Gator Country

Florida pitcher Stacey Nelson leaps into the arms of catcher Kristina Hilberth after the Gators defeated Cal 4-2 in nine innings to advance to the first College World Series in school history on Saturday / Gator Country photo by Tim Casey

The Florida softball team defeated Cal 4-2 in the second game of the Gainesville Super Regional on Saturday to advance to the first Women's College World Series in team history. Florida (67-3) tied an NCAA record for wins in a single season with the extra-innings victory. Here's a Gator Country EXCLUSIVE photo gallery of more than 160 images from the game, postgame celebration and press conference to make you feel as if you were there for all of the action!

Four of Florida’s 10 hits on the day came in the final inning. Three different Gators put down multiple hits on the day as junior Kim Waleszonia, sophomore Francesca Enea and freshman Aja Paculba each recorded two hits on the day.

Junior pitcher Stacey Nelson continued her strong post-season performance as she allowed only three Cal hits, walked two and struck out nine. She has struck out 39 batters in NCAA tournament play, including 19 in the two Super Regional games. She has given up only two earned runs in 41.2 innings of NCAA play. Her record is now 45-3 on the season.

Freshman Megan Bush gave Florida the boost they needed as she led off the top of the ninth with her 13th home run of the season on a 0-2 count. As they had been all game, the Gator defense stood strong in the bottom of the ninth, and with the help of an enthusiastic crowd of 2,082, Nelson sat down the Bears in order for the win.

The Women’s College World Series runs Thursday, May 29 to Wednesday, June 4 at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla. Florida will play Louisiana-Lafayette who won the Baton Rouge Regional and then took the Houston Super Regional in three games.

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Gator Softball defeats Cal, advances to WCWS, 5/24/08

DIRECTORY OF PAST GATOR COUNTRY PHOTO GALLERIES

About the author

Tim Casey

Tim Casey covered the 2007 BCS Championship Game, 2007 Final Four and 2005 College World Series. He’s had photos published in Sporting News magazine, GQ magazine and nearly every newspaper in the state of Florida. Now he's home as Gator Country's Photography Editor.

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