In case there were any doubts about Florida being the best softball team in the country, they were erased Saturday in a pair of blowout victories over No. 4 Alabama that stretched the Gators’ winning streak to 23 games.
With senior right-hander Stacey Nelson and sophomore right-hander Stephanie Brombacher limiting the Crimson Tide to just seven hits, the Florida offense exploded for 19 runs on 20 hits as coach Tim Walton’s Gators beat Alabama 9-1 in six innings and 10-1 in five frames before a record crowd of 2,423 Orange and Blue loyalists at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
“I think we just came out and really wanted to show the SEC and everybody else that we deserve to be No. 1 (in the country),” said Florida second baseman and leadoff batter Aja Paculba. “Teams know we’re ready to play. We’re going to come out every game and give them our best.”
Florida improved to 34-2 overall and 13-0 in the SEC East Division with the help of five home runs off Alabama (26-6, 6-3 SEC West).
“It was fun,” said Paculba, who went 3-for-4 in the opener and 2-for-2 in the second game, scoring two runs in each. “Having that many people, I was kind of nervous. When I heard them all cheering, I was like, ‘This is awesome.’ We always thrive off the crowd.”
That nervousness may have contributed to the Gators’ slow start at the plate, but as the Gators have proven all season long, it’s only a matter of time before their loaded lineup figures out the opposing pitcher and lights up the scoreboard.
“Usually when we have high-scoring games, we go through the lineup once and we’re kind of struggling,” Paculba said. “When we go through it the second time, we talk to each other in the dugout and see what she (Alabama’s Kelsi Dunne) is pitching and make our own adjustments. She was coming inside (with her pitches) and she was quicker than she was last year. So we kind of moved back in the box and then concentrated.”
Dunne (12-1, 1.20 ERA) had the Gators on their heels, only allowing two hits through four innings, but Florida continued to attack her pitches and eventually broke the game wide open. Dunne had allowed only seven earned runs all season but ended the game with nine more on her resume while throwing 181 pitches.
In the opener, Alabama took a 1-0 lead against Nelson (18-2, 0.42 ERA) in the fifth inning. But Florida immediately answered with three runs in its half of the inning when Corrie Brooks came up with the bases loaded and two outs and delivered a two-run single just out of the reach of Alabama’s shortstop and third baseman, scoring Paculba and Kelsey Bruder. Megan Bush followed with a run-scoring single for a 3-1 Florida lead.
“I had two strikes,” said Brooks, who was 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBI in the game. “So I had to fight off pitches you can’t hit good and find a pitch you can hit good. Luckily, I hit it over here (to the left side), got a little chop, took it over her head and whatever way works, works.”
After Alabama loaded the bases in the sixth with a pair of hits off Nelson but did not score, Florida put the game away in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring six runs on seven hits. All the runs scored after two were out. Paculba was on base with one of her three hits. Ali Gardiner walked and Francesca Enea followed with a three-run homer. Brooks then homered to make it 7-1 Florida.
The Gators got the bases loaded on hits by Megan Bush and Kristina Hilberth and a walk to pinch-hitter Tiffany DeFelice. Then pinch-hitter Shaunice Harris walked, bringing home the eighth run and Paculba drove home Hilberth with the game-ending ninth run.
Hilberth, who had two hits, also made perhaps the biggest defensive play of the first game when she picked off a runner at third for the second out with the bases loaded in the fifth.
“Everybody’s getting it in their head,” said Brooks, Florida’s third baseman, looking back on the situation. “It’s nerve-wrecking out there. No outs. Bases loaded. What’s going to happen? I got the play at third for one out. Then the next play, the girl got a big, big lead at third. I’m playing up for the slap-hitter. So I see that, I run back as fast as I can. Kristina sees it, guns her down, and we tag her out. Everybody gets fired up. It gave us a lot of momentum. Now we have two outs. We’re going to get these girls out.”
Nelson wasn’t on top of her game as usual but still allowed just four hits, two walks, three hit batsmen and one earned run while fanning seven and throwing just 104 pitches, 68 for strikes.
The Gators carried that momentum into the nightcap and didn’t take their foot off the gas pedal. Alabama jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Brombacher but Paculba led off the Florida first with her sixth home run of the season to tie the game. Bush had a solo homer in the second off losing pitcher Charlotte Morgan that put Florida ahead for good, 2-1.
Then Florida put the game out of reach with eight runs on six hits and one Crimson Tide error. Alicia Sisco singled and Paculba followed with a single of her own. Kelsey Bruder then homered to left center for a 5-1 lead.
Morgan loaded the bases with three walks and Michelle Moultrie followed with a 2-run single for a 7-1 lead. An error scored Hilberth to make it 8-1, Sisco doubled home Moultrie for a 9-1 lead and Bruder later singled home Sisco with the eighth run of the inning.
Bush, Bruder and Enea now share the team lead in home runs with nine.
Brombacher (16-0, 0.71 ERA) settled down after allowing the run in the first inning and checked Alabama on three hits but struck out three. She is now 36-0 in her career at Florida.
Even Walton, who liked his team’s chances coming into the series, didn’t expect such a dominating performance.
“If someone would have said, ‘You’re going to run-rule Alabama two games in a row,’ I would have said, ‘Yeah, right. There’s no way. They’re too good of a team for that to happen,’” Walton said.
The teams conclude the series Sunday at 2 p.m. Florida then travels to Auburn for a Wednesday SEC doubleheader before returning home to play host to Mississippi State next Saturday and Sunday.