Despite a solid outing in her opening start as Florida’s ace, junior Stephanie Brombacher came away with the first loss of her collegiate career as the Gators fell 3-0 to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Saturday.
The junior gave up a hit to the first batter she faced, but then did not surrender another until the fifth inning.
Unfortunately for her, the Gators were unable to score in that time, leaving a total of eight runners on base, including seven in the first three innings.
The two hits and one run she gave up in the seventh were all Georgia Tech would need, although freshman pitcher Hope Rush added a two-run shot in the sixth for insurance.
“It’s about the clutch hits and we just gotta be able, myself included, to come up with big hits when that situation arises,” catcher Tiffany DeFelice said.
Still, the day was not all bad for UF, as they were able to get a 4-3 win in its season opener against East Carolina.
It was a game dominated by a trio of freshman and a pair of All-American outfielders.
Francesca Enea and Kelsey Bruder picked up right where they left off last season, as Bruder got her year started with a solo shot and Enea added a two-run homer of her own in her second at bat.
Florida’s fourth run came courtesy of freshman Brittany Shutte, who was able to make her first career hit one to remember as she sent it sailing over the center field fence.
Fellow freshman Ensley Gammel got the win despite being slightly wild in her first career start, and Erin Shuppert, yet another freshman, got the four-out save without allowing so much as a base runner.
