By: Brandon

The long successful season for the Gators ended last night as they were defeated by Washington 3-2 which now makes them the 2009 WCWS Champions.

Florida had the tying run standing on second base with Ali Gardiner up to bat with two outs. Gardiner struck out to end the game and she just broke down in tears. It has been a really good season for Florida and its just too bad it had to end at this point, they were really wanting this championship.

I can understand why Ali Gardiner was upset from striking out and losing but if I’m not mistaking she was the one who hit a grand slam on Sunday that won Florida the game and put them into the finals, so Florida wouldn’t of been this far if it wasn’t for her.

Florida took an early 2-0 lead, everything was going fine. Stacy Nelson seemed to be pitching excellent for the first part but then that’s when Washington tacked on a couple runs to tie it up. Florida then trailed behind 3-2 after three innings. They had plenty of opportunities to tie and even take the lead but they just could not make it work. Leaving runners on base hurts real bad and you can see the outcome after the game. In the middle of the game, around the 5th inning they left the bases loaded after looking at a ball go right inside for strike three with two outs that cleared the bases. Just little things like that they could of fixed and they would be playing tonight for Game 3.

Washington led the WCWS in batting and it showed last night. This was the first National Championship in school for history for Washington.

No doubt in my mind this was the best team in Florida history and you might not be able to witness another season like this ever again.

Stacy Nelson

By: Brandon

It has only been one game since Florida got one of their biggest wins in school history, and this one against Washington has been the worst in two seasons. The lady Gators were thumped by Washington 8-0 in the first out of the three game series in the Women’s College World Series finals.

Washington broke up the Gators 29 game winning streak, and it was all because they wanted this game more than Florida. They were outplayed, out hustled, and they just played way better. Florida made two errors and only produced two hits on the night against Danielle Lawrie, who finished the game with 12 strike outs.

Florida pitcher Stacy Nelson allowed six runs on five hits and then was taken out of the game, being replaced by Stephanie Brombacher. Nelson seems that she has been struggling the past couple of games. But everybody has ups and downs, especially in this game. It happens to everyone.

Florida still needs to stay positive. They head back to face Washington again tonight in Oklahoma City starting at 8pm which can be seen live on espn2.

By: Brandon

The Gators survived a very close game against Alabama which went ahead and knocked them out of the tourney. Every lady Gator should be congratulated but it was mainly because of Ali Gardiner’s walk off grand slam with two outs that gave Florida the 6-5 win.

Florida started off early down 1-0 until the two run shot from Kelsey Bruder put them on top 2-1. One band inning was all it took for Alabama to crawl back and take the lead. Stacy Nelson struggled for an inning and Alabama took advantage and then led 5-2. But that is when Gardiner took her part.

It was very emotional after the game. Tears fell from Gardiner’s eyes and you can see why. She has been hitless in her first 15 at bats which has been shocking, but she sure did make a statement last night.

The win gave Florida their 28th game in a row with an overall record of 63-3. That is just an amazing record, probably the best I have ever seen. The lady Gators will now face Washington who defeated Georgia in last nights game.

Photo by Tim Casey

Tonights 8pm game between No. 1 Florida and No. 14 California has bene postponed.

Game one will start at 10:00 AM. Game two: Will start 20 minutes after game one is finished.

The Gators look to continue their hot streak after this series against Cal. Cal is a very talented team and will not come in and fool around. They are going to be very prepared and ready to play some ball against a real good Florida team.

All tickets to the game will be held at $10 for adults and $7 for seniors and children who are 12 and under.