Gymnastics - The Undefeated, #1 ranked, SEC Regular Season Champion Gators compete this Saturday in the SEC Tournament in Huntsville, AL, and then start SEC Regional competition 4/1-4/3. The SEC tournament is on the regular SEC Network starting at 3:30 pm.
Volleyball - The 16-2, #7 ranked Gators have won 11 straight matches going back to November. They face #3, 16-0 Kentucky in 2 matches at home this Friday and Saturday, then conclude SEC play with 2 matches at currently 9-5 Texas A & M. All 4 final regulars season games will be on SEC+.
Lacrosse- Gators lacrosse, perennial conference champions of whatever league they are in, has started the season 3-2, with wins over Louisville, Stetson & Kennesaw State and losses to #1 North Carolina and an upset loss 12-11 to Jacksonville. They are in the American Athletic Conference this year and begin conference play this Friday & Saturday with games at Temple. Those games are on ESPN+. 2 conference games each against Cincinnati, East Carolina & Vanderbilt can all be watched on You Tube.
Softball - The #5 ranked Gator softball team, 17-2, opened their SEC schedule by winning 2 out of 3 against #9 Kentucky. This year's team does not have the dominant pitcher liked we're used to seeing, but will rely on a staff that includes Elizabeth Hightower (who is off to an excellent start), Natalie Lugo, Katie Chronister & Rylee Trlicek. The defense is great as usual, but Coach Walton is still looking for consistent hitting from 5-9 in the batting order. Cheyenne Lindsay, Hannah Adams, Charla Echols and Kendyl Lindaman have been solid 1-4, but the rest of the lineup has been shuffled often as they're trying to find the right combination that can help them compete at the high level we're all used to seeing. The only other loss on UF's record so far was when they split home & home games with FSU. Florida was picked pre-season as 3rd in the SEC, behind Alabama & LSU.
Baseball - The Consensus #1 team in the country starting the season, the Gators have gotten off to a somewhat shaky start, especially on defense and out of the bullpen. They are currently 13-4, losing 2 out of 3 at home against Miami to start the season. They then won 2 midweek games vs. North Florida, swept a 3-game weekend series against Samford, lost a midweek game 3-2 against ranked Florida Atlantic, then swept Florida A & M 3 games. This past week they beat Georgia State & Stetson mid-week, then won 2 out of 3 against Jacksonville. They play FSU in Tallahassee Tuesday night on ACC+, then begin SEC play Friday, Saturday & Sunday by hosting 14-4 Texas A&M. The Friday night game is on the regular SEC Network, Saturday & Sunday on SEC+. The team batting average is .303, led by Jacob Young at .359, Kirby McMullen at .349, freshman Colby Halter at .345, Nathan Hickey at .339 and Jordan Butler at .313. We have 23 home runs, led by Jud Fabian's 6 and 4 each from Kirby McMullen and Hickey. Hickey leads the Team in RBI's with 21, Fabian has 17 and Halter 17. One concern on offense is strikeouts, as we have 125 already in 17 games against pitching that has been nothing like we'll face in the SEC. Fabian has 24 K's, SS Josh Rivera 18, Hickey 16 and Kris Armstrong 14. Great defense has been a constant under Kevin O'Sullivan, but this year's team has not been good, with a current fielding percentage of .965. Before last weekend's games we were at .969, which was #127 in D1. As far as pitching, the starting pitching has been pretty good, even during the midweek games. But the bullpen has given up a lot of runs and blown several leads. The team ERA is 3.36, and was 3.50 before the weekend series vs. Jacksonville, which was #60 in D1, 12th in the SEC. Our Friday & Saturday starters, Tommy Mace & Jack Leftwich, both have ERA's under 2.00, with our Sunday starter, Hunter Barco, at 5.95, mainly due to getting blown up by Miami in his first start. Of the 73 runs allowed through 17 games, 14 have been unearned. The bullpen only has 3 saves. There is a lot of depth in the pitching staff, but 2 of our bullpen guys that would have contributed, Nick Pogue & Tyler Nesbitt, have been shelved for the year due to injuries. Two highly touted transfers, Trey Van Der Weide and Franco Aleman, have both gotten off to rough starts, although their last outings were good. Last week, one poll had 5 SEC teams in the Top 5 slots - Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Miss. St., Ole Miss & Florida. The talent is there for the Gators to do great things this year, but the SEC is excellent and deep as usual. Should be an interesting season to watch unfold.
