The No. 1 Florida Gators have shredded the softball competition all season long, so the last thing they needed was an emotional boost.
But that’s exactly what coach Tim Walton’s team got when senior All-American Kim Waleszonia made her long-awaited return to the lineup as a pinch-hitter Saturday. The crowd erupted, emotions flowed in the Florida dugout and the Gators scored a pair of 11-0 victories over visiting Arkansas.
“I think all of us were crying in the dugout because we love her so much,” said junior Francesca Enea. “It was a shame for her to get injured, especially during her senior year. So having her up to bat just really made us all so happy. I can’t even describe how happy and proud we were. Everything was great.”
Waleszonia, who injured her knee Feb. 28, hit for freshman Alicia Sisco in the second inning of Game One of the doubleheader against Arkansas with the Gators holding a 7-0 lead. She flew out in her first at-bat but returned to her old form with a 2-run singles in the fourth inning.
“I’m not going to lie, I felt like a freshman for a second,” Waleszonia said. “I was like, ‘Whew!’ Then it felt like I was right back in the swing of things.”
The Gators (48-3, 25-1 SEC) recorded their seventh and eighth straight shutouts and stretched their latest winning streak to 14 games by sweeping Arkansas (25-23, 10-12 SEC). Opponents have not scored against Florida in 54 innings.
Waleszonia said she didn’t have a hard time sitting out for so long because she has such great support. Enea, who has suffered serious injuries of her own, helped Waleszonia fight through the injury.
“It’s always funny because anytime someone gets hurt, I’m always the first person they come talk to and ask, ‘What do I do? How do I get through this,’” Enea said, “You just have to relax. You can’t dwell on what’s happening because then you’re just going to take yourself out of the season and take yourself out of every at-bat if you keep thinking about it. So you just have to do what you have to do with it and that’s it.”
Walton expects to see Waleszonia return to the field on defense next weekend in the regular season-ending series with Longwood after another week of practice.
“She’s not at 100 percent defensively,” Walton said. “Standing out there and moving around, she’s not quite able to make all her cuts and things that she wants to. It’s not even about (being) pain-free, it’s (about being) mental-free.”
Waleszonia’s injury gave several players a chance to gain valuable experience, so her return gives Walton more talent than he knows what to do with in the outfield.
“It affects me more than it affects the lineup,” Walton said. “I have some decisions that need to be made. Michelle Moultrie’s been doing a great job. I got Alicia Sisco, who’s doing a great job. Now Kim’s coming back. But Kim’s earned a lot. I think the two freshmen there will definitely open the path for whatever I decide.”
The Gators’ potent lineup hit three home runs on the day, bringing their season total to 65, breaking last year’s single-season record of 63. Enea, who was 2-for-3 with 2 RBI on the day, started the scoring with her team-leading 16th homer of the year, a first-inning line drive over the center-field wall.
Sophomore Kelsey Bruder, who was 3-for-4 with 8 RBI on the day, hit the team’s ninth grand slam of the year in the second game. Senior Ali Gardiner added a three-run home run later in the game while going 3-for-7 with 7 RBI on the day.
Although the team set the mark in 24 fewer games than last season, Walton discounted the achievement.
“I don’t measure a team’s success by home runs,” Walton said. “It’s about wins. It’s about putting up runs. It’s about scoring runs. It’s about winning games.”
Senior ace Stacey Nelson (29-3, 0.40 ERA) also moved up in the record books with her two victories Saturday. Nelson passed Angela Tincher of Virginia Tech to move into eighth place on the NCAA career wins list with 124 career victories. Nelson allowed three hits and struck out eight batters in seven innings of work, bringing her career strikeout total to 999.
But Nelson didn’t even know about her achievement until she was told after the game.
“I had no idea,” Nelson said. “I really don’t (keep track). People don’t believe me when I say I don’t keep track of my stats, but I really don’t.”
Sophomore Stephanie Brombacher relieved Nelson in both games, pitching three innings and giving up only one hit while striking out three batters.
“Obviously, you’d like to see Stephanie get more innings today,” Walton said. “But circumstances kind of led to something different. Stacey threw seven innings and got two wins. It’s kind of a bizarre day.”
The Gators won their second straight regular-season SEC Championship last weekend, but you can’t tell Walton his team has nothing to play for in their final regular-season games.
“We have a ton to play for,” Walton said. “We have a goal. Our goal is to win every series. Our goal is to make a postseason run and to make a great postseason run we need to get one of those top seeds. So we have a ton to play for still.”
The teams play the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m.