Two-time national-champion softball player Justine McLean gets baptized

Justine McLean came to know Christ during her junior year as a softball player at the University of Florida in 2016. But last week, McLean, now an assistant coach at Biola University, made the decision to fully surrender her life to God. She was baptized on April 28.

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On Tuesday, McLean tweeted a picture of the baptism, calling it “my favorite day.”

McLean appeared in 62 games as a freshman at Florida in 2014, earning a spot on the All-SEC freshman team. The Gators finished that season with a 55-12 record and won the Women’s College World Series for the first time in program history.

Florida won the SEC regular-season championship and repeated as national champions in 2015, with McLean starting four of the Gators’ six games at the WCWS, including a 2-for-3 performance in the deciding game against Michigan. Her .360 batting average ranked second on the team.

McLean started 51 games and hit .361 as a junior in 2016, helping lead the Gators to a regular-season SEC title and the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. However, Florida fell to Georgia in the NCAA Super Regionals.

As a senior in 2017, McLean started each of the Gators’ 68 games and was an All-SEC second-team selection. Florida returned to the WCWS, losing to Oklahoma in the championship series. McLean, who had seven hits and scored three runs in five games at the WCWS, made the All-Tournament team.

Biola went 24-16 in 2019, McLean’s first year as part of the team’s coaching staff.

“Even though these last few months have been some of the hardest,” McLean wrote on Facebook, “God has got ahold of my heart more than I ever thought was possible and I’ve felt more peace, joy and love than I ever thought was possible.”

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