By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning:
GATORS WALK IT OFF! THOMPSON HOMER DOOMS FSU
Sterlin Thompson’s towering 2-run homer over the right field fence with two out in the bottom of the ninth Monday night gave Florida (33-19) a 7-5 walk-off win over 20th-ranked Florida State (32-19) before a crowd of 6,899 at Condron Family Ballpark. The win was the 19th in the last 23 games for the Gators over FSU, the second in three games this season, and the 10th in the last 12 games for a Florida team that is surging at just the right time.
Thompson’s heroics were made possible by a terrific two-out at bat by Wyatt Langford, who singled on a 3-2 pitch off Davis Hare. It was the third hit of the game for Langford. The first two left the yard. With Langford on first, FSU brought in lefty Andrew Armstrong to face the lefty-swinging Thompson but he left a 1-1 breaking ball over the plate that Thompson blasted for his 10th homer of the season to win the game.
Langford’s first and 18th homer of the season came on the first pitch he saw from Jackson Baumeister, a deep drive off the green monster in dead center field. In the fourth, with the Gators trailing 3-1, Langford hit his 19th homer deep to right center. Later in the inning with two out, freshman Jac Caglianone hit a 2-run single and freshman Ty Evans tripled to right field to give the Gators a 5-3 lead.
FSU rallied to tie the game in the top of the fourth, but over the final 5-1/3 innings, Florida’s pitchers hung zeroes on the scoreboard. Tyler Nesbitt was outstanding in his 3-1/3 inning stint in which he gave up a single and struck out five before giving way to Ryan Slater (4-3) in the ninth for the final two outs of the game.
This was an improbable win for the Gators, who managed only seven hits while striking out 15 times against FSU pitching. Following the Evans triple, the Gators didn’t get a hit until Langford’s single in the ninth inning.
The win was important, not just because it gave the Gators the season series with the Seminoles, but momentum heading into this weekend’s SEC matchup with South Carolina at Condron Family Ballpark. The Gators are 13-14 in SEC play, one game ahead of South Carolina in the SEC East and one behind Vanderbilt and Georgia, which are tied for second place. Two wins would give the Gators a break-even SEC record, something that seemed impossible three weeks ago. Should the Gators sweep the Gamecocks and Georgia and Vanderbilt fail to sweep their weekend opponents, Florida could wind up with a most improbable second place finish in the SEC East.
“We were fortunate enough to win some games recently, so we've kind of built some momentum,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “It's important. We're getting in the part of the season where every win is magnified, and I'd like to think that we're hopefully playing the best baseball this time of year. Certainly, this win is only going to help the RPI moving forward.”
UF MEN’S GOLF: GATORS MOVE UP TO THIRD IN REGIONAL
Day two of the Palm Beach Regional saw the Gators make a solid move with a 4-under (284) to move into third place, two shots behind second place Florida State and 11 behind front runner and top seeded Vanderbilt. Fred Biondi led the way for the Gators with a 3-under par 69, which moved him into a fourth place tie on the individual leaderboard. John Dubois shot even par 72 for sole possession of 17th place while Yuxin Lin shot 73 for the second straight day for a 5-way tie for 18th.
The Gators are in good shape for the final round of the tournament. The top six teams advance to Scottsdale, Arizona for the NCAA Championships on May 24. The Gators hold a 4-shot advantage over 4th-place South Florida, a 6-shot lead over 5th-place College of Charleston and a 10-shot lead over 6th-place Notre Dame.
UF MEN’S TENNIS: NO. 2 GATORS TAKE ON NO. 7 UVA IN NCAA QUARTERS
This is a red-hot Florida team that heads into the NCAA quarterfinals today in Champaign, Illinois against 7th-seeded Virginia, a team the Gators beat, 4-2, earlier in the season at the ITA National Indoor Tournament in Seattle. That win started the Gators (26-2) on a roll of 21 straight wins, which includes three straight in NCAA Tournament play by 4-0 scores.
Ben Shelton, son of UF coach Bryan Shelton, is the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament with a 31-5 record in singles play. Shelton and senior captain Sam Riffice (21-5) both qualified for the individual championship in singles and in doubles.
SOFTBALL OBSERVATIONS AS GATORS HOST REGIONAL AS A 14 SEED
The Gators (43-16) are a No. 14 seed in the NCAA Softball Tournament, hosting an NCAA regional for the 16th time in 17 years (no tournament was played in 2020). Should they emerge a winner in the Gainesville Regional that begins Friday with Georgia Tech facing Wisconsin and the Gators squaring off with Canisius (32-16) at 4:30 p.m., they’re almost certain to hit the road for the super regional, the first time that’s happened since 2007.
