After going just 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position in Game 2, Florida got the big hits right when it needed them Sunday.
Less than 24 hours after turning 22 base runners into only four runs in a 6-4, extra-inning loss, the No. 4 Gators (18-3, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) were able to score five runs on just four hits as they salvaged a home series win with a 5-3 victory over Ole Miss (16-10, 3-2 SEC).
Although UF matched its SEC loss total from each of the last two seasons after just three games, coach Tim Walton is still pleased with his team’s performance.
“Winning two out of three is a successful weekend,” Walton said. “It wasn’t a goal of ours to go undefeated, it was to take a series, and we took a series today.”
UF ace Stephanie Brombacher was unusually shaky Sunday, allowing the Rebels to jump out to a 2-0 lead for the third-straight game.
But, as was the case in the first two games, Florida battled back in the bottom of the same inning, this time scoring one on the first triple of Megan Bush’s career and then taking the lead three batters later with a two-run homer from Aja Paculba.
Bush also added a sac fly in the third and an RBI single in the fifth to give the Gators a 5-2 advantage.
The junior first baseman is now 9 for 11 with three home runs and 10 RBIs since March 7, when she started a game on the bench for the first time this season.
“It’s always good to come back with a win after you lose,” Bush said. “You want to show that that pushed you and that it’s really fueling you for games to come.”
After Brombacher gave up a leadoff home run to start the sixth that cut the lead to two, freshman Ensley Gammel came in and capped off her great weekend by getting the save and giving up just one hit over the final two innings.
Gammel also got her first career SEC start on Saturday and gave up just two runs over five innings pitched.
The Gators took the series opener Friday, 12-2.
