Florida Post-Game Interview With Hope Rush
Feb. 13, 2010
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Freshman Hope Rush threw a five-hit shutout with seven strikeouts and also hit a two-run home run as the No. 13/14 Georgia Tech Softball team (2-0) upset No. 3/5 Florida (1-1), 3-0, Saturday afternoon at the USF Wilson-DeMarini Tournament. This marked the highest ranked opponent that the Yellow Jackets have beaten in program history. The previous high was a 4-1 win over No. 9 Louisiana-Lafayette on Feb. 8, 2004. It was also the first career loss in 43 decisions for Florida All-American pitcher Stephanie Brombacher.
Rush stranded seven Gators over the first three innings and got out of a bases loaded, one-out jam in the second and third. She settled down and limited Florida to five hits in her first career start. Rush walked four batters and struck out seven while throwing 135 pitches. At the plate, she hit a monstrous two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning but it was a two-out RBI triple by sophomore Kate Kuzma which broke a scoreless tie in the fifth.
Both teams had chances to score in the first inning. In the top of the frame, Florida put runners at first and second with two outs, but Rush was able to get out of the jam. Then in the bottom of the first inning junior Christy Jones singled, stole second base and went to third on a wild pitch but Gator All-American pitcher Stephanie Brombacher struck out both sophomore Kelsi Weseman and Rush to escape.
In the top of the second inning, the Gators loaded the bases with just one out, but Rush caught a line drive off the bat of Aja Paculba and then threw to third base just before the runner got back for the inning-ending double-play.
The Gators had the same situation in the third inning as well, but Rush got a strikeout and ground out to third base stranding three more Florida base runners. That ran the Gators total up to seven runners left on through the first three innings.
The Yellow Jackets finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth inning. Sophomore Jessica Sinclair got it going with a one-out double and then came around to score two batters later when classmate Kate Kuzma tripled to the gap in right-center field. The two-out RBI for Kuzma gave Tech a 1-0 lead heading to the sixth inning.
After the first 1-2-3 inning of the game for Rush in the top of the sixth inning, she helped herself out in the bottom half. Yee led off with a triple and then two batters later Rush hit a monstrous home run to left field giving the Jackets a 3-0 lead.
Georgia Tech closes out the USF Wilson-DeMarini Tournament tomorrow with a pair of games at the Eddie Moore Complex. The Yellow Jackets will take on East Carolina at 9:00 a.m. and then Florida Gulf Coast at 1:30 p.m. Live stats for every game this weekend is available at www.RamblinWreck.com.
