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Spring Sports Thread

#1 UF Gymnastics won their first round of the NCAA Regionals tonight in Athens, GA with a score of 197. 95, their 3rd highest score of the season, to advance to the regional finals tomorrow against North Carolina State, Denver & Minnesota, with the top 2 teams advancing to the NCAA Championships in 2 weeks. And they did this with their superstar, Trinity Thomas, only competing in 1 event, the uneven bars, where she scored the only perfecct 10 of the night. Trinity is still recovering from an ankle sprain and tey will need her at full strength to contend for a national title. Go Gators!
 
#10 UF Women's Lacrosse completed a sweep of East Carolina today with a 19-7 win, improving their record to 9=2, 6-0 in the AAC. The Gators seem to be heading for a conference title showdown in a couple of weeks against 11-2, 6-0 Vanderbilt. For some reason Vandy isn't ranked in the Top 25 even though their only losses were to #1 North Carolina and #4 Notre Dame.
 
#15 UF Women's Tennis beat #19 Vanderbilt today in Gainesville 4-2 to improve their record to 11-6, 9-3 in the SEC. They finish the regular season next Saturday at South Carolina.
 
Gator baseball hung on to win the rubber match of their weekend series with #3 Ole Miss, taking today's game 6-5. Nathan Hickey had a 2-run HR and a Sac. Fly RBI, Kirby McMullen had a Sc. Fly RBI, and starting SS Jordan Carrion hit a solo HR then came in and pitched 1.2 innings of clutch relief after Ole Miss was coming back from a 6-2 deficit and reliever Trey Van Der Weide had given up 2 singles and a triple with 2 outs in the top of the 7th. Ryan Cabarcas got the save, recording the final 2 outs in the top of the 9th after Ole Miss got consecutive 1-out singles. Starter Hunter Barco threw 5 pretty good innings to get the win, giving up 3 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits. UF improves to 18-9, 5-4 in the SEC. This week they host a tough Stetson team Tuesday night, FAMU Wednesday night, then head to Knoxville for a 3-game series with Tennessee.
 
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UF Gymnasts just won the Athens Regional with a score of 197.700 to earn a slot in the NCAA Championships in Ft. Worth, Texas in 2 weeks. The Gators did this with their best gymnast, Trinity Thomas, only competing in the Uneven Bars. In order to realistically have a chance at a national title, they will need her ankle healed fully so that she can compete in all 4 events. UF showed a lot of grit tonight, overcoming some problems in the Vault and an opening fall in the Beam. But under pressure these great athletes came through and won the Regional by .275 over 2nd place Minnesota, who will join them in Ft. Worth. Denver & NC State were eliminated.
 
Mary Wilson Avant outdueled Elizabeth Hightower as Georgia softball won the first game of the 3-game series 4-2 Saturday night in Athens. Avant only gave up 1 hit, a 2-run HR to Baylee Goddard in the 2nd inning, as she shut down UF's offense. Hightower only gave up 5 hits, but 2 were home runs, one a 2-run shot from their #9 batter, who hit her first homer of the year. Right now Arkansas leads the SEC at 12-0, while the Gators dropped to 8-2, but remain in 2nd place. Game 2 of the series is Sunday afternoon at 3 pm on the SEC Network.
 
UF Men's Tennis claim the SEC Regular Season Championship today with a 5-2 match win over Kentucky. The #1 ranked Gators ran their record to 17-1, 11-0 in the SEC and will finish the regular season Friday at South Carolina.
 
Gator softball slammed Georgia (23-6, 4-4) this afternoon 17-1 to even the series and improve their record to 26-4, 9-2 in the SEC. UF batters got to 6 different Georgia pitchers in 5 innings for 12 hits and 13 walks, led by Cheyenne Lindsay's 3 hits and 5 RBI, a HR, sac fly and 5 RBI from Charla Echols, a HR from Julia Cottril and 2 hits and 3 RBI from Avery Goelz. Natalie Lugo tossed a 3 hitter in the 5 inning game. The teams play the rubber match Monday night at 7 pm.
 
