The aura of invincibility is gone.
After a 10-inning marathon at Long Beach State (8-6), the No. 5 team in the nation suffered its first loss of the season Wednesday.
Junior Stacey Nelson gave up just five hits, set a career high for strikeouts for the second consecutive game (16) and pitched a season-high 9 2/3 innings, but in the end it was the out the Gators (19-1) couldn't record that gave the 49ers a win.
With two outs and a runner on third in the 10th inning, left fielder Lacy Tyler hit a ground ball to Gators second baseman Aja Paculba who pulled first baseman Ali Gardiner off the bag, allowing the winning run to score in a 2-1 heartbreaker.
"One play doesn't make or break a game," said junior Kim Waleszonia, who quickly dismissed the notion that the final play was the only reason for the loss. "We had 10 innings, had opportunities and left base runners on."
Coach Tim Walton expressed disagreement with the controversial call and described the runner as being out by approximately 5 feet.
UF did lead after sophomore Corrie Brooks singled home Ami Austin to give the Gators a 1-0 lead at the end of five innings.
Long Beach responded in the bottom of the sixth when Nelson walked in a run to tie the game.
Walton said he thought Nelson pitched well but ultimately it was her five walks and one hit batter that hurt her.
Waleszonia (3 for 4) was the one bright spot in a Gators lineup that got just five hits and struck out a season-high 16 times.
She said 49ers pitcher Brooke Turner did a good job mixing her pitches and hitting her spots before giving her opinion on the gravity of the loss.
"We're going to be just fine," Waleszonia said. "We have to take it and learn from it. We're gonna' be just fine."
