LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mother Nature did Friday what only three college softball teams have done this season – stop top-ranked Florida.
Steady rains all day in central Kentucky initially pushed back Friday’s scheduled doubleheader between the Gators (40-3, 18-1 SEC East) and Kentucky Wildcats (25-14, 8-9 SEC East) to the evening. Then school officials postponed the Friday doubleheader.
Instead, the teams will play a doubleheader Saturday, with the first game starting at 10 a.m. The teams were playing their Southeastern Conference East Division three-game series on Friday and Saturday this weekend because of Easter Sunday.
The third game of the series likely will be cancelled. Coach Tim Walton’s Gators are riding a six-game winning streak after Alabama broke a 23-game winning streak a week ago Sunday with a 6-4 victory in Gainesville.
Senior right-hander Stacey Nelson (24-3, 0.47 ERA) has won all six of the games, three in relief of sophomore right-hander Stephanie Brombacher, who is recovering from a flu-like illness that has hampered her the last two weeks.
Two of the four victories in the current streak were won in Florida’s last at-bat. The Gators used a walk-off, grand-slam home run by Kelsey Bruder last Saturday to beat Mississippi State, 6-2, after trailing going into the bottom of the seventh 2-1.
Then on Wednesday, Florida trailed 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh and was down to its final strike before sophomore shortstop Megan Bush hit a game-tying home run. Francesca Enea hit a solo homer to lead off the ninth inning to give Florida a 4-3 victory.
Brombacher (16-0, 1.02 ERA) has seen here ERA climb since her last victory, but she remains unbeaten (36-0) during her Florida career. The two pitchers have combined for 22 shutouts, 12 by Nelson, who has 205 strikeouts and just 27 walks in 163,2 innings. Brombacher has 140 strikeouts and yielded just 19 walks in 116.1 innings.
Off the field, Nelson was invited to the 2009 USA Softball women’s national team selection camp in Chula Vista, Calif., June 8-12. Nelson, who hails from Los Alamitos, Calif., is a two-time All-American and the 2008 SEC Pitcher of the Year. She is one of 27 athletes who have accepted a position at the camp. Nelson also is a finalist along with teammate Enea for USA Softball’s Player of the Year and also Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.
Nelson is currently tied for 12th all-time in career victories in the NCAA with 119 and holds 20 single-season or career pitching records at Florida.