After finishing 70-5 and rewriting the school's record book last year, coach Tim Walton knew his team would enter this season with a target on its back.
So when the UF softball team resumed practice on Jan. 5, Walton outfitted his team in blue shirts complete with orange bull's eyes clearly visible on the back.
"I'm not one of those who wants to dodge the bullet," Walton said. "What we're trying to work on and learn is how to play with that (target) and to play with a chip on our shoulders, because we need to be the best every day."
In 2008, UF was the best it had ever been, breaking or tying 32 school records and setting the NCAA record for most wins in a season, and five Gators were named All-Americans.
When No. 1 UF opens its season tonight at 6 against Baylor, the team won't have to look far to be reminded of the success it enjoyed last year. Insignias commemorating the team's Women's College World Series run and second Southeastern Conference championship now adorn the left-field fence of Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
The Gators are looking to add a few more decorations to the stadium's walls this season.
Reigning SEC Pitcher of the Year Stacey Nelson said the team's first goal, timeline-wise, is another conference championship, but she and her teammates are not shy to say that their goal this year is a national championship.
UF's title run last year ended with a 1-0 loss in the Women's College World Series semifinals to Texas A&M, but after retaining all but one key player on last season's squad, Nelson understands the importance of finishing what the team started last year.
Mary Ratliff was the only senior on the team last year, but this season, four of the team's seven seniors will take the field as starters. Three of them - Nelson, first baseman Ali Gardiner and center fielder Kim Waleszonia - were named to the 2009 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Preseason Watch List.
The Gators have the talent necessary to make it deep into the postseason, but senior catcher Kristina Hilberth emphasized UF's focus on taking the regular season one game and one series at a time.
"Every team that comes out here is going to play their best game or like they're at the Women's College World Series," Hilberth said. "And that's good for us. It means that there's not one day that we can throw our gloves out on the field. Even when we weren't at the level that we are now, we tried to maintain that mentality, and now, we're going to be forced to."
Walton, who won a national championship as a baseball player at Oklahoma and served as the assistant coach on the Sooners' national title softball team, said he plans to use his experience to help his players deal with the preseason hype and the pressure that comes with being the nation's top-ranked team.
"It's not where you start. It's where you finish. That's all that really matters," Walton said. "We're going to play with that intensity, that mentality, the target on our back every day whether we're ranked No. 1, No. 2, No. 10, it doesn't really matter. You won't see a difference in the way we play at all."