UF's 19-3 SEC runner-up Volleyball team got the 8th SEC for the NCAA tournament, with the bracket show this afternoon. The Gators open play in Omaha, Nebraska April 15 at 3:30 PM against the winner of Creighton & Morehead St.. Should they win that match they will face the winner of South Dakota/Missouri vs. #9 Ohio State on April 18. Win that match and they most likely get #1 seed Wisconsin in the Sweet 16. This Gator team has size and talent, are one of the best blocking teams in the country and when they limit mistakes from the service line and avoid too many hitting errors, they can beat anybody. SEC champ Kentucky was awarded the overall #2 seed, as only 3 SEC teams made the 48 team field, 32 getting automatic bids as conference champions.
 
#5 UF softball won the rubber game at Georgia 8-1 to improve their record to 27-4, 10-2 in the SEC, as they reached the halfway point in their SEC schedule. Katie Chronister, 6-1, pitched 4 innings and Natalie Lugo threw the final 3 for her 3rd save. Charla Echols slugged 2 home runs and had 3 RBI, Hannah Adams had 2 hits and 2 RBI, as the Gators were aided by Bulldog errors that led to 4 unearned runs. UF next has a doubleheader vs. USF Wednesday and then play the Canadian National team Saturday, as the get a break from the SEC schedule this weekend.
 
Saturday's game seemed to wake them up. They really smacked the dawgs around these last 2 games.
 
#12 Gator baseball improved to 19-9 with a 7-6 win over a tough Stetson team. Garrett Milchin pitched 5 innings and only gave up 2 solo HR. The Gators built a 6-2 lead and had chances to get more, pounding out 13 hits for the game. Ryan Cabarcas threw 2 good innings of relief, but 4 Gator errors and some bad pitches from Brandon Sproat allowed Stetson to get 2 runs in the 8 and 2 more in the 9th before Franco Aleman came in and recorded the final 3 outs for the save. Josh Rivera's solo HR in the bottom of the 8th gave the Gators their decisive 7th run.
 
#12 Gator baseball improved to 19-9 with a 7-6 win over a tough Stetson team. Garrett Milchin pitched 5 innings and only gave up 2 solo HR. The Gators built a 6-2 lead and had chances to get more, pounding out 13 hits for the game. Ryan Cabarcas threw 2 good innings of relief, but 4 Gator errors and some bad pitches from Brandon Sproat allowed Stetson to get 2 runs in the 8 and 2 more in the 9th before Franco Aleman came in and recorded the final 3 outs for the save. Josh Rivera's solo HR in the bottom of the 8th gave the Gators their decisive 7th run.
Goodness we struggle to hold onto leads in the late innings. I know Sully is still tinkering with the pitching rotation, but surely we can get someone out of that pen. Stetson is actually pretty decent.
 
UF baseball improved to 20-9 with a 10-0, 7 inning win over FAMU tonight. 4 Gator pitchers combined on a 2-hitter, although they did issue 10 walks, 6 in 2 inning by starter Timmy Manning. UF got 11 hits, including a 4-hit, 3 RBI night from Nathan Hickey, a 3-run HR from Jud Fabian, and 2 hits and 2 RBI from catcher Cal Greenfield. The Gators travel to Knoxville for a Friday, Saturday, Sunday series at the 24-5, 6th ranked Vols.
 
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UF softball won a doubleheader from USF today to go to 29-4 on the season. Elizabeth Hightower improved her record to 13-2 in Game 1 as the Gators won 9-1. UF scored 5 runs in the first behind a Charla Echols 3-run HR. Kendyl Lindaman hit a 2-run HR in the 4th as the Gators coasted over a tough USF team that is n ow 17-9, 7-1 in the AAC, with 4 of their losses to Florida. In the 2nd game, Natalie Lugo improved to 9-1, throwing 5 innings and gibing up 1 run on a wild pitch, while Katie Chronister got her first save pitching a perfect final 2 innings. Emily Wilkie hit a solo HR in the 2nd and Charla Echols had an RBI double in the 5th to give the Gators a 2-1 win. They next play 15-4 Western Kentucky Saturday & Sunday, along with an exhibition game against the Canadian National team Saturday.
 
