Gator Spring sports beginning soon...

[ocalaman]

ocala, I think we can stop wondering about who is #2 behind Barnhill.

Natalie Lugo -- Lugo arrived at UF in the fall of 2017 as one of the top recruits in the country out of South Hills (Calif.) High School. She appeared in 13 games as a freshman (all but three out of the bullpen) and struck out 39 batters in 32 innings. She was 2-0 with a 2.41 ERA. She was part of the 2nd combined perfect game in UF history against Hampton, along with Aleshia Ocasio.

So far this season, in her 4 appearances that have counted this season, she's thrown 14 2/3 innings and allowed just two runs on 5 hits, good for a 0.95 ERA.

https://floridagators.com/news/2019/2/14/softball-lugo-gets-job-done-for-gators.aspx

So far so good with Lugo, but Farley & Hightower are going to be very good, too, and I wouldn't be surprised to see all 3 get their chances to pitch behind Barnhill this year. They have a very tough stretch of pre-conference games upcoming where they will be tested and they need to get the bats going, as several of the girls are off to struggling starts at the plate, especially with runners on base. This weekend will see them playing Illinois State again, plus Central Michigan, San Diego and host Arizona State, which will be their only Top 20 test. But then after a 7 game home stretch, the head out to California to play #2 UCLA twice, #5 Washington, #19 Oregon, plus Cal-State Northridge, who beat them last year. As long as Tim Walton is the coach, UF softball will be very good, ranked and always having fun. I love it!

 

[instaGATOR]

Baseball season opens tonight against the 'Dirtbags.'

~~ A little joke in their honor -- What's the difference between a motorcycle and a vacuum cleaner? --- With a vacuum cleaner, the dirtbag rides on the inside...

Moving right along...

OMG, O'Sul has lost UF"s All Time Career Saves Record holder (Byrne) to MLB and is replacing him with a true Fr, 5-foot-9, 175-pound RHP Nolan Crisp - Locust Grove, GA.

• 
  
  • Nolan skipped his HS senior season and enrolled early in January of 2019
  • Named the 2018 GA Region 4, 5-A PoY and Class 5-A All-State 1st Team
  • As a junior in 2018, struck out 97 batters with a 1.35 ERA over 67.0 innings
  • Also hit .422 with 28 RBI, 30 runs scored and 18 doubles
  • Member of USA Baseball 2017 17U National Team Development Program
  • A pitcher that is also a hitter,,, who ever heard of such a thing.... --

 

[ocalaman]

I'm listening to the UF/Ill. St. softball game on the radio and will be watching the Gator/Dirtbags game at 6:30 on SEC+. Can't wait to see this year's edition of Sully's boys.

 

[ocalaman]

Gator softball just won a squeaker 2-1 against 0-8 Illinois St. Natalie Lugo had a perfect game through 5 innings, but gave up a walk and double in the 6th inning. UF scored 2 runs in the 2nd inning, but hit into 2 double plays and just couldn't get a hit with runners in scoring position after that. Kelly Barnhill pitched a perfect 7th for her 3rd save, as Lugo goes to 3-0 and the Gators go to 7-0, with a big game tonight a 9 pm vs. home team #16 Arizona State. Bats need to come alive to support the great pitching.

 

[instaGATOR]

Bottom of the 4th, Gator Baseball is up 4 - 2 on the Dirtbags. GoGators...

 

[ocalaman]

Brady Smith is really struggling behind the plate. I know they want his bat in the lineup, but he's dropped 2 foul balls and let 5-6 pitches get by him that cost them both runs.

 

[instaGATOR]

It's real early in the season yet ocala, and the more good stuff the pitcher has, the more difficult it becomes for the catcher. O'Sul has several catchers, so we'll just have to wait and see which one can get it done as the season progresses....

 

[ocalaman]

It's real early in the season yet ocala, and the more good stuff the pitcher has, the more difficult it becomes for the catcher. O'Sul has several catchers, so we'll just have to wait and see which one can get it done as the season progresses....

