OKLAHOMA CITY – After her subpar performance in last year’s Women’s College World Series, Florida sophomore shortstop Megan Bush vowed to come through the second time around.
After two games, it’s fair enough to say Bush has delivered.
“That’s what the World Series is about – getting the hit when you need it,” Florida coach Tim Walton said. “Nobody is hotter in this postseason than Megan Bush is.”
On an evening when hits and runs were few and far between, Bush connected for a leadoff home run in the top of the sixth inning, and senior All-America right-hander Stacey Nelson pitched a one-hitter as the top-ranked Gators beat fifth-seeded Michigan, 1-0, on the second day of the tournament at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.
A record crowd of 8,323 attended the two winners’ bracket games. In the opener, Washington advanced with a 1-0 victory over defending NCAA champion Arizona State in eight innings.
The Gators (62-3), who have now won a season-high 28 games in a row, advance to play on Sunday at 3 p.m. in the winners’ bracket. Michigan will face the winner of the Alabama-Arizona matchup (noon ET) on Saturday night at 6 p.m.
The bomb was Bush’s second home run in as many World Series games and her 16th of the season, good for second most on the team next to Francesca Enea’s 17. Bush now has 29 career home runs, placing her in a tie for fourth on Florida’s career list with Melissa Zick (2004-07).
“I think I’m just taking this World Series one at-bat at a time,” Bush said. “So I learned from my first two at-bats, which I struggled in and I made the adjustments that I had to. I just let them go and ultimately it helped me with my mindset. I think the momentum from last game really helped and the team just keeps moving forward.”
Bush’s home run was all that was needed by Nelson, who continued to take her game to the next level with the lights of the big stage shining on her.
“Her stuff is incredible right now,” Walton said. “I did tell our team after the first inning when she went out on defense and pitched that we need to get her one run. We need to get her a run. She’s got great stuff today.”
That stuff resulted not only in a one-hitter for Nelson (41-3) but nine strikeouts. Nelson threw just 71 pitches of which 14 were balls. The win was the 136th of her career, tying her with Cat Osterman of Texas for sixth all-time. Nelson’s 22nd shutout of the year also tied her with UMass’s Brandice Balschmiter for most in the nation this year. Her nation-leading ERA dropped to 0.39 and she now has 342 strikeouts in 269.1 innings.
“(Nelson) doesn’t approach every hitter the same every time they’re up,” said Michigan coach Carol Hutchins. “She had her way with us. It definitely wore at us mentally.”
Of course the rematch of top-five teams from earlier this season was not easy for the Gators. Florida won the first game 4-0 in Gainesville on Feb. 25.
Michigan decided to start its No. 2 pitcher, Jordan Taylor, in favor of ace Nikki Nemitz, who gave up four runs in 1.1 innings in the teams’ first meeting this season. Taylor, who relieved Nemitz in that game, held the Gators to two hits the rest of the way.
Walton opted for making changes on offense, deciding to shuffle his lineup card around by inserting sophomore Tiffany DeFelice in the No. 2 spot and dropping Kristina Hilberth from there to No. 8. Walton also dropped senior Ali Gardiner to No. 6 in the lineup.
Michigan’s decision to go with Taylor paid immediate dividends as she retired Florida’s batters in order to start the game, making Walton’s decision to toy with his lineup look a little shaky. But Walton also had a trusted ace up his sleeve – Nelson.
Nelson picked up where she left off in Thursday’s 3-0 shutout of Arizona, allowing only one hit in the game. Nelson started off the pitching duel by matching Taylor’s three-up, three-down inning to start the game.
After seeing what Nelson brought to the table, Taylor turned her game up a notch. She walked Kelsey Bruder to start the second, then struck out Florida’s next three hitters to pass the baton back to Nelson.
Sure enough, Nelson answered the call, making things look easy by retiring Michigan’s three batters on five pitches.
Florida’s batters looked as if they were starting to figure out Taylor in the third inning when Hilberth singled and fellow senior, Kim Waleszonia, bunted Hilberth to second. After Aja Paculba flied out to left field, DeFelice fought through a long at-bat to draw a walk, bringing up junior Francesca Enea. Enea, whose 2-run homer got Florida started in its 3-0 opening victory over Arizona, launched a bullet down the third base line. But Michigan third baseman Maggie Viefhaus was able to snag the ball and step on the base to end the threat.
While Michigan remained mystified by Nelson, the Gators continued to slowly figure out Taylor as Bruder hit a double down the left-field line to lead off the fourth. But the Gators left her stranded.
The Wolverines broke through with their first hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth, a grounder up the middle by Bree Evans which just got past the outstretched glove of Bush. Angela Findlay then laid down a bunt that Nelson fielded and fired to second base but not in time to get Evans.
Evans and Findlay then were bunted over to third and second, respectively, by Amanda Chidester, leaving Nelson in almost the same position as she was in during the first inning against Arizona Thursday when she allowed the first two batters to reach on hits.
