On the opening night of the most important tournament of the season, junior Stephanie Brombacher had one of her best starts of the year.
Florida’s ace tied her season high with 11 strikeouts as the No. 4 Gators (44-8) defeated Bethune-Cookman (32-23) by the score of 6-0, thus keeping UF in the winner’s bracket of Gainesville’s NCAA Tournament Regional.
Brombacher allowed only three hits while not walking a batter in her complete-game shutout.
“I warmed up well and that always helps,” Brombacher said. “Bethune-Cookman came out swinging and they were good hitters and I just made my pitches.”
Although Bethune-Cookman’s Allison Garcia stifled Florida’s bats with an array of off-speed pitches in the early going, it was only a matter of time before the Gators made the necessary adjustments.
Junior Kelsey Bruder got the scoring started in the bottom of the second when she put a 1-0 screwball over the left field fence to give UF a 1-0 lead.
“It’s just good to come out and make a statement and get on the board before they do,” Bruder said. “It was just kinda a momentum carrier.”
Only one more batter came to the plate before the game was halted due to lightning.
A few minutes later the rain started to fall, and it would be two hours and 25 minutes before play resumed.
During the delay, both teams were able to relax while also keeping their minds on softball by watching other NCAA Regional action being televised on ESPN and ESPN2.
“We kinda just tried to stay focused and we just wanted to play,” Brombacher said. “You don’t want to be so focused that your brain is going, but you just kinda relax and try not to get too far out of your element.”
The rain delay certainly did not have any adverse effects on junior Tiffany DeFelice, who drove in a run on a groundout in the fourth before putting the Gators up by four with a two-RBI single in the sixth.
Since making her return from a hand injury May 1 against Mississippi State, DeFelice has an on-base percentage of .633 and has reached base in all ten games.
Her hit was part of a four-run sixth inning in which the Gators also got a two-run double from freshman Kelsey Horton.
UF will retake the field today at 1 p.m. when it faces off against UCF, which defeated FIU 7-1 on Friday.
