Senior All-American Stacey Nelson has tormented Southeastern Conference softball opponents throughout her highly decorated career.
So it seems only fitting that the 5-11 right-hander from Los Alamitos, Calif., would throw a no-hitter (her second of the season) in her last regular-season SEC game. Nelson’s dominating performance led the top-ranked Florida Gators to their 15th consecutive victory, a 6-0 whitewash of the Arkansas Razorbacks Sunday at the Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
The Gators (49-3, 26-1 SEC) have now recorded nine consecutive shutouts, extending their scoreless streak to 61 innings. The last team to score on the Gators was Florida State, which scored in the top of the seventh inning of an April 8 game the Gators tied in the bottom of the seventh on a Megan Bush solo homer and won, 4-3, in the ninth inning on a walk-off homer by Francesca Enea.
Nelson (30-3, 0.39 ERA), who threw her first career no-hitter at Mississippi on March 15, allowed only a fourth-inning walk in the victory as she struck out eight batters, recording her 1,000-career strikeout after fanning the first batter of the game. She is the only Florida pitcher to reach that plateau.
As usual, Nelson downplayed her achievements.
“It’s good they didn’t get any hits, I guess,” Nelson said. “I looked up during the sixth inning and noticed. I hadn’t really thought about it.”
Nelson’s modesty did not extend to her teammates, who couldn’t hide their excitement for her achievement.
“It’s so exciting,” said sophomore Kelsey Bruder. “No one wanted to say anything. We’re in the dugout like ‘OK … Nobody say anything.’ Then in the last inning, it was ‘We usually give 100 percent, so let’s give 200 percent this time and let’s get it done.’”
Bruder helped make Nelson’s job easier as she hit her 13th home run of the year in the fourth inning, a two-run shot that gave Florida a 3-0 lead. Bruder was 2-for-2 with 2 RBI on the day as she continued her breakout season for the Gators, providing the team an answer for their only question mark before the season.
“Kelsey has definitely stepped up with Mary Ratliff’s departure,” said coach Tim Walton.
The home run was the 66th of the season for the Gators, extending their single-season record that was set in Saturday’s doubleheader. The Gators’ bats continued on their season-long tear, recording 11 hits in the game. Florida had 33 hits in the series compared to just four for the Razorbacks (25-24, 10-14 SEC).
Senior Ali Gardiner went 3-for-4 and sophomore Aja Paculba went 2-for-3. Senior Kristina Hilberth, junior Francesca Enea and freshman Michelle Moultrie all contributed an RBI for Florida. Paculba also stole her 25th base of the season, a new single-season record for Florida, breaking the single-season mark held by senior Kim Waleszonia.
Waleszonia, who returned from a February knee injury Saturday as a pinch-hitter, made her first start since the injury, batting eighth in the lineup as the designated player. In her first at-bat, Waleszonia laid down a bunt and reached base safely. She drew a walk in her second at-bat.
“It was more like a sacrifice situation,” Waleszonia said of the bunt. “Coach said, ‘No, don’t push it. Just go through it.’ Then I got it down and I was thinking in my head, ‘Run! Run!’ the whole time going to first. But I thought I’d get there faster. It was just maybe a little slower, but I think it will come back.”
Walton plans to continue working Waleszonia slowly back into the lineup and expects her to start all three games next weekend against Longwood. He will wait to see how she performs in practice before deciding whether to give her some work in the outfield next weekend, but he liked what he saw from her Sunday.
“I was very interested to see what she was going to be able to do with a bunt,” Walton said. “That was just a sacrifice bunt that she was able to get in a great location. As soon as she saw where it was, she ran a little bit faster than she probably was going to.”
The series completed the regular-season SEC schedule for the Gators, who finished 26-1. The Gators, who won the regular-season SEC Championship on the final game last season, were glad they already had the title under their belts coming into the series.
“It’s really great to finish it early and not be on the edge of our seats at the end waiting to see if this person wins or this person loses,” Bruder said. “It’s a great feeling because now we can just work on the little aspects of the game and improving and just getting ready for the end (postseason).”
Finishing the conference schedule on a strong note was important for the Gators, who hope to carry their momentum into the postseason. But they couldn’t help but have a slight sour taste in their mouth for coming up just a few feet short — the distance of Moultrie’s bid for a possible game-winning home run against Alabama — from finishing undefeated in conference and in the midst of a 38-game winning streak.
“That one loss kind of kicks you,” Nelson said. “But finishing with such a great record is awesome, especially in a conference as tough as the SEC. Every team can beat you on any given day. That’s no exaggeration. It’s good to come out on top.”
The Gators end the regular season with a Saturday doubleheader and a single game Sunday against visiting Longwood before heading to Knoxville for the SEC Tournament May 7-9.