KNOXVILLE, Tenn. &ndash With a 26-1 regular-season conference record and the top spot in the national polls all but locked up, it might seem like UF doesn't have much at stake in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
The numbers were spaced across the field at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium, only a few feet from where the infield clay meets the outfield grass: 4, 15, 5, 42, 31, 24, 20.
Another weekend, another series and another set of records broken by Stacey Nelson and the UF softball team.
A week before Senior Weekend, Kim Waleszonia felt like a freshman again.
Francesca Enea found out the Gators won their second straight regular-season Southeastern Conference title from an unusual source: the team's bus driver, Tony.
As a walk-on freshman, Michelle Moultrie has quietly made an immediate impact on the UF softball team. Very quietly, according to her teammates.
With all his team has accomplished in the last two seasons, it's hard to imagine UF coach Tim Walton could do something that hasn't been done in that span.
When Kristina Hilberth was involved in a head-on collision during her freshman year of high school, she was told that she could never play sports again.
This summer, Stacey Nelson could be trading in her orange and blue for red, white and blue.
The Gators went nine innings before scoring a run in their first game Saturday. In the first inning of their next game, Francesca Enea put 2 runs on the board with one swing.
When the UF softball team beat California to advance to the Women's College World Series last season, the players didn't properly celebrate the occasion on the field. Coach Tim Walton said his team didn't know what to do after the 4-2 victory.
Stephanie Brombacher was one out away from her first career loss.
Like learning to ride a bike or how to drive a car, understanding the nature of the beast that is the UF-FSU rivalry doesn't come naturally to everyone.
It was the kind of situation clutch players dream about: tie game, two outs, bases loaded, bottom of the final inning.
It's the elephant in the locker room; an obvious issue that goes unaddressed.
After Michelle Moultrie's flyout ended UF's chances of a seventh-inning come-from-behind win against Alabama on Sunday, Francesca Enea said the freshman would be cranking home runs like Enea in a few years.
The UF softball team isn't used to losing.
The difference between a tough loss and a series sweep: about 5 feet.
It's no secret that the Gators have been looking forward to this weekend since the season started.
With her team down 1-0 to Tennessee in the bottom of the fourth inning Sunday, Stacey Nelson stepped out of the UF dugout, energizing the crowd and telling them that the Gators were about to get back into the game.
Solutions by The State News
