Another weekend, another series and another set of records broken by Stacey Nelson and the UF softball team.
Nelson threw her second career no-hitter and became the first Gator to strike out 1,000 batters Sunday in UF's 6-0 win against Arkansas. Nelson (30-3, 0.39 ERA), who won both games of Saturday's doubleheader, passed former Virginia Tech pitcher Angela Tincher for eighth place on the NCAA all-time career wins list with 125 victories.
Nelson, just one walk away from a perfect game, said she didn't realize she had a no-hitter going until the sixth inning, and she was unaware of her standings on the wins list and the fact that, after Saturday's pair of 11-0 wins, she was one strikeout away from another milestone.
"I really don't (keep track of my numbers)," Nelson said. "People don't believe me when I say I don't know my stats, but I really don't."
The No. 1 Gators (49-3, 26-1 Southeastern Conference) gave the fans plenty of other numbers to remember in their weekend sweep of Arkansas (25-24, 10-14 SEC), finishing out the team's conference season.
Saturday, UF broke the the school's single-season home run record, surpassing last year's total of 63 with four home runs this weekend, bringing the new record to 66 in just 49 games - 26 fewer than they played last season.
"Obviously, we're hitting them in bunches," UF coach Tim Walton said. "If you look down murderer's row, so to speak, and you see you've got seven (home runs) in the three hole and 16 in the four hole and 12 in the five and 12 in the six, it's impressive."
Left fielder Francesca Enea, who leads the team with 16 home runs, said the key to the team's power hitting this season has been its confidence and the number of potential home run hitters in the lineup every game.
"I don't want to say we all have a home run swing or anything like that, but we did work a lot this off-season to focus on strength," Enea said.
Kelsey Bruder's bases-clearing bomb to left field in Game 2, the record-setting 64th homer of the season, pushed the team's grand slam total to nine, yet another number atop the UF record books.
Leadoff batter Aja Paculba set a new high mark for the Gators as well, topping Kim Waleszonia's record for stolen bases (24 in 2007 and 2008) with her 25th steal of the season on Sunday.
With three shutouts this weekend, the Gators extended their streak to eight straight, another program record. During that streak, Nelson and sophomore pitcher Stephanie Brombacher have been aided by much-improved defensive play.
"I think we're playing better defense behind her, and that gives her the confidence to throw pitches," Walton said.
The offensive surge also made it easier for Nelson, who pitched 14 innings and allowed only three hits in the series, to relax in the circle.
"It's more comforting when you have 11 runs on board," Nelson said Saturday. "You don't have to worry about giving up a hit or extra-base hits or anything."
