The No. 2 Gator softball team fell to No.3 Georgia, 5-1, in the final game of the weekend Sunday to close out the SEC Eastern Division series. Senior Megan Bush’s (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) solo home run in the fifth accounted for UF’s sole run of the day, while junior Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) and senior Aja Paculba (Wildomar, Calif.) were both 1-for-3 on the day to tally UF’s second and third hits against Georgia. Florida moved to 30-4 on the season (7-3 SEC), while UGA improved to 27-4 (8-3 SEC).
Freshman righty Hannah Rogers (Winter Haven, Fla.) moved to16-2 as she chalked up the loss for the Gators, working a complete game. Rogers gave up nine hits and five runs, while striking out three in the contest.
Georgia’s Morgan Montemayor tallied her third win of the series for the Bulldogs, giving up just three hits and one run, while tossing six Ks in 7.0 innings.
Behind Montemayor’s efforts, UGA scattered one run in the first, and two in the fourth and fifth to account for the Bulldogs’ five runs. Georgia tallied one run in the first that began with a single by Taylor Schlopy. The centerfielder then stole second, moved to third on a ground out and scored on a single by Brianna Hesson.
After both teams were held scoreless and hitless in the next two innings, the Bulldogs added two runs in the fourth to go up 3-0. Ashley Razey reached on a fielder’s choice and Kristyn Sandberg singled before hustling around the bases to score on a double to the right-field wall by Brittany Hubbard. Hubbard tried to come home on a single by Laura Trout that sailed past Rogers, but sophomore catcher Brittany Schutte (Fountain Valley, Calif.) tagged her out at the plate, thanks to an assist by Moultrie’s toss from center field.
Georgia hit its sixth home run of the series in the top of the fifth to add two more to their lead. Alisa Goler homered to right field to knock in herself and Ashley Pauly, who reached on a base hit, putting the Bulldogs up 5-0.
Florida saw its only run in the bottom of the fifth; a solo shot by Bush over the center-field fence. The first baseman’s 16th homer of the season marked the first time this year Florida has only scored one run. Bush’s homer marked the 60th of her career, one shy of 2010 senior Francesca Enea’s UF and Southeastern Conference record 61. On the weekend, Bush tallied three of UF’s six homers, while senior Kelsey Bruder (Corona, Calif.) accounted for two and Paculba added one in the Saturday showdown. Scoreless sixth and seventh innings resulted in the final, 5-1, in favor of the Bulldogs.
The series sweep for Georgia marked the first time since 2006 the Gators have been swept at home when they also fell to UGA April 15, 2006. Florida was last swept March 18, 2007, when LSU took three in Baton Rouge.
