On
Friday, Stephanie Brombacher showed she was mentally ready to work
through Alabama's potent lineup in her first home start since March
6.
Her right bicep, on the other hand, wasn't.
The No. 8 Gators (38-8, 13-7 Southeastern Conference) senior ace
managed three innings and 64 pitches, giving up one hit and one run
against No. 3 Alabama (42-5, 16-4 SEC) before fatigue and soreness
forced her to the dugout in the Crimson Tide's 5-0 win at Pressly
Stadium.
"I thought she was good," UF coach Tim Walton said. "She wasn't
great by any means, but I thought she was good enough to keep them
off balance for one, plus a little bit more, times through the
lineup."
With the help of a sharp Florida defense, Brombacher looked solid
early, retiring three straight in the first and third innings until
the senior put her team in a jam in the fourth.
Facing her first two batters in the inning, Brombacher walked
shortstop Whitney Larsen on four pitches and then hit first baseman
Amanda Locke. With the senior's control waning, Walton was forced
to bring in freshman Hannah Rogers to take the reigns of the
then-scoreless game.
"Again, she's only credited with giving up one or two runs total
there, and I thought she pitched OK," Walton said. "At that time,
you see the difference with Hannah coming in to throw like that.
Right mentality, just not the right result."
Brombacher wore a black sleeve on her right arm to keep it warm
while pitching, and said she is still working on making it through
a game pain-free
Initially, Rogers showed greater velocity than Brombacher, but
struggled to end the inning as Cassie Reilly-Boccia sent Larsen
into score with sacrifice fly to left.
"This is a tough team to come in against," Brombacher said. "She's
going to have success, she's going to have failures sometimes, and
it's all about what pitch and what happens to it."
The Crimson Tide would add another run in the fourth before
exploding in the next inning with a three-run homer by Locke.
The Gators didn't offer Brombacher or Rogers any help offensively,
leaving nine runners on base and going 3-for-26 at the plate.
"I don't think there's anything mechanical, I think it's mental,"
left-fielder Kelsey Bruder said. "That's all it is, and a great
pitcher. [Kelsi Dunne's] one of the best pitchers in the
nation."
In the second, Florida failed to capitalize on its best scoring
chance with the bases loaded and nobody out following an Alabama
error and a wild pitch.
Dunne, who pitched a complete game and is the defending SEC Pitcher
of the Year, immediately responded by fanning three consecutive
batters looking.
"If you strike out looking, there's nothing good that can come out
of that ever, no matter what happens," Bruder said. "I thought some
of us might have been a little bit tight, and we're just going to
come out here and hopefully loosen up tomorrow."