Agree. We have Greenfield and Girand from last year, plus he brought in a JC transfer. The baseball game has been sloppy on both sides, but the balk that gave us a run and then the dropped 2-out pop fly to left field that cleared the bases gave us an 8-2 lead going to the 8th, so it's going to be a win. O'Sullivan is great at what he does. He sorts it out as he goes and I have no doubt we'll be fine. I'm liking the new pitchers - Specht, true freshman from Ft. Myers and Justin Alintoff who transferred after 1 year at a JC.
On the softball front, Kelly Barnhill gave up a leadoff home run to Arizona St. after Amanda Lorenz led off the game with a home run. And then gave up a run-scoring double in the 3rd. But Lorenz has homered again and we're up on the $14 Sun Devils 3-2 in the top of the 4th.
And the #2 gymnastic team just finished beating #9 Alabama in Tuscaloosa 197.325 to 196.475.

 

[ocalaman]

UF baseball wins 8-2. Softball beats #14 Arizona State 7-2. Kelly Barnhill ran her record to 5-0, giving up 4 hits and striking out 14. Amanda Lorenz had 2 home runs and Hannah Adams hit one as well. UF softball plays San Diego at 1:30 and Utah State at 6:30 on Saturday, then Central Michigan at 11 AM Sunday. Good day for Gator athletics.

 

[instaGATOR]

Winning,,, while sorting out the little things, is a lot better than losing while doing so...

"I wish there was one thing you could tell them to kind of settle them in, but there really isn't," O'Sullivan said. "I mean, there's no long speeches, there's no 'This is what you should expect.' Until you're out there and the lights go on and the umpire says, 'Play ball,' you can't simulate that in practice."

"I would expect us to get better as the weekend goes on and as time goes on, but, with so many new faces, it's not surprising that we made some mistakes tonight."

Fortunately, they've got time on their side. The Road to Omaha is a long, winding road.
(this ain't brain surgury, it's what most teams go through to begin most seasons. iG)

"Every [team] is going to tell you the same thing regardless if they won or loss tonight," O'Sullivan said. "There's a long way to go in this thing. There's a lot of things to work on. So, you just hope that you make mistakes and learn from them and you don't continue to make the same ones over and over."
==========

#4 UF Softball (8-0) - Their win over #14 AzSt is the Gators 3rd win over a Top 25 this season.

So,,, No Worries Mates -- iG

 

[ocalaman]

UF softball just beat San Diego 12-4 in a 5 inning run-rule game. Gators slugged 15 hits and Danni Farley pitched the whole game for her 1st win as a Gator. She had a 12-1 lead going to the bottom of the 5th and although she was running out of gas and gave up a double, single and home run, Coach Walton stuck with her so she could finish the game.

 

[ocalaman]

UF baseball beat Long Beach St. 5-2. Tommy Mace pitched a solid 7 innings. Freshmen Christian Scott and Nolan crisp threw the 8th & 9th, with Crisp getting his 1st save as a Gator. UF scored 4 runs in the 2nd, only had 5 hits for the game and hit into 4 double plays, but the game was never really in doubt. Smith was good behind the plate and Fabian threw out a runner trying to score from 3rd on a fly ball to center.

Softball team won their 2nd game of the day 13-1 over Utah State. Freshman Elizabeth Hightower tossed a 5-inning 2 hitter with 10 K's. Lindaman & Hoover hit 3 run homers. UF is now 10-0 with a team batting average of .351 and a pitching ERA of 1.31 with 84 K's. They have 11 home runs and 68 RBI's already, with 8 players batting over .300, led by Amanda Lorenz at .500 and Kendyl Lindaman at .419.

 

[instaGATOR]

Ocala, do we like watching the 'little round ball' games,,, or what???
Baseball and Softball are only 2 of them.

After the 1st 2 rounds of the annual Florida Gators Golf (m) Invitational, the Gators sit tied for 4th.

Florida responded to falling into the consolation bracket in Tennis (m) with a dominating 4-1 win over Illinois at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Saturday.

The Gator's #6 ranked Lacrosse (w) Team bounces back from a 12 - 17 loss to #2 Maryland, with an exhibition game win over the Scottish National Team by a score of UF 32 - 1 Scotland....
Next up is @ #9 Loyola on Feb 23 at 12 PM.

Baseball 3-0
Basketball (m) 14-11, 6-6 SEC
Gymnastics (w) 5-1, 5-0 SEC
Lacrosse 1-1
Softball 11-0
S & D (m) 9-1 5-0 SEC
S & D (w) 10-2, 4-1 SEC
Tennis (m) 6-1

 

[ocalaman]

And on Sunday, the softball team finished up their stay in Tempe, AZ with an 8-0, 5 inning run rule win over Central Michigan. Kelly Barnhill pitched 4 innings, allow 1 hit and striking out 8 to run her record to 6-0 for the 11-0 Gators. Natalie Lugo pitched the 5th frame with 3 K's. UF next plays Jacksonville at home Wednesday, followed by 6 home games next weekend - Friday against Illinois St. & Florida A&M, Saturday against Illinois St. & Syracuse, and Sunday against Syracuse and Florida A&M.

