The Gators proved Saturday that how you start is much less important than how you finish.
After giving up three runs in the bottom of the first and going 0 for their first 8 at bats, the No. 4 Gators (29-4, 11-2 Southeastern Conference) settled down and outscored Arkansas (24-15, 8-5 SEC) 21-5 the rest of the afternoon en route to a double-header sweep in Fayetteville.
“That happens when you have a whole week off,” junior Aja Paculba said. “We just needed those first couple innings to get back into the groove.”
In game one the Florida bats put on the type of powerful performance that became the norm earlier in the season, scoring eight of its nine runs off of extra-base hits.
Junior pitcher Stephanie Brombacher gave up three runs in the first inning, but the UF hitters bailed her out in the fourth as freshman Brittany Schutte hit a three-run home run to tie the game and junior Megan Bush followed with a solo-shot to give the Gators the lead on the very next pitch. Paculba also added an RBI double in that fourth inning, in which the Gators scored five runs on five hits.
That would be all until the sixth, when senior Francesca Enea hit a monstrous three-run homer to left to give the Florida lead some cushion.
Bruder would also score on an error, and although Arkansas would score in both the sixth and seventh it was not enough as the Gators got a 9-5 win.
In the nightcap UF got out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a pair of illegal pitches by Arkansas starter Layne McGuirt.
Sophomore Michelle Moultrie, freshman Brittany Walker, freshman Ensley Gammel, Paculba, Bush, and Enea all had RBI hits in the middle innings to extend the Gators’ lead to 8-0 before Paculba came up in the fifth and gave the Gators a 12-0 advantage with a grand slam to left.
Paculba was 3 for 7 with 6 RBIs on the day, and extended her hitting streak to 13-consecutive games.
“I’ve been seeing the ball really well lately and just trying to get on base any way I can,” Paculba said.
Freshman Erin Shuppert came in to close out the game, and although she gave up three unearned runs due to a pair of errors by Walker, the Gators were still able to secure the 12-3 run-rule victory.
Gammel got the win for Florida, throwing four shutout innings after 2.2 innings of one-run softball in Game 1.
