The Gators took the field this past weekend in Tampa against five opponents hoping the No. 2 ranked team in the nation had too much youth to escape the weekend unbeaten.

What they found was completely different.

The Gators just have too much talent.

Florida finished the weekend with a perfect 5-0 record to begin the season, and outscored opponents 35-2.

The Fairfield Inn Tournament, hosted by USF, was set to begin on Friday, but inclement weather postponed most action until Saturday. Florida played only four innings against Long Island University before a downpour caused a postponement of the game until the morning, and a rescheduling of the game against FGCU until Sunday.

Though the tournament’s start was dismal, Florida’s performance was anything but, as the team exploded to three five-inning run-rule shutouts on Saturday.

The wins came over Long Island University 8-0, Maine 8-0, and Illinois State 11-0, and the Gators used outstanding freshmen debuts coupled with upperclassmen leadership to power to an undefeated 3-0 start to the season.

Freshman pitcher Lauren Haeger had an outstanding day, earning her first start and win against Maine, recording 11 strikeouts on 19 batters faced and allowing only three hits. She followed that performance by smashing a three-run homer in the second inning against Illinois State to give the Gators an 8-0 lead.

Perhaps the most impressive freshman of the weekend was Sami Fagan, who earned SEC Freshman Player of the Week honors after starting all five games at third base and posting a .667 batting average with a double, a triple, three RBIs and a two-for-two stolen base performance. Fagan now leads all Gators in batting average and hits (10).

Four of the Gators’ five freshmen started all five games of the weekend, with freshman Alyssa Bache getting the opportunity to close out the team’s first win against Long Island Saturday morning.

Aside from the excellent freshmen play, the Gators also saw great performances from key players from last year’s roster.

Sophomore pitcher Hannah Rogers was astounding over the weekend, starting three games and posting a perfect 0.00 ERA, while also racking up 25 strikeouts and two complete game shutouts in 18.2 innings pitched.

Michelle Moultrie, the team’s lone senior, leads the team with five stolen bases on six attempts and posted a .333 batting average for the weekend.

After capping the weekend with a 3-2 overtime victory against USF and a 5-0 victory over FGCU on Sunday, the Gators left Tampa feeling as if the forecast for their season is bright and sunny.

Florida unleashed its top freshmen recruiting class with fabulous results, and also received the expected great play from its older players.

The team now looks forward to the season home opener Wednesday against Jacksonville University before a three-game weekend stint in Gainesville against Michigan State.

Though both of the next two opponents are unranked, the Gators will need to continue the development of their young players at a fast pace as the following weekend holds a tournament slate against three ranked opponents in Washington, Texas A&M and Texas.

A perfect 5-0 start is well-earned, but also well-expected. The Gators will need to build on the foundation of this past weekend if they are to construct a championship season in Gainesville.

After reaching their second Women’s College World Series finals in three years and then bringing in the nation’s top recruiting class to begin the 2012 season, it would not appear as if Gator softball is entering a new era.

But it is.

The Gators are ranked No. 2 and No. 4 nationally in the two major college softball preseason polls, but they kick off action this weekend with one very unique aspect to their squad.

Michelle Moultrie is the only senior on the roster this season.

In a sport where most players do not leave early to pursue professional careers, it is rare to see a team with an upperclassmen/underclassmen imbalance, and certainly even more rare to see a team with only one senior.

Considered the player with the most experience and insatiable hunger to win, the senior athlete is coveted as a teacher and motivator on every collegiate team.

This season, the Gators will be playing with a combined five upperclassmen and 11 underclassmen in what will be the youngest Gators team in years.

One senior on the roster is the fewest since the 2008 season, in which, ironically, last year’s graduating class—the winningest in program history, were all freshmen.

Having been a part of the winning atmosphere for three seasons so far at UF, Moultrie said that the team pays less attention to age and more attention to having a successful team.

“It has been challenging because I’m the only senior, but we don’t really go by age differences,” she said. “We all learn from each other.”

Moultrie said that despite being the only senior, the team is already taking on a collective leadership role.

“We’ve had leadership training for one person from each grade, so it hasn’t been just me doing leadership-type things.”

Despite remaining modest about her role as a leader, Moultrie’s teammates spoke otherwise, pointing to her as the biggest leader on the team.

