By Brad Goldbach
When Florida International comes to Gainesville on Wednesday, it figures to be a nostalgic homecoming for Golden Panthers Coach Beth McClendon, who pitched for the Gators from 1997-2000. The first walk-on in Florida softball history to become the team’s number one pitcher, McClendon (Beth Dieter in those days) ranks third all-time in wins and innings pitched for the Gators and she was a member of Florida’s first SEC championship team in 1998.
Florida International brings a 15-15 record to Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium Wednesday to face off with the number one ranked Gators in a doubleheader that begins at 4 p.m.
The Gators (27-2, 8-0 SEC) have a history-maker of their own in this nostalgia-filled encounter. Number one on nearly all the Florida pitching lists is senior Stacey Nelson, who pitched a no-hitter against Ole Miss Sunday to move into a tie with Arizona’s Jennie Finch for 25th on the NCAA all-time wins list with her 109.
“That’s just how much she’s meant to our program, being in the Top 25 in wins in the NCAA all-time,” said Coach Tim Walton. “Throwing her first no-hitter was another one of those remarkable accomplishments. She’s dodged a bullet; 17 times she’s thrown a one-hitter. To finally throw a no-hitter is almost like a sigh of relief for her, being as dominating as she’s been and not throwing a no-hitter before.”
Walton didn’t downplay the achievement, but he knows that Nelson’s individual statistics are only a part of the bigger picture.
“For any person throwing a no-hitter, I don’t care how old you are, it’s an accomplishment,” Walton said. “She’s been really important for us. I think some of her lack of her attention to statistical categories makes her successful. She doesn’t get caught up on that. She just wants to win ballgames and pitch her best.”
Nelson (14-2) has done exactly that as her no-hitter was Florida’s sixth shutout in a row and extended the Gators’ winning streak to 16 games in a row. The unhittable pitching and lockdown defense have led the way during Florida’s current streak.
“When our defense and pitching staff do as well as they do, we’re very difficult to beat,” Walton said. “I think we had a total combined two innings where we weren’t at our best. But overall, we pitched phenomenally. Defensively, we just had one error on the week. We’ve been answering the challenge when we needed to.”
Even though the Gators outscored their opponents 43-0 in five games last week, Walton thinks the offense needs to turn it up another notch to help the Gators continue their ascension to the next level.
“I really want us to get more aggressive,” Walton said. “I think we’re taking too many pitches. We had an opportunity against Ole Miss to score a ton of runs. I thought we could take it to another level offensively and again, I have a lot of respect for our opponents, but I think our hitters work harder than anybody there is. We’re just not making as many quality outs as I want to see us make. I think we’re wasting too many at-bats.”
The Gators have put together enough quality at-bats to win their first eight conference games, but the team needs to play to its full potential to reach its goals and to fend off teams shooting for the target on its back. That starts with learning how to put teams away when the opportunity presents itself.
“When you’re the number one team in the country and you’re the defending-SEC champions, teams prepare for you and they’re ready to go,” Walton said. “So you’re going to play a little bit off of adrenaline to open up the game, and the longer the team feels like they have an opportunity to win, the better they are going to get.”
Florida will use Wednesday’s series against Florida International as another test before returning to conference play on Saturday. The Golden Panthers field an offensive-minded team with a propensity for putting runs on the board. But they have a fairly young pitching staff, featuring two juniors and three freshmen, which should give Florida’s bats an opportunity to be more aggressive.
“I love playing midweek games,” Walton said. “I think we play our best weekend series when we play midweek games. When you face an opponent on Wednesday, it’s competition. You’re facing multiple pitchers, so it gives you a different look and just keeps you fresh. Not so much in a competitive arena, it more or less just keeps you knowing how to make adjustments and how they work as opposed to practice, where you see the same arms over and over again. I think it keeps us a lot fresher and it keeps us in a good position. I love midweeks. I wish we had a midweek next week (before playing number two Alabama), but we don’t.”
The Gators will try to continue building momentum before number six Tennessee heads to Gainesville for a three-game series. They will play a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m., with the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.