It was the kind of situation clutch players dream about: tie game, two outs, bases loaded, bottom of the final inning.
With Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader against Mississippi State tied at 2, Kelsey Bruder took a full-count pitch over the right-field fence for her first career grand slam, a walk-off bomb that capped off UF's seventh-inning comeback.
"Coach always says you don't need a home run, you don't need to be the hero," Bruder said. "So I thought, 'I hope he'll be OK with this.'"
UF coach Tim Walton was indeed happy with Bruder's at-bat, and the rest of the Gators showed their appreciation by dogpiling the sophomore right fielder after she crossed home plate.
"Unbelievable. At second base, I was telling her that I'd never been - I don't want to say nervous - but my adrenaline has never rushed that much. Ever," first baseman Ali Gardiner said. "I knew she was going to get it done."
With that victory secured, the No. 1 Gators (39-3, 17-1 Southeastern Conference) cruised to a series sweep against the Bulldogs (17-20, 2-13 SEC) this weekend at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
On March 28, UF lost its third game of the season to Alabama despite a last-inning rally. The Gators showed what they learned from that experience Saturday.
UF entered the final frame down 2-1, but clutch hits from Gardiner and Kristina Hilberth - as well as a slide by Aja Paculba that prevented the Bulldogs turning a double play and prematurely ending UF's comeback - kept them in the game.
"Alabama showed us a lot about ourselves. We can learn a lot from a loss," Bruder said. "We know that we have that drive and that fight at the very end. All the way through, our dugout just stayed in tune. Everything just came together."
Senior ace Stacey Nelson won all three games for UF over the weekend, allowing just eight hits in her 14 innings of work. Sophomore pitcher Stephanie Brombacher, who has been sick with flu-like symptoms since Tuesday, was only able to pitch five innings in Game 2.
Nelson (23-3, 0.48 ERA) pitched all five innings of UF's 11-2 mercy-rule victory in Game 1 and came in to relieve Brombacher in the sixth during Game 2, closing the game by giving up no hits and no walks while striking out four batters.
After Saturday's dramatic finish, Sunday's series finale was far less contested. The Gators scored 3 runs in the second inning, and the teams traded zeros for the rest of the game.
"I like low key. Low key's nice," UF coach Tim Walton said. "We won 3-0 with hardly any threats. I thought everybody did their job. Obviously we didn't really swing the bat as well as everybody's used to, but give (Mississippi State pitcher Lindsey Dunlap) credit."
UF third baseman Corrie Brooks put the first run on the board Sunday with a solo home run to left field in the second inning. After starting the series 0 for 6 at the plate, center fielder Michelle Moultrie drove in the Gators' final 2 runs with a triple down the right-field line.
