Stacey Nelson

Pitcher

Born: April 12, 1987
Los Alamitos, California

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

Professional debut

February 11, 2006 for the Florida Gators

Last professional appearance

June 3, 2009 for the Florida Gators

Career statistics

Win-Loss

136-36

Earned run average

0.99

Strikeouts

1116

Shutouts

Complete Games

133

Innings Pitched

1141.2

Teams

Florida Gators (2005-2009)

Stacey Nelson (born April 12, 1987) is an American, former collegiate All-American, right-handed softball pitcher originally from Los Alamitos, California. She played for the Florida Gators softball team from 2006-2009, leading the University of Florida to its first Women's College World Series berth in 2008 and a national runner-up appearance in the 2009 Women's College World Series. Nelson was also the 13th pick in the 2009 National Pro Fastpitch's draft by the defunct Washington Glory.^[1] Nelson pitched for the United States women's national softball team in 2009 and 2010 but now attends law school at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.^[2] She is a record holder for her school and in the NCAA Division I.

Early Years

Nelson was born in Los Alamitos, California. She attended Los Alamitos High School, and was coached during her high school softball career by Jim Dolan. She set school records for career shutouts and single season strikeouts, while her high school won the Sunset League title all four years of her career. Her team were 2003 California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Quarterfinalists and 2004 CIF Runner-ups. She was named the team's Most Valuable Player in 2004 & 2005. Nelson was named to the All-Sunset League and All-County team twice and named 2005 Sunset League Pitcher of the Year and Los Alamitos High School's Female Athlete of the Year.^[3]

Florida Gators

Nelson began her career being put on the Southeastern Conference Freshman Team and setting a school record in season saves.^[4] In her sophomore year, Nelson was named to the second team for both the Southeastern Conference and the NFCA.^[5]^[6] She broke the school records for season wins, strikeouts and innings pitched, all remain top-5 marks; her ERA, shutouts and opponents batting average were and continue to be top-10 all-time. The wins are also 10th best for the conference.

As a junior, Nelson made the NFCA First Team and was awarded Southeastern Conference Pitcher of The Year.^[7] Earning a conference pitching Triple Crown, she also broke her own season records in wins (led NCAA and set the Junior Class record), strikeouts and innings, while her ERA also improved to the top of the school list. Her opponents average, shutouts and strikeout ratio still rank top-10. In the conference her wins, ERA and innings also remain top-10.

On February 27, Nelson tied and set a school and career single game record fanning 16 batters vs. the Long Beach State 49ers. Winning pitcher Brooke Turner matched the total for 32 combined strikeouts, a top-10 NCAA record.^[8] Beginning on March 13, with a 8-4 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Gator went on a 26 consecutive game win streak, snapped by the UCF Knights on May 18.^[9]^[10] Leading her team to a No. 1 seed, the Gators reached the Women's College World Series and responded to an opening loss with three wins to get to the semifinals where they were eventually eliminated by the Texas A&M Aggies on June 2.^[11] Nelson was named to the WCWS All-Tournament Team.

For a final time Nelson was a NFCA First Team honoree and Southeastern Conference Pitcher of The Year.^[12] With a second conference Triple Crown and two no-hitters in tow, she set new school records in season ERA (tops in the NCAA), WHIP and shutouts, which gave her the all-time season Triple Crown for the school. Her wins, strikeouts, innings, strikeout ratio (career best 8.7) and opponents average are top-5 records. The ERA and wins rank fifth for a Southeastern Conference season.

In a February 20 win against the Arizona State Sun Devils, Nelson collected her 100th victory.^[13] On April 4-May 3, Nelson achieved a career best 51.1 consecutive scoreless inning streak. She was 11-0 over 12 games (6 complete), whiffing 66 and surrendering 24 hits and 8 walks.^[14] Later during that streak on April 26 and for one of her no-hitters, she also garnered the 1000th strikeout of her career, defeating the Arkansas Razorbacks.^[15] To reach that year's WCWS, she bested the Texas A&M Aggies on May 16 with a 14 strikeout performance in regulation for a career high.^[16] Repeating their previous tournament seeding, the team went undefeated in getting to the finals and Nelson pitched two shutouts before suffering back-to-back losses to eventual champions the Washington Huskies, concluding on June 2.^[17] She was again named All-Tournament for her efforts.

Nelson would graduate with and maintains the Florida career crown in wins, ERA, strikeouts, shutouts and innings pitched; her opponents average and strikeout ratio are top-5 all-time. Additionally, she ranks top-5 in all but the two latter categories for her conference. In the NCAA, her wins tie her at sixth place.^[18]

Awards & Honors

2007 - SEC Academic Honor Roll
2007 - NFCA All-Southeast Region
2007 - NFCA/Louisville Slugger All-American second team
2007 - Easton All-American Pitcher
2008 - SEC First Team
2008 - SEC Academic Honor Roll
2008 - SEC Tournament MVP
2008 - NFCA All-Southeast Region
2008 - NFCA/Louisville Slugger All-American first team
2008 - SEC Player of the Year
2008 - ESPN The Magazine Academic First-Team All-American
2008 - Easton All-American Pitcher
2009 - Top three-finalist for the 2009 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year
2009 - SEC First-Team
2009 - SEC Academic Honor Roll
2009 - NFCA/Louisville Slugger All-American first team
2009 - ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American of the Year
2009 - SEC Pitcher of the Year
2009 - Lowe's Senior CLASS Award

Career Statistics

University of Florida

YEAR	W	L	GP	GS	CG	Sh	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
2006	14	12	39	24	19	6	5	186.0	171	71	56	43	111	2.10	1.15
2007	34	14	58	42	37	14	5	318.0	205	56	43	74	285	0.94	0.87
2008	47	5	59	49	43	18	5	352.1	200	56	38	116	363	0.75	0.89
2009	41	5	50	41	34	22	3	285.1	162	40	25	52	357	0.61	0.75
TOTALS	136	36	206	156	133	60	18	1141.2	738	223	162	285	1116	0.99	0.89