After Michelle Moultrie's flyout ended UF's chances of a seventh-inning come-from-behind win against Alabama on Sunday, Francesca Enea said the freshman would be cranking home runs like Enea in a few years.
As it turns out, it only took a few days.
Pinch hitting for right fielder Alicia Sisco in the top of the seventh in the first game against Auburn on Wednesday with the Gators up 2-0, Moultrie nailed a solo shot out of right-center field for her first out-of-the-park home run at UF. Moultrie's first career hit was an inside-the-park home run against UNLV on Feb. 21.
"It was great. Pinch-hit home runs, they just don't happen very often in softball," UF coach Tim Walton said.
Moultrie did not start either game of Wednesday's doubleheader, but her home run helped the No. 1 Gators (36-3, 15-1 Southeastern Conference) secure a 3-0 win in Game 1 against Auburn (25-12, 5-6 SEC). The freshman also knocked a pinch-hit double to left field in UF's 7-1 win in Game 2 in Auburn, Ala.
Pitcher Stacey Nelson (20-3, 0.43 ERA) held the Tigers to only two hits, walked no batters and struck out nine in Game 1.
UF secured its 2-0 lead well before Moultrie's home run, thanks to a two-RBI bomb to left field by first baseman Ali Gardiner in the third inning.
Other than Moultrie, only the top three hitters in the Gators' order - Aja Paculba, Kelsey Bruder and Gardiner - recorded hits in Game 1. The bottom of the lineup came up empty, as the four through nine batters in UF's starting lineup had no hits.
In Game 2, though, those batters sparked the Gators' offense.
With the score tied at 1 in the fifth inning, Enea showed off the power she said Moultrie would develop, blasting her third grand slam of the season to left field and turning a tie game into a rout.
"Both Tiffany and Ali had great at-bats before her, and then Francesca saw a good pitch and just hit it really well," Walton said.
After back-to-back doubles put the Gators up 1 heading into the bottom of the fourth, Auburn center fielder Lindsey Harrelson tied it up with a leadoff home run off Stephanie Brombacher.
Brombacher then gave up a hit and a walk, leading Walton to replace her with Nelson. The senior ace gave up only one hit and struck out three batters in her four innings of relief.
Walton mixed up his lineup Wednesday as well. In Game 1, he moved Bruder from right to center and put Sisco in right field. DeFelice started the game as the designated hitter, which Sisco had played in the Gators' last six games.
Walton continued his lineup changes in Game 2. He moved Bruder from the second spot in the order - where she had been hitting since Kim Waleszonia was injured on Feb. 28 - to the fifth spot, putting DeFelice in the two hole.
"(DeFelice's) on-base percentage is really high, and I didn't want to give up on an opportunity to drive in more runs," Walton said. "She's a matchup problem because she can do so many things - she can hit and run, she can bunt, she's so good at a lot of different things."
