Senior right-hander Stacey Nelson already has the titles of All-American and Florida’s all-time wins leader. Now she has become the top-ranked Gators’ designated “Pump-Up Leader.”
“I’ve kind of taken on the role as ‘pump-up leader’ or tried to at least,” Nelson said. “It really helps when the crowd is into it and they’re cheering just as much as the dugout. I already do a lot of dancing in the dugout, but I’m trying to yell a lot more and get other people to as well.”
Nelson’s energy helped Florida to its 21st straight victory, a 4-1 triumph over No. 6 Tennessee at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium that completed a three-game Southeastern Conference sweep of the Volunteers.
Nelson (17-2, 0.39 ERA) allowed four hits and struck out 10 in the victory for Florida (32-2, 11-0 SEC East). Cat Hosfield (17-5) suffered the loss for Tennessee (24-6, 2-3 SEC East).
“The difference in this series was Florida’s Stacey Nelson and Stephanie Brombacher,” Tennessee coach Ralph Weekly said. “The Gator pitching staff is absolutely fantastic. We have some pretty darn good hitters, and those two tied them in knots all weekend.”
Florida, which swept a Saturday doubleheader with a pair of 7-0 victories, outscored the Volunteers 18-1 and out hit them 27-10 for the weekend. Nelson, in going 2-0, allowed eight of the hits, the only run and struck out 21. Brombacher threw a 2-hitter in her shutout and fanned nine.
“(Nelson is) obviously a big-time role model for a lot of people and a big-time leader for us in the circle,” said Florida coach Tim Walton. “We need her energy and we need her to get the crowd going. She leads us and sometimes we need a little bit of help and little push to get the job done.”
With the Gators down 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Nelson lived up to her new title by walking out of the dugout after a Francesca Enea walk and telling the crowd the Gators were going to score. Megan Bush and Kristina Hilberth, each 2-for-3 in the game, proceeded to hit singles before Michelle Moultrie’s infield single off the pitcher’s glove brought home the tying run.
That push continued into the next inning when Kelsey Bruder led off with a double and was immediately brought home on Ali Gardiner’s RBI double. Then Enea hit a single up the middle and advanced all the way to third after the catcher mishandled the throw to home. At that point, the energy had already infected the entire team as Walton gave Enea an emphatic high-five that signaled the end of Tennessee’s hope for victory.
“You look at where we’re at and we don’t show a whole lot of emotion in some regards,” Walton said. “But you’re playing Tennessee. You’re playing a rival. I’ve been challenging them this week and they answered my challenge. They did a good job showing a little bit more emotion and having a little bit more fun.”
Tennessee came into the game with a different approach than Saturday. The tough victory was more along the lines of what the Gators expected from the Vols.
“Today we saw the Tennessee that we’re used to, the one that is good at making adjustments all the way through the game,” Nelson said. “They really challenged me today. So there were kind of some bumps in the road in the game.”
Tennessee tried its best not to get swept, but Florida is just too good right now.
“Tennessee’s not going to come out of here without getting its hits,” Walton said. “They can hit. They do a good job and they did that today. They swung the bat a little bit better than they did yesterday. The score doesn’t really indicate that but they hit the ball hard.”
The bumps in the road affected Florida’s hitters as well. The Gators racked up 18 hits in the first two games but were stymied a little bit early in the game by Tennessee’s adjustment.
But it was only a matter of time before Florida’s potent lineup clicked.
“They pitched us completely different than they did the two games before,” Gardiner said. “So it took us a few at-bats to make our own hitting adjustments. They pitched some of us in and in all day yesterday and then today they went away, away, away, so we weren’t looking for it. But by our second and third at-bat, we kind of knew what they were going for.”
Florida’s ability to make in-game adjustments and pull out a close game against a talented conference opponent will only toughen up the Gators for the rest of the season and the postseason.
“(Playing close games) gets us more prepared for games like that and the postseason, too,” Gardiner said. “That’s what postseason is all about. People are going to bring their ‘A’ game, so that really helps us down the road for Alabama and any game in the postseason.”
The Gators will host the No. 2 Crimson Tide next weekend in a three-game series. If the rankings hold, it will be the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in Florida history. The series begins with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday. The series finale is Sunday at 2 p.m.