With three days left until UF's Super Regional against California, junior slugger Francesca Enea sat inside the O'Connell Center. On a bucket.
Sound a little bit odd? Well, the Gators' left fielder was at practice.
That's what a week filled with rain will do to you.
Enea's previous knee injuries keep her from practicing on the concrete, so as the UF softball team practiced inside the O'Dome on Wednesday, she missed out on fielding practice with "squishy balls."
The Gators didn't even make it outside to practice this week until Thursday.
Don't expect the change in preparation to have any effect when the No. 1 Gators begin a best-of-three series against the No. 14 Bears on Saturday at 8 p.m. Game 2 will be Sunday at 6 p.m. with a possible Game 3 to follow on Sunday evening.
"Of course we're out of routine. We usually do the same thing every day," Enea said. "But changing it up &ndash it's OK. It shouldn't affect us."
It probably won't even make it to three games. And if it did, UF hasn't lost a home three-game series since Tennessee took two of three in Gainesville in March 2007.
But hypothetically speaking, if there was something that might slow down the onslaught of a 58-3 team seemingly destined for a national title playing at home, the weather would have to be it, right?
UF coach Tim Walton admitted rain could have an effect on the pitching surface. Then again, if UF had to put someone out there in an uncertain situation, who better than Stacey Nelson, who was recently named a top-three finalist for a national player of the year award?
The senior sits at 37-3 on the year and has the nation's best ERA (0.43). She has allowed only one home run in 2009, meaning teams usually have to grind out a run against her.
Walton said California is a much bigger base-stealing team than the one UF swept in last season's Super Regionals. Constant rain and a wet running surface won't help that.
You can bet there will be some rain involved with this weekend's series. The Weather Channel forecasts a 60 percent chance of rain at first pitch and a 50 percent chance of rain on Sunday.
(Side note: Have I moved to Seattle without my knowing? I'm used to daily mid-afternoon rain, not dreary, never-ending rain. End rant.)
ESPN and NCAA officials decide whether the game will start if bad weather is a concern. Once it begins, the umpires on the field will decide upon any possible rain delays. There is a mandatory lightning policy, however: A strike within 6 miles mandates a 30-minute delay in play.
Enea shared a more personal annoyance regarding rain with reporters on Friday.
"It's frustrating the fact when it's raining and my makeup gets messed up, my hair gets messed up, and I get really hungry waiting, and I eat all the snacks," she said with a laugh. "Personally that's why I get frustrated. Other than that, it makes me more antsy to get out here and ready to play."
If there is one thing that won't bother the team, it would be the national spotlight on ESPN in primetime. After all, the Gators have been there, done that.
The team thinks about it before the game, but everything changes between the lines. It's easy to believe such a statement when one considers all of last year's accomplishments.
"Once that first pitch happens, it's like game time," Enea said. "It's so weird how you get focused into it, you just get ready and you're out there to get your job done."
UF isn't overlooking a California team that made it out of the Tallahassee Regional that included No. 16 Florida State. But that doesn't mean the Gators aren't still locked on their goal since the preseason: a national title.
"We're a good team, the best team in the country," third baseman Corrie Brooks said. "To be the best team, you can't let anything affect you."
It's doubtful the Gators will, even if the weather has other ideas.