“I think about the next pitch,” Nelson said. “I think about pitching it where they can’t get a good piece of the ball. It was similar to last night’s game, when we had first and second with no outs. I have a lot of confidence in my team to get us out of those situations.”
The subsequent sequence played out almost just as it had the night before, with Walton making a visit to the mound to calm his ace down before Nelson went back to work. The ace bore down and struck out the next two batters, Roya St. Clair and Viefhaus, to keep the scoreless game intact.
Florida had a chance in the top of the fifth when Waleszonia reached on a single and Paculba reached on a walk after a Hilberth ground out. Then Michigan went to their ace, Nemitz, and DeFelice advanced the runners on a fielder’s choice. Michigan elected to intentionally walk Enea to pitch to Bruder and the decision paid off as Bruder struck out to end the inning.
“They had been through the order a few times and I felt a little momentum going their way,” Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said explaining the pitching change. “We have two great pitchers as we’ve had all year and we just tried to break the momentum.”
The move seemed to work at first for the Wolverines, but after Bush’s home run, Nelson took the mound to seal the deal. Nelson had all she needed to will her team to victory and rolled through the last nine batters to close out the game.
The way Nelson has been pitching in Oklahoma City she has proven that if the opposing pitcher makes one mistake, the game could be over. On Friday, that’s all Megan Bush needed to give the Gators a day off and keep them in the winners’ bracket, meaning their Sunday opponent will have to defeat them twice to advance.
“It’s huge,” Walton said. “It’s a huge advantage. Somebody’s got to beat us twice. … This is a great place to be in right now.”
After last year’s gauntlet of four games in two days, Walton’s players are thankful to have a little more rest this time around.
“It feels very good,” Nelson said. “My legs are very thankful.”
“I think everyone’s are,” Bush said.
That’s something that Florida’s opponents do not want to hear.
Washington 1, Arizona State 0 (8): In a battle of this year’s USA Softball Player of the Year, Danielle Lawrie of Washington, and last year’s national champion, Arizona State (47-18), the Huskies (48-11) came out on top in eight innings.
The Huskies advance in the winners’ bracket and will play on Sunday at 1 p.m. for a chance to advance to the championship match. The Sun Devils are sent to the opposing losers’ bracket to await the winner of Saturday’s Georgia-Missouri game at noon. The winner of that game will play Arizona State at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Friday’s game between the two Pacific-10 powerhouses lived up to expectations as Lawrie and freshman Sun Devil pitcher Hillary Bach staged an epic pitching duel fit for the big stage. The pitchers matched each other, shutout inning for shutout inning, until Huskies third baseman Morgan Stuart knocked in Kimi Pohlman in the bottom of the eighth.
Lawrie, who threw a 1-0, nine-inning shutout of Florida in February, held Arizona State to two hits in the game while striking out three batters. Her counterpart, Bach, allowed eight hits. Washington seemed to be knocking on the door all game long, but Bach and the Sun Devils were able to turn back each effort before finally succumbing in the end.
Huskies catcher Alicia Blake hit a deep double to right center in the bottom of the fourth that sent shortstop Jenn Salling home from first base for what appeared to be enough for the Huskies with the way Lawrie was pitching. But catcher Kaylyn Castillo jumped to snag the relay throw home and got down to tag out Salling just in time to keep the game tied.
Then in the bottom of the seventh, first baseman Niki Williams hit a soft pop up to end the inning with runners on first and third.
But eventually, the pressure was too much and the Huskies knocked down the door and moved on in the winners’ bracket.
NCAA DIVISION I SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
WOMEN’S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
At ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Double elimination
BRACKET ONE
Thursday, May 28
Game 1: Washington 3, Georgia 1
Game 2: Arizona State 7, Missouri 3
Friday, May 29
Game 5: Washington 1, Arizona State 0 (8)
Saturday, May 30
Game 7: (6) Georgia (44-11) vs. Missouri (50-11), Noon ET (ESPN2)
Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Arizona State (47-18), 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Sunday, May 31
Game 11: (3) Washington (48-11) vs. Game 9 winner, 1 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Game 13: Game 11 winner vs. Game 11 loser (if necessary), 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
BRACKET TWO
Thursday, May 28
Game 3: Michigan 6, Alabama 1
Game 4: Florida 3, Arizona 0
Friday, May 29
Game 6: Florida 1, Michigan 0
Saturday, May 30
Game 8: (4) Alabama (52-10) vs. (9) Arizona (46-16), 2 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Game 10: Game 8 winner vs. (5) Michigan (47-11), 9 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Sunday, May 31
Game 12: (1) Florida (62-3) vs. Game 10 winner, 3 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Game 14: Game 12 winner vs. Game 12 loser (if necessary), 9 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Best-of-three
Monday, June 1
Game 1: Bracket One winner vs. Bracket Two winner, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Tuesday, June 2
Game 2: Bracket One winner vs. Bracket Two winner, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Wednesday, June 3
Game 3: Bracket One winner vs. Bracket Two winner (if necessary), 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2)