs in 4.2 innings.
Trailing 1-0 in the opener, Florida got two runs in the second inning when Paculba had a two-out single to right. It became 4-1 in the third inning when Schutte knocked home Francesca Enea and Bush, who had doubled.
The Crimson Tide scored their eight runs on just three hits. Charlotte Morgan had a two-run double and a two-run single in the inning for Alabama.
In the second game, freshman Ensley Gammel got the ball from coach Tim Walton to oppose Morgan. Florida had 11 hits in the game and had three players – Bush, Paculba and Michelle Moultrie – with two hits apiece.
Still, Alabama had a 4-0 lead until Florida began its rally in the sixth inning on Schutte’s seventh homer of the season that followed singles by Enea and Bush.
Florida took the lead in the top of the seventh with two runs. Brittany Walker led off the inning with an infield single. Paculba followed with a single to left, fighting off five 3-2 pitches. Both runners moved up on a passed ball and Moultrie drove them in with a double to center for a 5-4 Florida lead.
Morgan knocked in the tying run in the bottom of the seventh off Brombacher with a one-hit single to right.
But Florida didn’t waste its opportunities in the top of the eighth. Walker reached first when she was hit by a pitch and Paculba followed with a home run over the center-field fence to give Florida its final 7-5 lead.
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
Conference Overall
EASTERN DIVISION W-L Pct. W-L Pct.
Florida 5-2 .714 22-4 .845
Tennessee 7-3 .700 25-7 .786
Georgia 4-4 .500 23-6 .793
Kentucky 5-7 .417 20-13.606
South Carolina 0-12 .000 10-21.323
WESTERN DIVISION W-L Pct. W-L Pct.
Louisiana State 8-0 1.000 28-4 .875
Arkansas 5-2 .714 20-11 .645
Alabama 7-3 .700 24-8 .750
Mississippi 5-7 .417 18-15 .545
Auburn 4-6 .400 18-12 .600
Mississippi State 2-6 .250 19-15 .550
SCHEDULE
All times Eastern
SATURDAY / March 27
Alabama 10-5, Florida 4-7
Tennessee 3-6, Mississippi 2-3
Auburn 4-5, South Carolina 1-3
Georgia 4-2, Kentucky 2-4
Arkansas 7-11, Mississippi State 2-6
SUNDAY / March 28
Georgia at Kentucky, 1 p.m.
Auburn at South Carolina, 1 p.m.
Mississippi at Tennessee, 1 p.m.
Mississippi State at Arkansas, 2 p.m.
Florida at Alabama, 2:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
TUESDAY / March 30
South Carolina at North Carolina, 5 p.m.
WEDNESDAY / March 31
Alcorn State at Mississippi (2), 4 p.m.
Arkansas at Tulsa (2), 5 p.m.
Kennesaw State at Georgia, 5 p.m.
Southern at Mississippi State, 5 p.m.
Middle Tennessee at Tennessee, 6 p.m.
Florida at UCF, 7 p.m.
Troy at Auburn, 7 p.m.
Louisiana State at McNeese State, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY / April 2
Arkansas at Georgia (2), 5 p.m.
Kentucky at Mississippi State (2), 5 p.m.
Tennessee at South Carolina, 5 p.m.
Alabama at Auburn, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY / April 3
Arkansas at Georgia, 12 p.m.
Louisiana State at Florida (2), 1 p.m.
Tennessee at South Carolina (2), 1 p.m.
Kentucky at Mississippi State, 1 p.m.
Alabama at Auburn (2), 2 p.m.
SUNDAY / April 4
Louisiana State at Florida, 12 p.m.