Special to GC
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The University of Florida softball team earned its seventh berth to the Women's College World Series on Sunday after sweeping a pair of games with Kentucky to win its best-of-three Super Regional. UF finished off the series Sunday afternoon with a 1-0 win over Kentucky in front of another sellout crowd (1,939) at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. After pitching and defense ruled the first three innings, the Gators (55-6) scored the game's only run when Taylore Fuller and Kayli Krista each recorded one-out singles to put runners at the corners in the fourth inning. Two batters later, sophomore Justine McLean drove Fuller in with an infield single to give UF a 1-0 lead over the Wildcats (32-26). That was all the run support senior Lauren Haeger would need as she received stellar defensive help from her teammates to improve 28-1 and ran her scoreless-innings streak against the Wildcats to 29.2 stanzas. That streak dates back to April 13, 2013, covering five games. With Sunday's win, the Gators have matched last season's win total with six fewer losses. In addition, UF is 14-1 all-time in Super Regional games played in Gainesville. The combined scoring margin in those 15 contests is 73-15. STARS OF THE GAME * Lauren Haeger: The right-hander allowed three hits over seven shutout innings to earn her second win of the Super Regional. * Justine McLean: Florida's right fielder drove in the Gators' lone run of the contest. * Taylore Fuller: The junior broke up UK's no-hit bid in the top of the fourth inning and later scored on Justine McLean's infield single. NOTABLES * Florida will play in the WCWS for the seventh time in the last eight seasons (2008-11, 2013-15). * The Gators swept a Super Regional for the sixth time in their last seven attempts; the only time during that span that UF did not sweep was last season against Washington. * UF has now thrown a shutout in all five of its postseason games this year, covering 36.0 innings. * Lauren Haeger now has 69 career wins and 68 career home runs; she is the only player in Division I history to post 60+ in each category. * The senior threw her fourth shutout of this postseason - she has recorded 29.0 consecutive scoreless frames during that span while allowing 10 hits, striking out 24 batters and walking just three. * The Arizona native finishes the 2015 campaign against Kentucky with a 4-0 record and nine hits allowed over 28.0 scoreless innings. She walked five Wildcats this season and struck out 15. She also extended her scoreless streak against UK to 29.2 innings, dating back to April 13, 2013. * As a team, the Gators have thrown 36.0 shutout innings during the NCAA Tournament, yielding 11 hits with 41 strikeouts against four walks. * McLean recorded her first RBI of the postseason and notched her second game-winning RBI of the 2015 season (Florida State, 4/8/15). * Nicole DeWitt drew a walk and now has reached base a team-leading nine times this postseason. * Kelsey Stewart leads the team in the NCAA Tournament with seven hits following her double in the seventh frame. * With that two-base hit, Stewart extended her postseason hit streak to 16 games, dating back to the first game of the 2014 NCAA Tournament. UP NEXT Florida will open play at the Women's College World Series on Thursday against Tennessee. ESPN will televise the game. Florida Sports Talk<http://mgmt.firststreaming.com/listen/player.php?callsign=WMOP_AM> will have the radio broadcast with Adam Schick (play-by-play) and former Gator All-American Megan Bush as the announce team. In addition, live stats will be available through Gametracker via the GatorZone.com schedule page<http://www.gatorzone.com/schedule.php?sport=softb>.