It only took one day for coach Tim Walton to pick up the two wins
he needed to reach the 400-win plateau for his career.
While the seniors played to their usual high standards, the No. 5
women’s softball team received a big boost from freshman Cheyenne
Coyle who homered in her first collegiate at-bat in the Florida’s
17-1 season-opening win against Marshall.
Coyle’s second-inning homer was one of the three for the Gators,
including two grand slams.
The freshman also homered in the nightcap against Florida Gulf
Coast to cap a terrific first day.
The blowout against Marshall began in the second inning when
Brittany Schutte doubled and both Megan Bush and Kelsey Horton
walked to load the bases for catcher Tiffany DeFelice.
Facing Natalee Pulver, DeFelice hit a grand slam before Coyle
completed the back-to-back deal with a solo home run.
Scoring was no issue for the Gators as they piled on 6 runs in both
the second and third innings and five more in the fourth when
senior first baseman Megan Bush hit the Gators’ second grand slam
of the day.
The Marshall pitching staff had no answer for UF’s 1-5 hitters who
went a combined 10-17 at the plate with seven RBIs.
Gators ace Stephanie Brombacher handled the Thundering Heard’s
lineup with ease, throwing four no-hit innings with four
strikeouts.
Sophomore Ensely Gammel pitched the fifth and final inning and had
some struggles, allowing one earned run on one hit and two
walks.
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Offensive struggles in nightcap:
While the Gators had no problem putting runs on the board against
Marshall, they struggled mightily for the first five innings
against Florida Gulf Coast before pulling out a 6-0 win.
Luckily for the Gators, FGCU could barely muster a hit against
freshman Hannah Rogers.
The former Lake Wales High standout pitched a two-hit shutout,
finishing with 11 strikeouts in her debut.
The Gators finally broke the scoreless tie in the top of the sixth
when Schutte homered to center to take a 1-0 lead.
The scoring didn’t stop there as designated hitter Kelsey Horton,
Coyle and Bruder all homered for the Gators to total six home runs
between the two games.
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