Freshman pitcher Lauren Haeger said that Moultrie has already had an impact on her.

“She’s been through it all and been through it the longest,” Haeger said. “No matter what she tells you to do, you do it. You just have so much respect for a person like Michelle.”

Fellow freshman pitcher Alyssa Bache echoed that sentiment, saying Moultrie is there for her teammates by showing leadership through friendship.

“She is always there for you, no matter what,” she said. “Even if you are having a horrible day, she can pick you up and make you do so much better. She is just there for everyone on the team, not just one person, and she always makes you work harder.”

Sophomore pitcher Hannah Rogers said that Moultrie has also begun to assume more of a vocal leadership role than in the past.

“Michelle has stepped up a lot lately,” she said. “She’s always been a leader by example because she doesn’t talk very much, but she is starting to talk more before practice or scrimmages and telling us to go hard.”

With one of Florida’s youngest teams in recent history, that leadership is going to be necessary to guide freshman who haven’t experienced the pressure of the collegiate level.

But with such high expectations, the players know it is also important to be able to have fun and relax under heavy stress.

Having been described by Coach Tim Walton as one of his more “goofy” teams, sophomore pitcher Hannah Rogers thinks that the youth has a lot to do with the attitude of the team.

“I think maybe we are goofier because we are a young team and a lot of the girls are silly and like to have fun,” she said.

Bache said the friendship on the team is very important.

“We all get along, too,” she said. “It makes it a fun environment to be around when we’re all getting along and enjoying each other’s company.”

Despite such youth and lack of experience at the collegiate level from the freshmen, Rogers said that adding such great players to the team is something the older players can benefit from.

“[Haeger and Bache] are really great pitchers, so it pushes me to be better myself,” she said.

With last year’s senior ace Stephanie Brombacher now graduated, Rogers assumes the same role, and said that her position gives her an opportunity to be a role model to Haeger and Bache.

“They didn’t really know what to expect coming in here, and Stephanie helped me out a lot last year, so I’m trying to do the same for them,” she said. “You have to be more mature at this level because you’re going to be throwing against all-Americans.”

That necessary sense of maturity is not lost on the young pitchers. Haeger said they understand the work required to play at a high level in college.

“It’s made us work a lot harder in practice because we want to win no matter what,” she said. “The most difficult thing to adjust to for me so far has been the mental aspect of the game. I’ve never had to be so mentally tough before. Here you’re going to struggle, you’re going to give up a homerun to one of your teammates that is really great.”

Bache agreed, saying that staying positive through struggles is key.

“In high school, you could pitch an average game and then come here and have the worst game of your life,” she said. “It’s just a matter of mentality.”

The Gators will face their first test this weekend at the Fairfield Inn Tournament in Tampa hosted by USF. They will kick off the 2012 season with more underclassmen than upperclassmen, but are coming equipped with the top-ranked group of freshmen and a team fresh off a College World Series finals appearance.

With two appearances but also two finals losses in the past two years, the Gators will undoubtedly be starving for another shot at a title.

Moultrie may be the only senior, but this team is not lacking talent or maturity.

Haeger is ready.

“I’m excited,” she said. “I’m ready to see how it all turns out.”

The No. 5 Gators ended their opening-weekend with a 12-0 victory over USF. USF-hosted Wilson DeMarini Tournament at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater. The Gators (5-0) , undefeated, racked up 53 runs,14 home runs, a .394 batting clip, .478 on-base percentage and a .803 slugging percentage as a team.

UF put up four runs at the top of the first against USF (4-1). Aja Paculba, senior, scored the first run by hitting a solo homer to left center. Senior Kelsey Bruder followed with a single, making her hit streak at 14 games, just two shy of the school record 16. Bruder stealing a base and two consecutive walks for senior Megan Bush, and sophomore Brittany Schutte made the bases loaded for freshman Cheyenne Coyle, who brought in Shutte and Bruder, making the score 3-0. The Sacrifice fly by senior Tiffany DeFelice, brought in Bush to end the first inning in favor of the Orange and Blue, score being 4-0.Senior pitcher Stephanie Brombacher  went the full five innings and improved to 3-0 on the season, having nine strikeouts and just four hits to defeat the Bulls.Both Bruder and Paculba went 3-for-4 to lead the Gators in Saturday’s game.

