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OKLAHOMA CITY — The Gators softball team’s motto this season has
been “One Vision” — an all or nothing message that nothing short of
a national championship is acceptable.
After easily disposing of rival Alabama in two games on Sunday,
Florida is two wins away from sufficing its goal at the Women‘s
College World Series.
“I’m incredibly excited,” Kelsey Bruder. “This is everything to us.
There’s no other words to describe it.”
The
Gators beat the Crimson Tide 16-2 and 9-2 to advance to a
best-of-three national title series against No. 1-seed Arizona
State.
Alabama came into Sunday riding dominant pitching and defense but
was no match for Florida’s monstrous bats or the pitching duo of
Stephanie Brombacher and Hannah Rogers.
Florida’s freshman hurler pitched seven innings, only giving up
four hits.
“Hannah pitched a fabulous game,” UF coach Tim Walton said.
“Showing us exactly, hopefully, what she’s got left in her
tank.”
Rogers was supported by a dynamic offense that picked up nine hits,
including back-to-back blasts by Kelsey Bruder and Brittany
Schutte.
UF
chased Alabama pitcher Kelsi Dunne after just two innings of work —
an improvement for the senior after lasting just .1 inning in
Sunday’s first game. Bama coach Patrick Murphy pulled her from the
second game in a somber and lengthy exchange between the two.
“It’s tough at any time,” he said. “After two games, we weren’t
hitting, we weren’t scoring, and I just felt like a change was
needed.”
The
Gators’ offensive surge in the evening game was the continuation of
a raucous and record-breaking midday fixture. The day started with
a Michelle Moultrie homer, her third of the WCWS, which sparked a
first inning where Florida sent 14 batters to the plate, scoring a
WCWS single-inning record 11 runs.
Florida’s center fielder hit and scored twice in the frame,
expanding upon her mind-blowing body of work in Oklahoma City.
“You can’t say enough about Michelle Moultrie and what she means to
our program,” Walton said. “We kind of have a motto that we started
at the end of her freshman year: ‘We have Michelle Moultrie, and
nobody else does.’”
Moultrie is hitting .611 at the WCWS with three homers — she had
two all regular season.
The
scoring spree ended with Schutte’s second career grand slam.
Alabama exhausted both of its preferred pitching options in the
game. Dunne was responsible for six earned runs before freshman
Jackie Traina surrendered seven runs over 1.2 innings. She gave way
to sophomore Lauren Sewell, who made just her 14th appearance of
the season.
Florida’s 16-2, five-inning victory tied the record for most runs
in a WCWS game and served as both the most runs Alabama has ever
allowed and its worst loss in program history.
Through four days, the Gators have scored a total of 41 runs. All
other seven teams who made the trip to Oklahoma City have scored a
combined 39 runs.
“It’s our hitters,” Walton said. “Give them a stick. I guarantee
they’re going to find a way to hit a home run. … They’re strong,
they’re more athletic, they’re better balanced, they’re better
connected than any group I’ve ever had.”
Stephanie Brombacher got the opening start for Florida, pitching
just her third complete game since returning from injury and
allowing only three hits.
Florida beings its second appearance in the national final Monday
at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
