OKLAHOMA CITY — The Gators softball team does not exactly have a working relationship with Women's College World Series umpire Chris Drumm.
After losing 14-4 to Arizona State in the opening game of the Women's College World Series final, Florida was quick to express its frustrations in dealing with Drumm for a second time in four days.
"It was a rough night with that umpire," Gators catcher Tiffany DeFelice said. "It was rough the first time we had her, too."
After a Friday night in which UF coach Tim Walton refrained from commenting on Drumm's calls in order to stay out of trouble, controversy struck early Monday night at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.
DeFelice, just the second Gator to step into the batter's box, was hit by a Dallas Escobedo pitch on her right arm. Without hesitation, she trotted to first before being called back to the plate and informed it was a foul ball. The call sparked a lengthy confrontation between Walton and the umpires.
"It didn't hit the bat at all," DeFelice said. "I don't know if bone sounds like bat, but it hit me square in the arm. It welled up like a snowball and I had to have my trainer wrap it up."
The call took away an early opportunity for the Gators to have runners on first and second with no outs and SEC Player of the Year and first-team All-American Kelsey Bruder at the plate.
Florida's senior left fielder had her own choice words for Drumm, mainly focused around the umpire's seemingly inconsistent strike zone.
Bruder said she wanted to make sure it's known that she is not blaming the loss on blown calls, but still chose to voice her opinion.
"ASU absolutely kicked our butts today, and they deserved to win," she said. "But it was really hard adjusting to the inconsistent calls."
One of Florida's key leaders, Bruder also stared back a number of times at Drumm during her now infamously delayed strike calls.
When asked for an ESPN promo what she needs to do to prepare for Tuesday night's Game 2, Bruder brought the topic back to umpiring.
"I'm looking forward to playing ASU without her behind the plate," she said. "I'm going to try to be as nice as possible, but I hope whoever appoints her reevaluates her abilities."
For the second times in as many games with Drumm behind the plate, Walton received a warning. When a reporter asked to clarify what his warning was for, the coach was quick to respond.
"Exactly," he said.
Walton then directed a question about Drumm's strike zone to Bruder.
"I'll try to answer it in only a few words because I don't have that many positive or nice comments to make about her abilities behind the plate," the senior said.
"I just think she eliminated every opportunity we had to have a good at-bat. The approach is completely different when it's 0-2 versus 2-0, so it was really hard. Again, I hope nobody twists this and says that I am blaming the umpire on our loss. Absolutely not, ASU was better than us today. They deserved to win. But again, it was just absolutely miserable. Miserable. The worst ever."
Officials abruptly ended the press conference immediately after Bruder's comments. Florida's players were escorted out by an NCAA representative and told to not stop or sign autographs for the substantial amount of fans waiting outside.