The baseball team completed a 3 game sweep of the Long Beach St. Dirtbags with a 3-1 win behind 6 solid innings from Jack Leftwich, 2 clean innings from Hunter Ruth and another save for freshman Nolan Crisp. Freshman Roberto Pena got a start at 3rd base, who got 1 of the 6 Gator hits. Also, JC transfer Santino Miozzi started at catcher, and he had a solid game behind the plate as well as getting a hit. Brady McConnell went 3-4 and he leads the team with a .417 BA after 3 games. Blake Reese left the game with an injured shoulder and was replaced by Cory Acton. Hope it's not serious. It will be interesting to see who O'Sullivan will use as his midweek starters, as the Gators have a Tuesday night game at USF, then a Wednesday home game vs. North Florida before Miami comes to town for the weekend series. All but the JU game will be carried on SEC+.

 

[instaGATOR]

A Sweet Spring Sports Round-up...

#2 Gator Gymnastice

#4 Gator Softball

#5. Gator Baseball

#6 Gator Lacrosse

http://www.gatorsports.com/2019/02/roundup-no-4-uf-softball-team-improves-to-11-0/

 

[instaGATOR]

Is the SEC a football conference, or a B-Ball conference, or is it really a Baseball conference? After the opening weekend, there are 8 SEC teams ranked in the Top 22 in the nation.

1. VU -- 2-1
2. LSU - 3-0
5. UF -- 3-0
9. UG -- 3-0
10. MS - 1-1
----- 5 in the Top 10
14. MsSt - 3-0
16. Ark --- 3-0
22. AU --- 2-1

https://www.ncaa.com/news/baseball/...kings-vanderbilt-holds-no-1-after-2-1-opening

 

[ocalaman]

Gator baseball off to a rough start at USF. Down 2-0 after 1. Kirby McMullen struggled in the 1st, giving up a walk and 3 hits, plus 2 other hard hit balls that were fielded. The infield missed 2 chances at a double play and Brady Smith had a passed ball.

 

[ocalaman]

McMullen lasts 2.1 innings, 5 hits, 2 walks, 1 K. Gators down 3-0 bottom of the 3rd. They've stranded 6 base runners and have no hits. Their pitcher has thrown 66 pitches, with 3 walks, 2 HBP and 1 error, but 4 K's and Gators have already stranded 6. Justin Alintoff now pitching for UF and Pena just made an error from 3rd.

 

[ocalaman]

Gators baseball lost to USF 6-1. Played poorly in every phase. 2 passed balls, only got 2 hits, gave up 12, left a ton of runners stranded and had 12 strikeouts I think.

 

[instaGATOR]

Mid-week early in the season with the roster still in constant flux.
Hopefully, things will settle out around the 10th game of the season....

 

[ocalaman]

Mid-week early in the season with the roster still in constant flux.
Hopefully, things will settle out around the 10th game of the season....

Agree - A lot more for Coach O to sort out this year than normal. With Reese out, our infield last night had 3 freshmen and a sophomore who only played 6 games last year. But the team as a whole just isn't putting the bat on the ball the last 3 games. He's throwing a lot of different pitchers out there early just to see which ones he can trust, so there will be growing pains all around.

 

[ocalaman]

Gator baseball loses to UNF 7-1 to drop to 3-2 on the year with Miami coming in over the weekend. O'Sullivan used 4 freshman pitchers and they held UNF to 3 runs until the 9th when they exploded for 4 runs. The Gators offensive woes continued as they struck out 11 times and just couldn't make anything happen at the plate. Freshmen struggling at bat is understandable, but our veterans have been horrible. Brady Smith, Austin Langworthy, Will Dalton and even Nelson Maldanado are really having trouble making contact. Long season, but they did not play well at all last night and tonight.

 

[ocalaman]

Softball teams beats JU in Jacksonville tonight 5-0 behind Natalie Lugo's 12 strikeouts to run their record to 12-0.

 

[instaGATOR]

Some (me included) rightly wondered how Gator pitching would fair with Rocha leaving.
That question has been answered in stunning fashion imo.