Volleyball - The 16-2, #7 ranked Gators have won 11 straight matches going back to November. They face #3, 16-0 Kentucky in 2 matches at home this Friday and Saturday, then conclude SEC play with 2 matches at currently 9-5 Texas A & M. All 4 final regulars season games will be on SEC+.
Lacrosse- Gators lacrosse, perennial conference champions of whatever league they are in, has started the season 3-2, with wins over Louisville, Stetson & Kennesaw State and losses to #1 North Carolina and an upset loss 12-11 to Jacksonville. They are in the American Athletic Conference this year and begin conference play this Friday & Saturday with games at Temple. Those games are on ESPN+. 2 conference games each against Cincinnati, East Carolina & Vanderbilt can all be watched on You Tube.
Softball - The #5 ranked Gator softball team, 17-2, opened their SEC schedule by winning 2 out of 3 against #9 Kentucky. This year's team does not have the dominant pitcher liked we're used to seeing, but will rely on a staff that includes Elizabeth Hightower (who is off to an excellent start), Natalie Lugo, Katie Chronister & Rylee Trlicek. The defense is great as usual, but Coach Walton is still looking for consistent hitting from 5-9 in the batting order. Cheyenne Lindsay, Hannah Adams, Charla Echols and Kendyl Lindaman have been solid 1-4, but the rest of the lineup has been shuffled often as they're trying to find the right combination that can help them compete at the high level we're all used to seeing. The only other loss on UF's record so far was when they split home & home games with FSU. Florida was picked pre-season as 3rd in the SEC, behind Alabama & LSU.
Baseball - The Consensus #1 team in the country starting the season, the Gators have gotten off to a somewhat shaky start, especially on defense and out of the bullpen. They are currently 13-4, losing 2 out of 3 at home against Miami to start the season. They then won 2 midweek games vs. North Florida, swept a 3-game weekend series against Samford, lost a midweek game 3-2 against ranked Florida Atlantic, then swept Florida A & M 3 games. This past week they beat Georgia State & Stetson mid-week, then won 2 out of 3 against Jacksonville. They play FSU in Tallahassee Tuesday night on ACC+, then begin SEC play Friday, Saturday & Sunday by hosting 14-4 Texas A&M. The Friday night game is on the regular SEC Network, Saturday & Sunday on SEC+. The team batting average is .303, led by Jacob Young at .359, Kirby McMullen at .349, freshman Colby Halter at .345, Nathan Hickey at .339 and Jordan Butler at .313. We have 23 home runs, led by Jud Fabian's 6 and 4 each from Kirby McMullen and Hickey. Hickey leads the Team in RBI's with 21, Fabian has 17 and Halter 17. One concern on offense is strikeouts, as we have 125 already in 17 games against pitching that has been nothing like we'll face in the SEC. Fabian has 24 K's, SS Josh Rivera 18, Hickey 16 and Kris Armstrong 14. Great defense has been a constant under Kevin O'Sullivan, but this year's team has not been good, with a current fielding percentage of .965. Before last weekend's games we were at .969, which was #127 in D1. As far as pitching, the starting pitching has been pretty good, even during the midweek games. But the bullpen has given up a lot of runs and blown several leads. The team ERA is 3.36, and was 3.50 before the weekend series vs. Jacksonville, which was #60 in D1, 12th in the SEC. Our Friday & Saturday starters, Tommy Mace & Jack Leftwich, both have ERA's under 2.00, with our Sunday starter, Hunter Barco, at 5.95, mainly due to getting blown up by Miami in his first start. Of the 73 runs allowed through 17 games, 14 have been unearned. The bullpen only has 3 saves. There is a lot of depth in the pitching staff, but 2 of our bullpen guys that would have contributed, Nick Pogue & Tyler Nesbitt, have been shelved for the year due to injuries. Two highly touted transfers, Trey Van Der Weide and Franco Aleman, have both gotten off to rough starts, although their last outings were good. Last week, one poll had 5 SEC teams in the Top 5 slots - Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Miss. St., Ole Miss & Florida. The talent is there for the Gators to do great things this year, but the SEC is excellent and deep as usual. Should be an interesting season to watch unfold.
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