The #1 ranked Florida softball team’s quest to win a national title came to an end Tuesday in Oklahoma City at the hands of the Washington Huskies. The Gators lost last night 3-2 after losing 8-0 Monday night. Senior Stacey Nelson was once again not her usual dominating self giving up the three runs after one of her worst performances of the year on Monday. Whether the hype caught up to the Gators, or Washington was just the better team- this was a tough loss to swallow.

Washington pitcher Danielle Lawrie was on her game giving up one earned run and pitching a complete game. Lawrie also drove in a run in the first inning. The score was 2-2 after the first and both pitchers didn’t look their usual dominating selves. After that they settled down with Florida giving up the only other run of the game in the third. In the top of the seventh with Washington only needing three outs to become national champs, the Gators looked like they had a little life left in them.

With one out, junior Francesca Enea hit a rope that slammed into the wall, three feet away from being the game tying homer. She ended up with a double and the Gator bench seemed energized. Then sophomore Kelsey Bruder walked to give the Gators runners on first and second. Their best hitter was up in sophomore Megan Bush, but she struck out to put the Huskies one out away from the title. The team of destiny had one last chance and the walk off grand slam hero senior Ali Gardiner came to the plate. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be as she went down swinging to seal the title for Washington.

Coach Tim Walton led the Gators to an amazing 63-5 record on the year and this team broke all sorts of Florida records. While they couldn’t pull off the wins in the final series, this team will go down with some of the greats in Gator history. They are losing Stacey Nelson, but with Walton’s recruiting prowess expect to see this Gator team competing for titles year in and year out.

Ben Petitto is a columnist for GatorTailgating.com