Kelly Barnhill Sr - 0.88 ERA, 6-0 -- IP 32.0 -- SV 3
Natalie Lugo So - 0.73 ERA, 4-0 -- IP 28.2 -- SV 0
Elizabeth Hightower Fr - 1.00 ERA, 1-0 -- IP 7.0 -- SV 0
Danni Farley Fr - 3.36 ERA, 1-0 -- IP 8.1 -- SV 0

 

[ocalaman]

Softball has 6 games that should be easy wins this weekend and then, starting next Wednesday, things get real. At UCLA, then a 5 game tournament in Fullerton, CA where they play New Mexico, Oregon, UCLA again, Washington U Cal State-Northridge, who beat them last year. Then they start their SEC schedule with a 3-game series hosting Tennessee.

 

[ocalaman]

#3 UF gymnastics lost in the O'Dome to #7 Georgia tonight by .075 points. Errors on the beam cost them enough to keep them from winning.

Earlier today the Gator softball team beat Illinois St. 7-0, as Kelly Barnhill ran her record to 7-0, giving up 2 hits and striking out 10 in 5 innings. Freshman Danni Farley pitched 2 innings of shutout ball.

 

[ocalaman]

UF softball ran their record to 14-0 with a 4-0 win over FAMU Friday night. Elizabeth Hightower started in the circle for the gators and pitched 2 innings of shutout ball. Natalie Lugo threw the final 5 innings, striking out 9 . The Gators scored a run on Jamie Hoover single in the 3rd and then put the game away with a 3-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the 6th by Amanda Lorenz.

 

[ocalaman]

UF baseball dropped to 3-3 with a 5-2 loss to Miami. The game was never really in doubt as Miami outhit UF 13-5, UF struck out 11 times, we made 2 errors and just couldn't make solid contact. The team batting average is around .200 with Langworthy, Brady Smith, Cory Acton, Jud Fabian and Wil Dalton all staring the season hitting well under .200. Brady McConnell and Kendrick Calilao the only gators hitting above .300. Long season, for sure, but a sluggish start for the baseball team.

 

[PacoGator19]

UF baseball dropped to 3-3 with a 5-2 loss to Miami. The game was never really in doubt as Miami outhit UF 13-5, UF struck out 11 times, we made 2 errors and just couldn't make solid contact. The team batting average is around .200 with Langworthy, Brady Smith, Cory Acton, Jud Fabian and Wil Dalton all staring the season hitting well under .200. Brady McConnell and Kendrick Calilao the only gators hitting above .300. Long season, for sure, but a sluggish start for the baseball team.

It’s going to be a rebuilding season for Sully and the baseball season. Sully is a great coach but we have never ever really been a good hitting team. We have always relied on great pitching and great defensive play. That is Sully’s style. The pitching isn’t going to be as good this year due to the extreme youth so the team is going to suffer because of it because the hitting isn’t going to be any better to make up for the loss in pitching.

 

[instaGATOR]

It’s going to be a rebuilding season for Sully and the baseball season. Sully is a great coach but we have never ever really been a good hitting team. We have always relied on great pitching and great defensive play. That is Sully’s style. The pitching isn’t going to be as good this year due to the extreme youth so the team is going to suffer because of it because the hitting isn’t going to be any better to make up for the loss in pitching.

Well then,,, the taco has spoken again. Just like the B-Ball team, the Baseball team is now completely and totally out of it, so we can all just move on to next season, or follow some other Gator sport...

Oh sorry, there is one difference for taco between the 2 teams.
Mike White is incompetent and needs to be replaced.
But O'Sul is a great coach that is building the team for the future...

(this is not personal, don't know the taco, just talking sports teams and coaches)

 

[PacoGator19]

Well then,,, the taco has spoken again. Just like the B-Ball team, the Baseball team is now completely and totally out of it, so we can all just move on to next season, or follow some other Gator sport...

Oh sorry, there is one difference for taco between the 2 teams.
Mike White is incompetent and needs to be replaced.
But O'Sul is a great coach that is building the team for the future...

(this is not personal, don't know the taco, just talking sports teams and coaches)

Compare post seasons between Sully and Mike White. Sully has a national title for one.

 

[instaGATOR]

Compare post seasons between Sully and Mike White. Sully has a national title for one.

WoW! What an impressive debate point taco. Now, tell me in what season after taking the UF job did O'Sul win that CWS?

