Florida State's Sarah Hamilton threw a complete-game one-hitter,
striking out six UF batters.
But
the Seminoles senior took the loss.
Gators second baseman Aja Paculba smashed a second-inning solo home
run to give Florida (44-8, 18-7 Southeastern Conference) its only
offensive production in a strange 1-0 victory Wednesday at Pressly
Stadium.
“I
didn’t think that was enough to beat [Florida State],” Florida head
coach Tim Walton said. “They’d really been swinging the bat pretty
decent.”
The
Seminoles (26-24, 8-9 Atlantic Coast Conference) out-hit the Gators
6 to 1 and put runners in scoring position in each of the final two
innings.
But
all of FSU's statistics were deemed irrelevant by Paculba’s 3-2
blast to left field.
“I
was just looking for a good pitch, especially with two strikes,”
Paculba said “And she hung it right there, and I saw it like a
beach ball, so I just swung at it.”
A
“beach ball” is not the appropriate metaphor for how Gators hitters
saw Hamilton’s pitches the rest of the day.
The
top four batters in Florida’s lineup went a combined 0-for-11 with
one walk and four strikeouts. Michelle Moultrie’s hitting streak
was ended at 19 games, one short of Megan Bush’s UF record. Bush,
who is one home run away from breaking the UF single-season mark,
was held hitless for the second consecutive game.
“Hamilton is a great pitcher,” Paculba said. “When you can throw
changeup, changeup, changeup and then come back with hard stuff, it
kind of catches you off guard.”
Luckily for the Gators, their contrasting duo of Stephanie
Brombacher and Hannah Rogers were prepared to salvage a win.
Brombacher (17-1) threw 51 pitches over 4.2 innings, at one point
retiring 12 batters in a row.
“I
was just hitting my spots and spinning the ball,” the senior said.
“I kind of got away from that in the first inning, and then I got
back in my groove.”
Brombacher got a bit nostalgic when talking about her last time
facing FSU at home. She grew up playing softball with Seminoles
right fielder Shayla Jackson and forced Jackson into two ground
outs.
After starting Sunday’s game, Rogers returned to her relief role,
striking out three while facing the game's final 11 batters.
Her
save opportunity was nearly blown when FSU loaded the bases with
two outs in the seventh inning, but left fielder Morgan Bullock
grounded out to third to end the game.
“We
expect them to play us tight,” Brombacher said. “They’re a good
ball club, and especially with the rivalry, it’s always a tough
game”
Florida ends its regular season against Tennessee in a three-game
series to decide the SEC East beginning Friday at 4:30 p.m.
