Kelsey Bruder took a first pitch off her right thigh and had a simple, two-word message for UCLA pitcher Destiny Rodino.
“That’s two,” she said, matching her words with her index and middle fingers as she trotted to first base.
In the grand scheme of Sunday’s Gainesville Regional-clinching 11-3 victory over the Bruins, it was actually six.
Six total batters were hit in the first three innings of the “if necessary” Game 7, which followed a dramatic walk-off UCLA triumph. Three batters also were hit in Game 6, two of which were Bruins.
After Bruder was hit for a second time, both dugouts were issued a warning. Senior Aja Paculba has started 262 games in her UF career, and she said she has never seen umpires have to draw the line on hit batters.
But, UF freshman Hannah Rogers, who was suspended earlier in the season for intentionally hitting a batter against Ole Miss, also plunked three UCLA players. “I thought that it was intentional,” Bruins coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “That was my stance. Because of the history of this program, [the Gators] continue to hit our best hitters in those situations. It’s a fact.”
The coach’s accusations were part of a wild Sunday afternoon that is sure to escalate the budding cross-country rivalry between college softball’s traditional power and one of its rising programs. Although 2,130 miles apart, the two schools are natural rivals. Six Gators are from Southern California, including freshman Cheyenne Coyle, who grew up cheering for UCLA but had a homer and three RBIs against the Bruins on Sunday.
“This is a huge moment,” UF coach Tim Walton said. “We just played UCLA and won. I’m very proud. I know they are going to talk about the injuries and things like that, but I’m proud of the way we played.”
The Bruins’ injury woes were highlighted when backup catcher Alyssa Tiumalu injured her knee in Game 3. The Gators responded with an aggressive plan to attack UCLA third-string senior catcher Grace Murray, who had never appeared in a game as anything but a pinch-runner before the weekend.
Florida stole 21 bases in three games against the Bruins, including six in the first inning of Sunday’s second game. In comparison, the Gators stole 69 bases in 56 regular season games.
“I’m not feeling sorry for anybody at this point of time,” Walton said. “That was a weakness. Every time we got on, we were stealing.”
Murray said she was doing her best to get UF runners out, although she was only successful in doing so once in 22 attempts.
Inouye-Perez said she understood Florida’s aggression and sarcastically congratulated UF runners for “stealing off of my bullpen catcher.” But when UF stole two bases up 9-0 in the fourth, she changed her tone. “That says a lot about a program when you do that,” she said.
Walton said the Gators stole bases against the Bruins out of respect, and he scoffed at their allegations against Rogers.
“It’s UCLA for Pete’s sake,” he said. “She was nervous and she hit a few of their batters. It happens.”
UF’s coach also noted the class of his team, which, led by Paculba during postgame interviews, declined to dive into the verbal crossfire. Meanwhile, it was UCLA first baseman Andrea Harrison who may have helped fuel the matchup going forward by saying, despite the losses, the Bruins were still the better team “player by player.”
“I give [Rogers] credit for the job she did today,” Harrison said. “But if I faced them again, it’s on.”