UF Men's Tennis (#1) finished their regular season by winning a tough match at #13 South Carolina 4-3. The Gators won the doubles point and #6 singles player Josh Goodger quickly won his match in straight sets 6-2, 7-5. But the Gators' #1 Duarte Vale lost 5-7, 2-6, before #3 UF singles player Andy Andrade won his match 7-5, 6-3, giving the Gators a 3-1 lead. But UF's #5, freshman Ben Shelton, lost his match in 3 sets 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, then the Gators #2 Sam Riffice lost his match, 7-6, 3-6, 4-6, tying the match at 3-3. It all came down to the #4 singles match, in which sophomore Blaise Bicknell came from behind to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, giving the Gators the narrow win. The 18-1, 12-0 Gators are off until the SEC tournament in Fayetteville, Arkansas beginning April 19.
 
UF baseball loses game 1 at Tennessee 6-4. This year's team isn't doing the little things that win ballgames. Jordan Butler misplayed a slow chopper at 1st that was ruled a hit. With 2 outs and runners on first and second, CF Jud Fabian had a ball bounce off his glove for a 2 run double. We had runners on 1st & 2nd nobody out after already scoring 2 runs to tie the game and a chance to take the lead. Carrion struck out trying to bunt and then Jacob Young hit a line drive off the pitcher to the 2nd baseman who doubled off the runner at second. Tommy Mace was OK in the 6 innings he pitched, but 3 of the 4 runs he gave up came with 2 outs. Christian Scott gave up a run in the bottom of the 7th and another in the bottom of the 8th, while their reliver shut us down the final 2 innings. Little things - they did them, we didn't. They're 26-5, 8-2, we're 20-10, 5-5.
 
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UF baseball loses game 1 at Tennessee 6-4. This year's team isn't doing the little things that win ballgames. Jordan Butler misplayed a slow chopper at 1st that was ruled a hit. With 2 outs and runners on first, CF Jud Fabian had a ball bounce off his glove for a 2 run double. We had runners on 1st & 2nd nobody out after already scoring 2 runs to tie the game and a chance to take the lead. Carrion struck out trying to bunt and then Jacob Young hit a line drive off the pitcher to the 2nd baseman who doubled off the runner at second. Tommy Mace was OK in the 6 innings he pitched, but 3 of the 4 runs he gave up came with 2 outs. Christian Scott gave up a run in the bottom of the 7th and another in the bottom of the 8th, while their reliver shut us down the final 2 innings. Little things - they did them, we didn't. They're 26-5, 8-2, we're 20-10, 5-5.
I hope it’s because of how young this team is. Got some time to mature. But striking out on the bunt attempt after UT flubbed a pick off play was the turning point. Defense also needs to tighten up.
 
UF baseball loses game 1 at Tennessee 6-4. This year's team isn't doing the little things that win ballgames. Jordan Butler misplayed a slow chopper at 1st that was ruled a hit. With 2 outs and runners on first, CF Jud Fabian had a ball bounce off his glove for a 2 run double. We had runners on 1st & 2nd nobody out after already scoring 2 runs to tie the game and a chance to take the lead. Carrion struck out trying to bunt and then Jacob Young hit a line drive off the pitcher to the 2nd baseman who doubled off the runner at second. Tommy Mace was OK in the 6 innings he pitched, but 3 of the 4 runs he gave up came with 2 outs. Christian Scott gave up a run in the bottom of the 7th and another in the bottom of the 8th, while their reliver shut us down the final 2 innings. Little things - they did them, we didn't. They're 26-5, 8-2, we're 20-10, 5-5.
Need to get the next 2.
 
#5 UF softball improved to 30-4 today with a 5-2 win over Western Kentucky. Charla Echols slammed a solo HR and Julie Cottrill hit a 2-run HR in the first inning off a WKU pitcher who is ranked among the 25 best in the nation. Baylee Goddard went 2-2 and other RBI came from Hannah Adams and Emily Wilkie. Elizabeth Hightower improved to 14-2, pitching 5 innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits, 4 K's and a walk. Katie Chronister shut out WKU the final 2 innings to record her 2nd save.
 
