Another day, another two wins for the Gators.
No. 3 Florida (8-1) improved to 4-0 in the Lipton invitational with wins over Marshall (7-1) and East Carolina (2-5) on Saturday.
Junior Stephanie Brombacher got the win in both games, throwing a combined 9 1/3 innings and 148 pitches while giving up only a single run.
Still, UF’s ace was slightly unhappy with her performance.
“My curveball wasn’t really working that well,” Brombacher said. “I need to be a little bit better with my pitches, a little sharper.”
Florida got the day started with an 8-0 win over Marshall.
The Gators pounded out seven extra base hits, although for the second day in a row the game ended on a walk off single from junior Aja Paculba, who reached base in all four plate appearances for the second straight game after a slow start to her season.
UF’s second game of the afternoon was much closer, as they pulled a repeat of their season opener by beating ECU 4-3.
The Pirates got to freshman pitcher Erin Schuppert early, scoring one in the opening frame before some timely fielding by short stop Brittany Walker and third baseman Corrie Brooks got UF out of a bases loaded jam.
After junior Tiffany DeFelice doubled in a run in the second and freshman Brittany Schutte gave UF the lead by doing the same in the third, ECU once again loaded the bases.
But, as was the case in the first inning, they only came away with a single run as Brombacher struck out Tiffany Shaw to end both the inning and the threat.
Walker put UF back in front with an RBI single in the fourth, and Enea added a solo home run in the seventh for some insurance.
The home run was Enea’s second of the day and fifth of the season.
For a moment it looked like Florida’s 4-2 lead would not be enough, as Brombacher gave up a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the seventh.
But that would be the last hit she would allow, as she struck out two of the game’s final three batters to seal the win.
