It was a weekend full of wins for the UF softball team, but the Gators also suffered one very costly loss.
Senior Kim Waleszonia suffered an injury to her leg in the first inning of the Gators' 7-3 win against Texas Tech on Saturday night. The center fielder dropped a bunt and sped toward first base, but when she was tagged, she flew through the air and landed in obvious pain.
She remained on the ground for several minutes amid complete silence from the crowd, only to be carried off by her coaches.
Waleszonia was on crutches in the dugout during the Gators' doubleheader Sunday, but UF coach Tim Walton said he did not know the extent of the injury yet.
"We're going to miss her enthusiasm on the field, but I'm sure she'll make a quick recovery," right fielder Kelsey Bruder said. "We're just all working together trying to keep the morale up."
No. 2 UF (19-2) won all six of its games in the Cox Invitational held at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium this weekend. Junior Francesca Enea celebrated her 21st birthday Saturday with three hits, three RBIs and a home run that smashed into the scoreboard.
The night before her injury, Waleszonia broke the career school hits record with an infield single.
"She gets a hit almost every time I look up," Walton said Friday. "To have played such a great schedule in her career and have that many hits just tells you what kind of a special player she is."
The game in which Waleszonia broke the record - UF's 10-5 win against Pacific - also had special meaning for Walton, as it was the 300th victory of his career. Several hours later, Walton got win No. 301 in the Gators' 8-0 victory against South Florida.
Enea and pitcher Stacey Nelson (9-2) led the Gators to two more wins Saturday - a 9-1 beating of Illinois and a 7-3 win against Texas Tech.
Pitcher Stephanie Brombacher (10-0) nearly let the Red Raiders climb back into the game by giving up 2 runs in the third inning. Enea then jumpstarted the Gators' offense, crushing her sixth home run of the season, and Bruder followed suit with a homer of her own.
"We kind of got down a little, but we have a great offensive team," Enea said. "Anytime someone starts up with a great hit or anything, it picks everyone else up, and they get rolling. Hits are contagious."
When Brombacher allowed two more Red Raiders to get on base in the fifth inning, Nelson came in to relieve the sophomore, and Texas Tech went hitless for the rest of the game.
Nelson also relieved Brombacher Sunday in the Gators' 7-2 win over Illinois. The Fighting Illini scored 2 runs in the first three innings, and the senior allowed only one hit in her 2 1/3 innings of work.
Enea and Bruder provided the firepower UF needed at the plate again Sunday, when they combined for four RBIs on four hits, including Bruder's third home run of the weekend in the final game of the tournament, a 9-1 win against South Florida.
Brombacher rebounded from her early struggles to get her 10th victory of the season against the Bulls, striking out five while allowing just three hits.