On paper you might think this is not a very good Florida softball team, but in fact, this might be one of the better coaching jobs Tim Walton has ever done. He’s never had a team with this little power (only 33 home runs in 59 games, a 21-homer dropoff from last season), and he really doesn’t have an ace on his pitching staff. You could almost say Walton’s gotten it done with smoke and mirrors this year because it certainly isn’t your typical UF team.
Nowhere is the power dropoff more evident than third baseman Charla Echols. She left the yard 15 times last season. This year she has only four home runs. Because no one in front or behind her is much of a home run threat, Echols isn’t seeing a lot of pitches to drive. She’s got 50 RBI – 55 last year – but so often she’s having to go opposite field because very few pitchers in the SEC are willing to see if she can turn on an inside pitch.
When the Gators won back-to-back national championships in 2014-15, they hit 89 homers in 2014, 80 in 2015. Four players hit 10 or more homers on the 2014 team, three in 2015. Freshman Reagan Walsh leads the 2022 Gators with seven homers. Walton is winning games this season with a small ball attack that is pretty good when Kendra Falby (35-38 stolen bases) and Skylar Wallace (47-51) are getting on base at the top of the lineup. Keep those two off the basepaths and the Gators struggle.
As for pitching, there is no Stacey Nelson, Hannah Rogers, Lauren Haeger or Kelly Barnhill. There is no dominant pitcher on this team, in part because this they have struggled all season to find the strike zone on a consistent basis. Florida pitchers have walked 185 batters in 397-2/3 innings this season. A year ago in 22 fewer innings, the pitchers walked only 117 batters. Last year’s ace Elizabeth Hightower (16-7, 2.32 ERA) has struggled with consistency. She has walked 64, hit 11 batters, thrown 17 wild pitches and 13 of her pitches have been deposited over the wall. Natalie Lugo (9-5, 2.22 ERA) struggles the second time through the lineup. Freshman Lexie Delbrey (13-3, 2.30 ERA) throws harder than anyone on the staff but if she doesn’t get off to a good start throwing strikes, she can struggle. Walton says it’s nothing mechanical, but she’s got to get the mental part down pat.
Despite their many flaws, this team can still make it to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series, but the margin for error is very slim. The Gators should win the regional, but if they have to go to Virginia Tech they’ll be facing a team with good but not great power up and down the lineup and whose pitchers have struck out 512 batters this season (Florida 336).
Can the Gators get it done and make it to Okie City? It’s not probable but it’s far from impossible.
KENNEDY TRANSFERS TO TEXAS STATE
Elijah Kennedy (6-3, 185) whose freshman year for Mike White got off to a good start but fizzled once the Gators got to the SEC portion of their schedule, has transferred to Texas State. Kennedy scored 31 points in 23 games this season but only five against SEC opponents.
SEC FOOTBALL/BASKETBALL
Alabama: The Alabama-Texas game in Austin on September 10 will be a noon kickoff on Fox.
Georgia: Four-start cornerback Marcus Washington (6-0, 170, Groveton, GA) will skip his senior year in high school to enroll early at Georgia. Humphrey runs a 4.46 in the 40 and 10.76 for 100 meters … Georgia’s September 3 season opener with Oregon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta will kickoff at 3 p.m. on ABC.
Kentucky: Some of the early NFL Draft analysis for 2023 has Kentucky quarterback Will Levis going in the first round. Chris Trapasso of CBS is one of several who have Levis as the top quarterback taken next April.
LSU: Matt McMahon continues his impressive recruiting, signing 4-star 7-footer Shawn “Baby Shaq” Phillips (7-0, 220, Dayton, OH/Glendale, AZ Dream City Christian).
Mississippi State: D.J. Jeffries (6-7, 225), who averaged 8.9 points and 4.2 rebounds last year after transferring from Memphis, has withdrawn from the transfer portal and will return to Mississippi State to play for new coach Chris Jans next season.
Missouri: Chris Shearin, a backup DB who played almost exclusively on special teams in 2021, is transferring to UConn.
South Carolina: Wide receiver/tight end EJ Jenkins, who was a record-setting receiver in D1AA before transferring to South Carolina last year, is transferring to Georgia Tech. He caught eight passes for 117 yards and a touchdown last year.
Texas A&M: Not everything the Aggies do with football recruiting works perfectly. North Caddo Magnet School (Vivian, LA) head coach JJ Kavanaugh received a letter in the mail addressed only to the “head football coach” and owing $1.56 in postage. On twitter Kavanaugh said “with all due respect I will not be paying for your postage.”
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Perhaps the NCAA thought that it’s tough-sounding memo that vowed to crack down on NIL would cause everyone to shake in their shorts. Well, perhaps the NCAA miscalculated. Again.
