Alabama vs. Florida Postgame Notes
5/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 31, 2009
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• Florida's Ali Gardiner connected on a two-out walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the seventh to lift the Gators over Alabama, 6-5. It marked the senior first baseman's ninth home run of the season (first career grand slam) and gave her 48 RBIs this year (second most on team). The grand slam scored Megan Bush, Francesca Enea and Aja Paculba.
• Gardiner headed to her final at bat hitless (0-for-15) since NCAA regional action. She was 0-for-9 in the WCWS and 0-for-6 in super regional play. Her last hit occurred on May 17 versus Lehigh.
• Gardiner's grand slam was the 12th this year by Florida. She became the fifth Gator to hit one this season.
• Florida's late heroics extended its winning streak to 29 games. Its last loss came March 29 in Gainesville (6-4 to Alabama).
• With the victory, the Gators (63-3) advance to the championship series for the first time in school history (this is their second WCWS appearance). Florida, which will face the winner of Sunday night's Georgia/Washington matchup, is 6-2 all-time at the WCWS and 3-0 this year. Florida will bid to become the first SEC team to win an NCAA softball title.
• This year's WCWS has produced a record 22 home runs. The previous record was 20 in 2003.
• Florida left fielder Francesca Enea's error in the top of the third on Jennifer Fenton's single marked the junior's first this season. Fenton later scored on a Kelley Montalvo single to give Alabama a 1-0 lead. It was Montalvo's 37th RBI of the season and Fenton's 43rd run of the year.
• Kelsey Bruder's two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning for Florida marked her 16th round-tripper this season and boosted her team-leading RBI total to 68.
• Florida pitcher Stacey Nelson did not give up a run in the Gators' first two games this week, but was touched up for five tallies (four earned) in 5.0 innings of work today. The five runs tied as the most the senior has surrendered in a game this year, as the Crimson Tide also plated five runs against her on May 9 (UF won 9-5). Nelson entered today's contest with a 0.39 ERA.
• Stephanie Brombacher earned the win in relief for Florida to improve to 22-0 on the year. The sophomore gave up one hit and struck out four in 2.0 innings of work. Kelsi Dunne took the loss for Alabama, tossing 6.2 innings and giving up six runs (all earned) on seven hits. She fell to 28-5.
• Florida improved to 4-1 against Alabama this season with today's victory. The SEC foes met three times in the regular season and once in the conference tournament. The Crimson Tide still lead the overall series, 24-17.
• Alabama's loss was just its second in 42 contests this season when leading after the third inning (it led 1-0) and just its sixth loss (41-6) when scoring first. The Tide finished the year with a 54-11 record.
