Three games, three wins. And it wasn’t even close.
The No. 5 Florida softball team (9-0) completed a three-game sweep against No. 22 North Carolina (4-4) on Sunday with a dominant 10-0 win.
After scoring at will against Marshall and USF, some viewed UNC as the Gators’ first legitimate threat this season.
But the Tar Heels were simply outmatched, as the Gators outscored them 22-0 during the series.
After holding North Carolina to five hits Saturday, pitcher Stephanie Brombacher stifled the Tar Heels once again, holding them to only four hits and no runs as she improved her record to 6-0.
UF’s ace worked efficiently, needing only 58 pitches to get through five innings.
It was another impressive outing for the senior right-hander, who has yet to allow a run in 31 innings pitched this year.
Even though she has been shutting out opponents left and right, Brombacher isn’t one to take credit for the team’s success.
“I have to give it to our hitters,” she said. “When they come out and score as many runs as they do, it makes my life really easy, and I can just go out there and work on getting them out instead of being afraid to give up runs because we can’t score.”
And the Gators have been giving their ace plenty of support so far this season.
They have plated at least nine runs in six of their first nine games, doing so with power and speed.
Leadoff hitter Michelle Moultrie continued her hot start to the season with double in the first and later scored on Megan Bush’s double. The junior also doubled in the second inning to push her batting average to a team-leading .536.
Moultrie showcased her speed by avoiding the catcher’s tag with a head first slide into home on Aja Paculba’s RBI double in the second inning.
Her skills on the basepaths were also evident when she successfully stole third, sliding under a tag in the fourth inning.
The junior center fielder has worked with coach Tim Walton and his staff to improve her baserunning and prides herself on getting on base early and often for the team’s power hitters.
That includes left fielder Kelsey Bruder, who was hitless in the past three games, but she found her groove Sunday.
After reaching on an infield hit in the first, Bruder crushed a two-run homer to right field in the second inning and reached base in all three at-bats.
After holding the Gators to only three runs Saturday, UNC freshman Lori Spingola surrendered six in only three innings.
While Walton said Spingola will be a good player, he was impressed by the way the offense performed its second time around.
“Sometimes it’s making adjustments, sometimes it’s not,” he said. “The key for good hitters is to try to find what you’re good at and try and take away the other pitcher’s strengths without losing what you’re good at.”
