After a doubleheader in which the third-ranked Florida Gators poured the runs on Northwestern State, the Gators showed Sunday afternoon that they were capable of keeping their foot on the gas to finish off the series the same way they started it.
Coach Tim Walton’s Gators (12-1) defeated the Demons 10-1 to close out the series on another good note before heading to California next weekend for the DeMarini Tournament.
A day after the Gators offense scored at will, putting 20 runs on the board in two games, the team showed no signs of taking their opponent lightly, a mentality the Gators will need to maintain as the schedule gets tougher.
“The second you take them less seriously that’s when they’re going to walk all over you,” junior catcher Tiffany DeFelice said. “You just gotta come out here the same way every single day, just like you’re playing Alabama or you’re playing Washington.”
DeFelice was right in the middle of Florida’s weekend onslaught, as she hit a three-run home run to center field in the first inning to give the Gators a 4-0 lead. The long ball helped DeFelice bounce back from an 0-4 Saturday.
“I was just trying to put that way in the back of my head,” DeFelice said. “I just came out here with a lot better of an attitude and better strategy today, so I think it worked out for me today.”
DeFelice batted sixth in the lineup on Sunday after Walton decided to try her in the five-hole on Saturday. DeFelice said that she didn’t care where she batted in the lineup, as long as she got a chance to help her team out, but expect Walton to continue tinkering with his lineup as the season goes on to find the perfect mixture.
“It’s obviously something psychological there,” Walton said. “She’s a five-hole makeup hitter. For whatever reason, I put her in the five-hole, and she takes the collar more often than not. While we’re trying to get through it, there are probably going to be some shuffles going around. We’ve gotta figure out a way to protect Kelsey Bruder, whether it’s Corrie (Brooks) or maybe moving Brittany Schutte there and putting Michelle (Moultrie) at the two-spot like we did to open up the season. We’ll see what happens. We’re trying to find the best lineup for sure.”
Another player that broke through for the Gators was junior Aja Paculba, who hit her first home run of the season in the second, a two-run bomb to center that gave Florida a 6-0 lead. It was Florida’s eighth home run of the series.
“It felt good,” Paculba said. “I needed a confidence booster before we start SEC’s and go on to California. It was a good day for me.”
Paculba is still looking to find her swing, as she is only hitting .250 so far this season after hitting .368 and .336 in the past two seasons. Even though Paculba isn’t hitting the way she wants to yet, her patience is paying dividends at the plate. Although she hasn’t found her stroke there is nothing wrong with her eye. Two Sunday walks gave her 13 for the season, raising her on-base percentage to .440.
“I’m just trying to see the ball the best I can right now,” Paculba said. “Sometimes I don’t see it as well as I want to, but with me being so patient, I draw a lot of walks.”
Paculba also added her third steal of the weekend and fifth of the season in the first inning, leading the Florida’s first run of the game.
“We work on base running a lot during practice,” Paculba said. “So whenever we get a chance to steal bases and do the little things on the bases, it really helps out with scoring runs.”
Even though her bat hasn’t warmed up, Paculba is still proving to be the perfect leadoff hitter for Walton’s offense. With her patience, it’s only a matter of time before she gets into a groove.
“She just finds a way to get on base even when she’s not swinging the bat as well as she’s capable of,” Walton said. “I think she does a good job of not swinging at bad pitches.”
Sophomore Michelle Moultrie had another big game for the Gators, going 3-3 with an RBI. Moultrie is batting .412 this season, second on the team to senior Francesca Enea, who is batting .417. Moultrie reached base in the second inning on a bunt single and hit what appeared to be a bloop single to left field the next inning that she easily turned into an RBI double with her speed.
The hit came just after junior Megan Bush hit a two-run double in the gap to right-center field. Bush added another RBI in the fourth inning on a fielder’s choice to third with the bases loaded.
Enea also added her team-leading 20th RBI in the first inning to get on the board and celebrate her birthday.
Junior Stephanie Brombacher had another solid outing for the Gators, surrendering six hits and one run while striking out six in five innings of work. Brombacher kept the Demons in check with most of the runners reaching on softly hit balls that somehow found a way to land in play. Brombacher moved to 10-1 on the season and now has a 1.79 ERA.
With their offense clicking on all cylinders after a monstrous weekend, the Gators will head to Fullerton, Calif., where they will play five games in the DeMarini Tournament. The first game is Friday at noon against Pacific. The Gators toughest test will be against No. 10 Stanford on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Gators will face Cal State Fullerton at 4:30 p.m. and Loyola Marymount at 9 p.m. on Saturday. Florida will close out the weekend with UC Davis at noon on Sunday.