Not
even Mother Nature could stop Florida's hot-hitting bats
Wednesday.
After a one-hour lightning delay, the resurgent Gators wasted no
time breaking out the bats.
Backed by three home runs, No. 8 Florida (38-7, 13-6 Southeastern
Conference) easily defeated Central Florida (18-25, 8-7 Conference
USA) 8-1 in front of a crowd of 529 who braved the inclement
conditions.
After knocking 15 home runs in last weekend's three-game sweep of
Auburn, UF's power stroke was in full force again on
Wednesday.
Left fielder Kelsey Bruder led the offensive attack, knocking a
towering two-run shot to right in the fourth after legging out a
two-run triple in the first.
The key to UF's recent high-scoring offense is getting ahead in the
count and maintaining an aggressive approach.
"Our new thing is aggressive poise," Bruder said. "You got to stay
within yourself all the time but still be proactive. You have to
get your pitch and stay in your strike zone."
Sophomore Brittany Schutte and freshman Kasey Fagan continued to
build on strong weekend performances as they each homered.
With Bruder and Moultrie on base in the third, Schutte crushed the
first pitch deep to right center for her 15th homer of the
season.
The right fielder/catcher has rebounded over the past four games,
going 6 for 12 with three homers and seven RBIs.
Fagan, a freshman, has continued her power display, homering for
the second straight game.
Although she's hitting .283, the lowest of all the starters, her
approach at the plate has improved.
"Both of her home runs in the last couple games have been earlier
in the count," UF coach Tim Walton said. "If she can get on base,
and Cheyenne can get on base, and Horton or Tiffany, it just turns
the lineup over as many times as possible and gives us multiple
options coming back through."
Freshman Hannah Rogers tossed 4.2 strong innings, allowing one run
on three hits. However, the freshman didn't receiver the biggest
applause as Stephanie Brombacher made her first home appearance in
over a month, striking out three in 2.1 innings of
relief.