The state house and senate in the state of Missouri have passed a bill that will allow any athletic department official including COACHES to assist players with NIL deals. The only thing remaining is a signature by Governor Mike Parsons to become state law. This gives new meaning to the newly coined phrase “Now It’s Legal” because it means a coach can collaborate with collectives or boosters to get money to recruits and there isn’t anything the NCAA can do about it since it has no ability to enforce its restrictions if they run contrary to state law.
Missouri isn’t the only state expanding NIL legislation. They’re doing it in Tennessee, Louisiana and Illinois, each state amending existing laws to expand what collectives, boosters and others can do to pay for players. If they’re doing it Tennessee and Louisiana, you know that every other legislature in states that are home to SEC schools will also act quickly to change or amend their laws. No sense in getting left behind, is there?
This is not what the NCAA intended, but when does anything the NCAA intends work out anymore? You know that answer already and in the words of that already used too much phrase, the toothpaste is out of the tube and it’s not going back in. Maybe you don’t like the idea of pay for play, but it’s here and it isn’t going away.
A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning:
GATORS WALK IT OFF! THOMPSON HOMER DOOMS FSU
Sterlin Thompson’s towering 2-run homer over the right field fence with two out in the bottom of the ninth Monday night gave Florida (33-19) a 7-5 walk-off win over 20th-ranked Florida State (32-19) before a crowd of 6,899 at Condron Family Ballpark. The win was the 19th in the last 23 games for the Gators over FSU, the second in three games this season, and the 10th in the last 12 games for a Florida team that is surging at just the right time.
Thompson’s heroics were made possible by a terrific two-out at bat by Wyatt Langford, who singled on a 3-2 pitch off Davis Hare. It was the third hit of the game for Langford. The first two left the yard. With Langford on first, FSU brought in lefty Andrew Armstrong to face the lefty-swinging Thompson but he left a 1-1 breaking ball over the plate that Thompson blasted for his 10th homer of the season to win the game.
Langford’s first and 18th homer of the season came on the first pitch he saw from Jackson Baumeister, a deep drive off the green monster in dead center field. In the fourth, with the Gators trailing 3-1, Langford hit his 19th homer deep to right center. Later in the inning with two out, freshman Jac Caglianone hit a 2-run single and freshman Ty Evans tripled to right field to give the Gators a 5-3 lead.
FSU rallied to tie the game in the top of the fourth, but over the final 5-1/3 innings, Florida’s pitchers hung zeroes on the scoreboard. Tyler Nesbitt was outstanding in his 3-1/3 inning stint in which he gave up a single and struck out five before giving way to Ryan Slater (4-3) in the ninth for the final two outs of the game.
This was an improbable win for the Gators, who managed only seven hits while striking out 15 times against FSU pitching. Following the Evans triple, the Gators didn’t get a hit until Langford’s single in the ninth inning.
The win was important, not just because it gave the Gators the season series with the Seminoles, but momentum heading into this weekend’s SEC matchup with South Carolina at Condron Family Ballpark. The Gators are 13-14 in SEC play, one game ahead of South Carolina in the SEC East and one behind Vanderbilt and Georgia, which are tied for second place. Two wins would give the Gators a break-even SEC record, something that seemed impossible three weeks ago. Should the Gators sweep the Gamecocks and Georgia and Vanderbilt fail to sweep their weekend opponents, Florida could wind up with a most improbable second place finish in the SEC East.
“We were fortunate enough to win some games recently, so we've kind of built some momentum,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “It's important. We're getting in the part of the season where every win is magnified, and I'd like to think that we're hopefully playing the best baseball this time of year. Certainly, this win is only going to help the RPI moving forward.”
UF MEN’S GOLF: GATORS MOVE UP TO THIRD IN REGIONAL
Day two of the Palm Beach Regional saw the Gators make a solid move with a 4-under (284) to move into third place, two shots behind second place Florida State and 11 behind front runner and top seeded Vanderbilt. Fred Biondi led the way for the Gators with a 3-under par 69, which moved him into a fourth place tie on the individual leaderboard. John Dubois shot even par 72 for sole possession of 17th place while Yuxin Lin shot 73 for the second straight day for a 5-way tie for 18th.
The Gators are in good shape for the final round of the tournament. The top six teams advance to Scottsdale, Arizona for the NCAA Championships on May 24. The Gators hold a 4-shot advantage over 4th-place South Florida, a 6-shot lead over 5th-place College of Charleston and a 10-shot lead over 6th-place Notre Dame.
