After a 1-0 defeat against Central Florida - UF's first in more than two months - UF coach Tim Walton was caught off guard by the scene in the postgame locker room.
"I didn't see any tears. I didn't see anyone upset. There were no deer in the headlights (look)," Walton said. "I was very surprised."
But what he did find was, among other things, a dancing Stacey Nelson.
"The thought (of the season ending) crossed my mind," said Nelson. "But rather than think about it, I started dancing in the locker room - doing what I normally do."
Like they had done twice before this season, Nelson and the Gators danced their way back to victory after a loss blasting the Knights 10-0 in the regional-championship game - something that probably spells trouble for the rest of the teams remaining in the tournament
"I thought that we could have easily folded our tents and called it a season, but I should have known better," Walton said. "We have responded to adversity all year. I'm really excited about how we responded in a tough situation."
Junior Kim Waleszonia, whose two home run performance led the way for the UF win, said that she never doubted her team's ability to bounce back after dropping the first game.
"After the loss I was like 'we're OK, we're going to come back'," Waleszonia said. "I don't think that we ever felt like there was really any pressure."
Is it possible that a loss could have made the nation's best team even better?
"We scored 10 runs pretty quickly," Walton said. "We're very, very hot."
