For the UF softball team, the difference between a win and a loss might be the difference between facing great pitching and the best pitching.
The No. 2 Gators (12-2) won four of their five games at the Cathedral City Classic in Palm Springs, Calif., but fell 1-0 in nine innings to No. 7 Washington on Friday night.
The Huskies (12-0) were led by their ace, junior Danielle Lawrie, who allowed only two hits while striking out 12 batters.
Lawrie, who pitched for the Canadian national team at the Olympics in Beijing last summer, is the second pitcher to shut out the Gators this season, with the first being Baylor freshman Whitney Canion. Canion handed UF its only other loss of the season, a 1-0 defeat on Feb. 8. In both losses, the Gators were simply unable to get anything going at the plate.
Lawrie matched up in the circle with UF pitcher Stacey Nelson (5-2), who only allowed 1 run on five hits in nine innings but suffered her second loss of the season.
"It still stings a little bit. It was a tough loss," Nelson said. "They were a great team, and you can't take anything away from them, but I wish the game could have gone 15 or 16 innings. I was ready to throw. It's just that 1 run got in, which was kind of a bummer."
Only center fielder Kim Waleszonia was able to get a hit against Lawrie, as the senior reached twice on bunts.
"(Lawrie) kept us on our toes," second baseman Aja Paculba said. "We knew she was going to pitch us inside, but she was so quick that we couldn't get our hands out. We were seeing the ball, but we just couldn't get that one hit."
The Gators were much more successful at the plate throughout the rest of the tournament, winning their other four games. UF defeated three ranked teams in the tournament, including No. 3 Arizona State (13-4), which UF beat 8-2 on Thursday night.
The defending national champion Sun Devils struck first, quickly putting a run on the board in the first inning, but the Gators struck back with an 8-run fifth inning that put the game away. Shortstop Megan Bush led the charge, knocking two balls out of the park in the inning - a leadoff solo shot to left field and a grand slam to center that provided Nelson with all the insurance runs she needed.
"Because they came out and scored in the first inning, that just kind of motivated us to get on top," Paculba said. "We just caught up to the pitcher and saw the ball well. We got the big hits."
Led by sophomore Stephanie Brombacher (7-0), UF also topped No. 14 Fresno State (6-3) with an 8-0 win on Thursday, beat No. 17 Nevada (7-7) 5-0 on Friday and capped off the tournament with a 5-1 victory against UNLV (6-6) on Saturday. Brombacher, who struck out 15 batters in her 16 innings of action in the tournament, has still not given up a run while inside the circle this season.