 

[ocalaman]

Gator softball won 2 more games Saturday to improve their record to 16-0. They beat Illinois St. again 10-2, with Natalie Hugo getting the win and pushing her record to 6-0. Alex Voss hit a 3-run HR and 4 RBI's, Amanda Lorenz had 3 RBI's, Hannah Adams had 3 hits, Jamie Hoover had 2 hits and both scored 3 runs. In Game 2, Kelly Barnhill ran her record to 8-0 as UF beat Syracuse 8-0. Lorenz opened the game with a HR, Kendyl Lindaman hit a grand slam, Adams had 2 more hits and Voss added 2 hits and 2 RBI's. Gators finish up the weekend Sunday with a noon game vs. Syracuse, followed by a game against Florida A&M.

 

[ocalaman]

It’s going to be a rebuilding season for Sully and the baseball season. Sully is a great coach but we have never ever really been a good hitting team. We have always relied on great pitching and great defensive play. That is Sully’s style. The pitching isn’t going to be as good this year due to the extreme youth so the team is going to suffer because of it because the hitting isn’t going to be any better to make up for the loss in pitching.

It's way to early to give up on the baseball team. The pitching has been OK, but the defense and hitting, especially from the veterans who have a proven ability to hit and hit well, has not been up to par with past O'Sullivan teams. It's incredible that Langworthy, Maldanado, Dalton and Smith all got off to such horrible starts at the plate, but I have to believe their hitting is bound to come around. McConnell and Calilao have been good at the plate and the freshmen, who were part of the #2 class in the country, will certainly improve with experience. We had 7 MLB draft picks off last year's team, hit .274 with 100 HR's and 459 runs scored in 70 games. That's 1.4 HR's per game and just under 7 runs scored per game. Right now the team is batting just over .200, we have 1 HR and 20 runs scored. Those numbers obviously will improve and when they do the wins will start coming. This roster is full of very talented freshmen, 2 of whom should still be in high school, plus a group of very good experienced guys who will get it going. Let's so how things look this time next month. I'm optimistic.

 

[PacoGator19]

It's way to early to give up on the baseball team. The pitching has been OK, but the defense and hitting, especially from the veterans who have a proven ability to hit and hit well, has not been up to par with past O'Sullivan teams. It's incredible that Langworthy, Maldanado, Dalton and Smith all got off to such horrible starts at the plate, but I have to believe their hitting is bound to come around. McConnell and Calilao have been good at the plate and the freshmen, who were part of the #2 class in the country, will certainly improve with experience. We had 7 MLB draft picks off last year's team, hit .274 with 100 HR's and 459 runs scored in 70 games. That's 1.4 HR's per game and just under 7 runs scored per game. Right now the team is batting just over .200, we have 1 HR and 20 runs scored. Those numbers obviously will improve and when they do the wins will start coming. This roster is full of very talented freshmen, 2 of whom should still be in high school, plus a group of very good experienced guys who will get it going. Let's so how things look this time next month. I'm optimistic.

I never said it was time to give up on the baseball season. I just said IMO it’s going to be a long season and a struggle.

 

[ocalaman]

I never said it was time to give up on the baseball season. I just said IMO it’s going to be a long season and a struggle.

Time will tell. O'Sullivan is one of the all time Gator great coaches and knows what he's doing.

 

[PacoGator19]

Time will tell. O'Sullivan is one of the all time Gator great coaches and knows what he's doing.

I agree with you but with that being said I think our pitching staff just isn’t as strong as in years past and that will pose a problem.

 

[ocalaman]

Gators beat Miami tonight 9-3, scoring 1 in the 6th, 4 in the 7th and 4 in the 8th to overcome a 3-0 deficit. Tommy Mace pitched a solid 7 innings for his 2nd win, giving up only a 2 out 3 run HR in the 6th. Freshman Nolan Crisp pitched the 8th & 9th for his 3rd save (Sully may have found a viable replacement for Michael Byrne). Wil Dalton got the biggest hit with a 2 out bases clearing triple in the 7th to put UF ahead 5-3. Rubber game at 1 pm Sunday.

 

[ocalaman]

Saturday night, UF won their 7th straight and 40th all time SEC Men's Swimming & Diving title. The women's team finished 2nd.

 

[CountyGator2]

Men's track team won the SEC indoor championship last night. Grant Holloway is a monster. Guy had 28 points. Gators won team title easily. They have a great shot at their 4th indoor national title.