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Gator baseball loses again to Tennessee, this time 5-4. The bullpen, once again, was our undoing. We outhit the Vols 9-4, but struck out 9 times and left 9 baserunners stranded. Franco Alemon pitched great for 5 innings, giving up only 1 hit and a walk. But he tired in the 6th with a 3-0 lead (scored in the 4th) and walked the first 2 batters. Jack Leftwich came in from the bullpen and threw 8 straight balls to walk in a run. O'Sullivan took him out and brought in Trey Van Der Weide. He got a ground ball double play that scored a run, cutting the lead to 3-2. 2 outs, runner on 3rd, we're good, right. Wrong! UT then got 3 straight hits, their only other hits in the game besides a leadoff single in the first. That plated 3 more runs and their bullpen held us to only 1 run in the top of the 9th for the 5-4 win. UF badly needs to avoid the sweep Sunday afternoon, as they're digging a hole for themselves in the SEC title race, as well as seeding for the NCAA tournament. We have a Tuesday game vs. FSU and then Missouri comes to Gainesville next weekend.
 
Gator baseball loses again to Tennessee, this time 5-4. The bullpen, once again, was our undoing. We outhit the Vols 9-4, but struck out 9 times and left 9 baserunners stranded. Franco Alemon pitched great for 5 innings, giving up only 1 hit and a walk. But he tired in the 6th with a 3-0 lead (scored in the 4th) and walked the first 2 batters. Jack Leftwich came in from the bullpen and threw 8 straight balls to walk in a run. O'Sullivan took him out and brought in Trey Van Der Weide. He got a ground ball double play that scored a run, cutting the lead to 3-2. 2 outs, runner on 3rd, we're good, right. Wrong! UT then got 3 straight hits, their only other hits in the game besides a leadoff single in the first. That plated 3 more runs and their bullpen held us to only 1 run in the top of the 9th for the 5-4 win. UF badly needs to avoid the sweep Sunday afternoon, as they're digging a hole for themselves in the SEC title race, as well as seeding for the NCAA tournament. We have a Tuesday game vs. FSU and then Missouri comes to Gainesville next weekend.
Well, I give up on us being able to hold leads. To lose while only giving up 4 hits is a bummer. This team needs to grab on of these. We will be looking at the bottom of the east.
 
Gator baseball salvaged the final game against Tennessee, coming from 3 runs down to win 7-6. Hunter Barco only lasted 4 innings, throwing 91 pitches, walking in a run in the 2nd and being on the mound in the 4th when 2 outfield throwing errors allowed 2 unearned runs to score, along with an earned run. This was after the Gators had taken a 3-1 lead in the top of the inning on a 2-run HR from Jacob Young. Reliever Ryan Cabarcas gave up a 2 run HR in the 5th to put UT ahead 6-3. Christian Scott threw the final 4 innings, only allowing a hit and a walk. We picked up 1 run in the 7th on an RBI ground out from Kirby McMullen. In the 8th, after a Josh Rivera single and a Colby Halter double, Kris Armstrong blasted a 3-run HR to put UF ahead. This was a much needed win, as the Gators improved to 21-11, 6-6 in the SEC.
 
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Gator baseball salvaged the final game against Tennessee, coming from 3 runs down to win 7-6. Hunter Barco only lasted 4 innings, throwing 91 pitches, walking in a run in the 2nd and being on the mound in the 4th when 2 outfield throwing errors allowed 2 unearned runs to score, along with an earned run. This was after the Gators had taken a 3-1 lead in the top of the inning on a 2-run HR from Jacob Young. Reliever Ryan Cabarcas gave up a 2 run HR in the 5th to put UT ahead 6-3. Christian Scott threw the final 4 innings, only allowing a hit and a walk. We picked up 1 run in the 7th on an RBI ground out from Kirby McMullen. In the 8th, after a Josh Rivera single and a Colby Halter double, Kris Armstrong blasted a 3-run HR to put UF ahead. This was a much needed win, as the Gators improved to 21-11, 6-6 in the SEC.
Huge to get a road win. We seem to be a different team at home vs the road. Candidly we had a shot to sweep the weekend. I think Sully is getting the most out of the team considering our shortcomings. Great experience for a fairly young team. So many of these teams are loaded with experienced kids.
 
