A Flair For The Dramatic: Bruder Leads Softball Into South Carolina
Friday, April 29, 2011 | Softball, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – One pitch, one swing, one magical moment.
That's how one of the more memorable days of Kelsey Bruder's softball career ended – setting off a pair of celebrations 3,000 miles apart.
Bruder felt the pressure as she stepped into the batter's box late Saturday afternoon against Alabama's Kelsi Dunn, one of the most feared pitchers in college softball.
“She has some of the tightest spin I've ever seen,'' Bruder said. “She hits her spots well. She has gotten me more than I think I've gotten her in the past. You have no idea where [her pitch] is going.''
The Gators trailed by two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and had already lost the first game of a key SEC series against the Crimson Tide. They were two outs from losing again as a packed house at Pressly Stadium and a national television audience on ESPN2 watched Bruder dig in at the plate.
That's enough to make almost any player a little antsy. A senior outfielder from Corona, Calif., Bruder also knew someone back home was watching the game closely and would be giving her an earful if she didn't come through in the clutch.
Cody Bruder, Kelsey's 17-year-old brother, had called his sister before the game to check in and offer some advice.
“He invited people over to watch the game and told me, 'Don't embarrass me. Make me proud,' '' Bruder said.
Gators coach Tim Walton watched closely from his spot in the third-base box. He has seen enough of Bruder the past four years to know that when Bruder steps onto a big stage, big things often happen.
Dunn's first pitch never had a chance. Bruder's smooth swing sent the ball flying over the right-field wall for a three-run walk-off homer and a 6-5 Florida win. It's the kind of moment all players dream about but few get to experience.
Bruder said she knew the game was over with one swing “as soon as I felt it.”
Walton and her teammates waited to mob Bruder as she rounded the bases. Bruder's mom, Raleen, cheered from the stands. Meanwhile, Cody jumped up and down with his friends in the living room of the Bruder home back in California as his older sister touched home plate following the 49th career home run of her UF career.
She had hit some big ones before, but not quite one like this.
“None on this scale,'' she said. “Alabama is obviously one of the best teams in the country, so this was incredible. I came back [after the game] with like 30 or 40 text messages.''
Gators pitcher Stephanie Brombacher has rarely seen Pressly Stadium more alive.
“It was pretty amazing,'' Brombacher said. “She's played really well. She's steps up when we need someone to step up, and that's all you can ask of a senior hitter like her. You don't have to hit it over the fence every time, it's just producing when you need to produce, and she is really good at that.''
But Bruder wasn't finished. She followed Saturday's dramatic homer with another game-winning hit on Sunday, providing the Gators a huge momentum boost heading into this weekend's series at South Carolina.
With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Bruder stepped to the plate once again with the game on the line. The bases were loaded and two outs. Bruder's swing produced a much different result than the day before – a soft ground ball toward second base – but the outcome was the same as the her teammates celebrated another dramatic walk-off win thanks to Bruder's bat.
Bruder's drama-filled weekend made her a popular figure around campus on Monday reminiscent of the way Chandler Parsons' profile shot up after he hit a pair of game-winning shots at the buzzer his junior season.
“I had a lot of people congratulate me,'' she said. “It's been really exciting.''
“Not a lot of athletes can shine or thrive in that type of environment,'' Walton said. “She came through. She's got the ice-water-in-the-veins type mentality. You may get her once, you may get her twice, but she has a true belief that you are not going to get her the third time.''
Bruder's home run on Saturday was her career-high tying 16th of the season. A .343 lifetime hitter entering her senior season, Bruder has worked hard in the weight room and the hitting cage to increase her average to .408 in her final season. She has 60 RBIs and scored a team-high 57 runs, seemingly always in the middle of the action when the Gators are scoring runs.
Bruder said moments like Saturday's are possible due to a renewed commitment to conditioning and training that she had never had prior to Florida.
“I was a twig when I got here,'' she said. “I didn't touch a weight.''
She now lifts twice a week with her teammates, trains hard in conditioning drills and is an ideal teammate according to Walton. There were times when that wasn't the case as Bruder tried to fit in with her new teammates in the spring of 2008.
“She came in without a filter,'' Walton said.
Over time, the talented Bruder made important adjustments off the field that created a stronger bond in the clubhouse. As for her work at the plate, that was never a concern despite a .133 batting average her freshman season.
She began hitting once her sophomore season opened and Bruder hasn't taken a day off since, playing in 175 consecutive games since the start of the 2009 season.
“Her second year, she bought in completely – got tougher, got stronger, got quicker,'' Walton said. “She had a breakout year.''
That breakout year helped set the stage for Bruder's breakout weekend. She said earlier this week that she has received numerous messages on Facebook and Twitter congratulating her for coming through in such dramatic fashion – not once, but twice.
Bruder hopes it's just the start of more magical moments as the Gators hit the home stretch of their season, hoping for a return trip to the College World Series.
“We know that when we're all together and we're all healthy that we can compete with anybody and beat anybody,'' Bruder said. “I hope there will be more moments like this in the future.''
So does Walton, who won't soon forget what transpired for his program on back-to-back days thanks to a pair of swings from Bruder. If his memory needs jogging, Walton can watch those ESPN highlights of him going bananas with his team.
“There were a lot of people there, we're at home, we're playing Alabama, we're on national television, so there were a lot of things to build to that kind of moment,'' Walton said. “That was a special, special moment, not only for Kelsey, but everybody in the dugout to finally see a sense of all of our hard work and determination pay off.
“If the players give me something to cheer about, I'm going to cheer.''
