All good things must come to an end.
That saying has proven true for the No. 5 Gators during the past week.
After dominating the early-season competition with relative ease, the team has become a little more human and less of a finely tuned machine as it heads to the Worth Invitational hosted by Cal State Fullerton (7-6-1) this weekend.
With games against Oregon State (8-8) and Pacific (5-9) on Friday, Fullerton on Saturday, and Louisville (5-5) and No. 10 Stanford (16-1) on Sunday, UF will have plenty of opportunities to start some new streaks before heading into Southeastern Conference play.
Already in 2008, the Gators softball team did something even the NFL's Patriots couldn't - go 19-0. The start was easily good enough for the best in school history - the previous record was held by the 2005 Gators who won their first 11 contests - but Long Beach State made sure they weren't the 20th notch on UF's belt by defeating the Gators on Wednesday.
The win streak was obviously the most important of the streaks snapped recently but certainly not the only one.
First baseman Ali Gardiner ended a nine-game hit streak last Friday in a 0-2 performance against North Florida. The junior slugger followed that up by failing to reach base safely against Notre Dame the next day, ending a streak of 16 such games to start the season.
Sophomore Francesca Enea began the season by going 14 games and 34 at-bats before her first strikeout against Gardner-Webb last Friday. That particular feat is even more impressive because Enea hits for power and is never slapping or bunting.
"I know it says strikeout on it, but I don't take it as a strikeout," said Enea, who was on IVs last week due to illness. "I thought the pitch was high, but then I come to find out that it was really low. I think that was the first sign that I knew that I shouldn't be here right now and need to go home."
Thankfully for the Gators, she stuck around and hit a home run her next time at the plate.
Without a doubt, the most impressive streak to come to an end was junior Stacey Nelson's of consecutive scoreless innings. Against the Irish last Saturday, the All-American let up her first run in 47 innings of work.
"As I read it last week on Gatorzone, I didn't even realize it," coach Tim Walton said when asked to put his pitcher's Orel Hershiser-like performance into perspective. "I mean, I knew she was good. I knew she had a bunch of shutouts, but you really don't know where a pitcher is at or how she's doing.
"She doesn't really get in the zone. She pitches like that all the time."
Nelson took the loss on Wednesday and will likely pitch three more times this weekend as UF looks to avoid a different kind of streak - one of the losing variety.