Huge to get a road win. We seem to be a different team at home vs the road. Candidly we had a shot to sweep the weekend. I think Sully is getting the most out of the team considering our shortcomings. Great experience for a fairly young team. So many of these teams are loaded with experienced kids.
Sully has expressed disappointment over the defense and pitching. We're last in the SEC in fielding percentage and lead in errors. Usually we're near the best in the nation on defense. We came into the season with a highly rated pitching staff, led by Mace & Leftwich, experienced guys with a lot of success expected to be drafted very high. Mace has been OK, while Leftwich has been really good in only 1 start, terrible in several. We had a couple of injuries to the bullpen, but guys who have had success in the past have really struggled and from what Gator commentators have said, O'Sullivan has been puzzled by why we've not had better pitching. We are loaded with experienced talent. On offense, we've started 3-4 freshmen on a regular basis and only 2 of our experienced guys have been consistently good - Young & Hickey. The new guys have simply beaten out some of our older guys for starting jobs and freshmen will be up & down. The offense has been good enough - it's the staples of O'Sullivan's teams, defense & pitching, that so far have underperformed. And I think he's as mystified as the fans.
 
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The 13th ranked UF Women's Tennis team finished their regular season today by winning at #23 South Carolina 4-2. For those who don't know, but are afraid to ask (most probably don't care), college tennis begins with the doubles point. Each team sends out 3 doubles partners to play each other 1 set. The first school to win 2 of the 3 sets gets 1 point for their team. Then there are 6 singles matches, best out of 3 sets, with each match worth 1 point. The first team to 4 points wins the match. Each coach decides before the match which players are slotted into each singles spot, 1 through 6, Generally it's the best at #1 and the weakest at #6, but there can be strategy used depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent. In today's match, South Carolina won the doubles point and won the first completed singles match at #6. Florida then won singles at #1, 2, 4 & 5, with the #3 singles left unfinished because the Gators had won the 4 points needed to win. UF finished the season at 16-6, 10-3 in the SEC, good for 2nd place behind 16-1, 13-0 Georgia. The SEC tournament starts 4/19 in Tuscaloosa, NCAA Regionals start May 7.
 
Gators and nolies tied at 2 in the 10th. Damn we strike out a ton. 0 for 15 with men on base tonight. Ouch.
 
I've always liked Kendrick Callilao and think he should be our regular 1st baseman over Butler. Milchin was very good the 1st 6 innings and Leftwich was tremendous in his 4 innings of relief. Great to see him get the win. This was a HUGE win for the Gators and we now need to sweep a very average Missouri team this weekend.
 
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I've always liked Kendrick Callilao and think he should be our regular 1st baseman over Butler. Milchin was very good the 1st 6 innings and Leftwich was tremendous in his 4 innings of relief. Great to see him get the win. This was a HUGE win for the Gators and we now need to sweep a very average Missouri team this weekend.
Might be one of our best pitching performances. I think we only gave up 3 hits? Is that right?
 
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The Gators have tons of talent. They just need to put it together and they can beat anyone. This team can win the national championship. Just need to play up to their potential.
I’m going to slightly disagree with you here. This late in the season we are who we are. It isn’t a national championship type team. Not in my opinion it sure isn’t. Too many issues that need to be fixed that haven’t improved.
 
I agree with Paco. A great goal with this group would be possibly a super regional appearance. Good news is we have one of the best at the helm, we have a lot of young kids getting experience, and we have the nations top recruiting class coming in. Funny, Sully has created a program where a bad year is finishing in the top 25. Love that.
 
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Huge win last night. Hope the walk off gets Calilou more ABs. Announcers were saying it last night, the kid just hits. I know we've got a lot of talented young guys, but his bat needs to be in the lineup.

I think if we can get into a Super or the CWS, we're capable of winning it. We have to hit up to our ability though if our pitching is going to be average. Think we're in pretty good shape to host a regional if we can string some series wins together and we might go into the Arkansas series with an outside shot at a national seed.
 
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