Florida had three runs in both the second and fourth innings. Junior Michelle Moultrie was at the top of the Florida lineup in the second. A single by Moultrie and a stolen base, put the runners in scoring position. A hit-by-pitch for Megan Bush, and an intentional walk for Schutte brought up Coyle next. An error on USF’s second base player permitted both Bruder and Schutte to score for a 7-0 UF advantage.

In the fourth, a Bruder triple brought home Paculba. Schutte followed with a double to center, and Bush drew her second walk of the game as DeFelice stepped up to the plate for a hit to right center, bringing Schutte home for Florida’s 10th run of the game.The Gators finally put it away at the top of the fifth when seniors Paculba and Bruder joined up for two scores on a two-run homer by Bruder following Paculba’s double to left center. Brombacher struck out three Bulls swinging for the three outs in the bottom half of the fifth to end out the game for the Gators.

Florida will take on its next game Wednesday, when it heads to Jacksonville  with the Jacksonville University Dolphins. Game time is stated for 6 p.m.

Courtesy of:

Gatorcountry.com

University of Florida head softball coach Tim Walton announced Kasey Fagan of Dunnellon, Fla., will be wearing Orange and Blue starting in the 2010-11 season.

Fagan, a 5-foot-11-inch righty who Walton called a “true utility player” because of her versatility, played for the 2009 Class 4A State Champion Dunnellon High School Tigers. The Tigers, with a 32-1 record, were the first Marion County fast-pitch softball team to ever reach the Final Four. Dunellon ended the season ranked fourth in ESPN Rise Fab 50 Poll. Fagan herself achieved many awards including the Florida Gatorade Player of the Year, the Dairy Farmers Player of the Year and the Star Banner Player and Pitcher of the Year. She was named to the Class 4A First-Team All-State team her junior season after earning second-team honors as a sophomore and third-team honors as a freshman. She also earned ESPN Rise First-Team All-America honors on the Louisville Slugger/NFCA High School All-South Regional First Team as a pitcher, in 2009. Fagan also plays for Team North Florida, a travel ball team. The team placed fifth in 2009 at the Amateur Softball Association of America Gold National Championships and won the Champions Cup in Irvine, Calif.

Fagan’s high school stats are impressive.  She batted .574 with eight home runs, 61 RBI and 53 runs scored in 34 games as a senior. In the pitching circle, Fagan posted a 26-1 record and a 0.57 ERA, recording 239 strikeouts and holding opponents to a .095 batting average in 147 innings. She ended her high school  career with a .549 batting average, 25 home runs and 227 RBI.

Fagan has maintained a 4.74 GPA, receiving nothing but ‘A’ grades throughout high school. She was the salutatorian of Dunnellon High’s Class of 2010, a member of the National Honor Society, and in the area’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter. She has also volunteered locally as a peer tutor, a Dunnellon Little League clinic instructor, and in association with her First United Methodist Church community.

Photos Courtesy of www.ocalaphotoblog.com

High School Softball National Championship 2010

After their 2008 world series appearance against Washington, the Lady Gators fell just short of making their second straight appearance in the final series. The 3-2 defeat to the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs put an end to their season, and a bit of a disappointment to conclude the year.

With the season over, the Gators will lose one of their greatest players of all-time – Francesca Enea. She was named to many First and Second teams in her career, including the following:

• Easton First-Team All-American in 2008 and 2009
• Women’s College World Series All-Tournament Team in 2008
• SEC All-Freshman Team in 2007
• Point of Light Award winner in 2009

Enea’s absence will be greatly missed, but the Gators will rely on the bat of Brittany Schutte, who will most likely take Enea’s batting spot in the order. Besides Enea, the Gators will also lose their starting third baseman, Corrie Brooks. Although never a star player while at Florida, Brooks managed to play hard every game and contribute in various ways throughout her career. She was named to Southeastern Conference All-Tournament Team in 2009, her greatest individual honor while playing for Florida.

Gators Sports Nation congratulates the Lady Gators on a terrific season, in which they went 51-9 (20-4) and won one game in the World Series against Missouri. We would also like to congratulate the graduating seniors, Enea and Brooks, both played outstanding in their Gator careers.

(Photo: Jim Burgess/ESPN.com)

The lady Gators softball team defeated Arizona State 5-2 on Sunday and they will now be playing in the Women’s College World Series for the third straight year.

Junior Kelsey Bruder took a big part of the Gators (48-8) victory, going 2-for-2 with two home runs and three RBIs. Over the five games played in the tournament, she contributed to the team going 10-for-15 with four home runs and 10 RBIs.

Stephanie Brombacher pitched a complete game, allowing seven hits and two runs with only one earned and two strikeouts. She also received her fifth NCAA tournament victory. Brombacher is placed on the Gators career win list with 76 and as well as listed in third place for strikeouts at 541.

Florida took care of the Sun Devils (44-17) in two straight games in the best of three series, defeating their pitcher Megan Elliot who has a record of 12-3. The Gators belted three home runs off of Elliot which adds up to 105 on the season, a SEC record.

“What a great weekend,” UF head coach Tim Walton said. “To get to the College World Series the first time with a good team, to get there the second time with an even better team, and then to get there a third time, that’s when you build a program.”

The lady Gators will play fifth ranked UCLA in the first game of the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla., on Thursday, June 3 starting at 3:30 p.m. The game will be shown live on ESPN.

Photo courtesy of GatorZone.com

The lady Gators (3-1) softball team is set to host Jacksonville (4-0) today at 5:00 pm for their home season-opener which is also the first of nine home games that are ready to square off.

The Gators finished off 3-1 at the USF Wilson-DeMarini Tournament that was held in Clearwater. Their only loss in the tournament was to the No. 9 Georgia Tech Yellow jackets. Florida’s junior ace pitcher Stephanie Brombacher is already off to a 2-1 start, and also 42-1 in her career at the University of Florida. Brombacher received her first loss during last week.

Senior outfielder Francesca Enea has already hit three out and has collected 10 RBI’s as well which is a team high, while leading right behind with two home runs is freshman util. player Brittany Schutte.

Information on todays game:

Time: 5:00 pm

Where: Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium

Price: Free

Radio: 104.9 FM

(Information gathered by Larry Savage/gatorsports.com)

Stacey Nelson graduated in December and has been busy since with the 2009 season and was asked to play for U.S National Team for the second year in a row. Nelson also plans to continue her career playing professionally in Japan this year.

Stacey received a degree in philosophy and plans to attend law school after playing a year in Japan. Nelson prefers to work with children and wants to work with international humanitarian law.

Nelson will be playing for the Honda Motorcars team and live in Tochigi outside of Tokyo.

GSN was lucky enough to catch up with the former Gator star.

1. What was it like attending the University of Florida, and playing for such a prestigious program?

The greatest experience of my life. It was an honor to wear the UF uniform but I never really understood it until I was in my later years. I didn’t understand the tradition and pride behind UF; I didn’t understand how so many people could love a university so much; I didn’t understand the “Gator Nation”; but, now I do.

2. The College World Series had to have been a great moment in your life, and your performance was outstanding. But was there anything else you, or the team could have done to capture the World Series trophy over Washington?

I am not someone who obsesses over things and unlike many athletes, I normally deal with losing pretty well. But that loss still haunts me and I still wonder all the time what more I could have done. Even though I am supposed to move on and accept the loss, it is still a long process and I cant get over coming up short for my team.

3. You are pitching for the United States women’s softball team, how would you compare the atmosphere and pressure to that of pitching for the Gators?

Pitching for the US team is definitely different than pitching for UF. There are just small little differences that make a big difference when you’ve been playing the game for so long. Also, playing for different coaches, not to mention more coaches, playing with new girls, along with some new rules, takes some getting used to. The only bad part about the USA team though is that we have to wear shorts when we play that are not very flattering at all!

4. You have a handful of awards in your college career, but what was your greatest achievement while at the University of Florida?

I will never forget getting my first Academic All-American award my junior year. Coach Walton knew how much it meant to me so he called me to the front of our bus to announce it to the team and I couldn’t hide my grin. It really meant a lot.

5. And how would you sum up everything at Florida?

Again, the greatest experience of my life. To sum it up: one time a man told me, “Thank you for being a Gator.” I immediately put my hand on his shoulder and told him, “Please, NEVER thank me for being a Gator. I am the one who is forever greatful for that opportunity.”–Im serious about this stuff!