UF MEN’S TENNIS: NO. 2 GATORS TAKE ON NO. 7 UVA IN NCAA QUARTERS
This is a red-hot Florida team that heads into the NCAA quarterfinals today in Champaign, Illinois against 7th-seeded Virginia, a team the Gators beat, 4-2, earlier in the season at the ITA National Indoor Tournament in Seattle. That win started the Gators (26-2) on a roll of 21 straight wins, which includes three straight in NCAA Tournament play by 4-0 scores.
Ben Shelton, son of UF coach Bryan Shelton, is the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament with a 31-5 record in singles play. Shelton and senior captain Sam Riffice (21-5) both qualified for the individual championship in singles and in doubles.
SOFTBALL OBSERVATIONS AS GATORS HOST REGIONAL AS A 14 SEED
The Gators (43-16) are a No. 14 seed in the NCAA Softball Tournament, hosting an NCAA regional for the 16th time in 17 years (no tournament was played in 2020). Should they emerge a winner in the Gainesville Regional that begins Friday with Georgia Tech facing Wisconsin and the Gators squaring off with Canisius (32-16) at 4:30 p.m., they’re almost certain to hit the road for the super regional, the first time that’s happened since 2007.
On paper you might think this is not a very good Florida softball team, but in fact, this might be one of the better coaching jobs Tim Walton has ever done. He’s never had a team with this little power (only 33 home runs in 59 games, a 21-homer dropoff from last season), and he really doesn’t have an ace on his pitching staff. You could almost say Walton’s gotten it done with smoke and mirrors this year because it certainly isn’t your typical UF team.
Nowhere is the power dropoff more evident than third baseman Charla Echols. She left the yard 15 times last season. This year she has only four home runs. Because no one in front or behind her is much of a home run threat, Echols isn’t seeing a lot of pitches to drive. She’s got 50 RBI – 55 last year – but so often she’s having to go opposite field because very few pitchers in the SEC are willing to see if she can turn on an inside pitch.
When the Gators won back-to-back national championships in 2014-15, they hit 89 homers in 2014, 80 in 2015. Four players hit 10 or more homers on the 2014 team, three in 2015. Freshman Reagan Walsh leads the 2022 Gators with seven homers. Walton is winning games this season with a small ball attack that is pretty good when Kendra Falby (35-38 stolen bases) and Skylar Wallace (47-51) are getting on base at the top of the lineup. Keep those two off the basepaths and the Gators struggle.
As for pitching, there is no Stacey Nelson, Hannah Rogers, Lauren Haeger or Kelly Barnhill. There is no dominant pitcher on this team, in part because this they have struggled all season to find the strike zone on a consistent basis. Florida pitchers have walked 185 batters in 397-2/3 innings this season. A year ago in 22 fewer innings, the pitchers walked only 117 batters. Last year’s ace Elizabeth Hightower (16-7, 2.32 ERA) has struggled with consistency. She has walked 64, hit 11 batters, thrown 17 wild pitches and 13 of her pitches have been deposited over the wall. Natalie Lugo (9-5, 2.22 ERA) struggles the second time through the lineup. Freshman Lexie Delbrey (13-3, 2.30 ERA) throws harder than anyone on the staff but if she doesn’t get off to a good start throwing strikes, she can struggle. Walton says it’s nothing mechanical, but she’s got to get the mental part down pat.
Despite their many flaws, this team can still make it to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series, but the margin for error is very slim. The Gators should win the regional, but if they have to go to Virginia Tech they’ll be facing a team with good but not great power up and down the lineup and whose pitchers have struck out 512 batters this season (Florida 336).
Can the Gators get it done and make it to Okie City? It’s not probable but it’s far from impossible.
KENNEDY TRANSFERS TO TEXAS STATE
Elijah Kennedy (6-3, 185) whose freshman year for Mike White got off to a good start but fizzled once the Gators got to the SEC portion of their schedule, has transferred to Texas State. Kennedy scored 31 points in 23 games this season but only five against SEC opponents.
SEC FOOTBALL/BASKETBALL
Alabama: The Alabama-Texas game in Austin on September 10 will be a noon kickoff on Fox.
Georgia: Four-start cornerback Marcus Washington (6-0, 170, Groveton, GA) will skip his senior year in high school to enroll early at Georgia. Humphrey runs a 4.46 in the 40 and 10.76 for 100 meters … Georgia’s September 3 season opener with Oregon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta will kickoff at 3 p.m. on ABC.
Kentucky: Some of the early NFL Draft analysis for 2023 has Kentucky quarterback Will Levis going in the first round. Chris Trapasso of CBS is one of several who have Levis as the top quarterback taken next April.
LSU: Matt McMahon continues his impressive recruiting, signing 4-star 7-footer Shawn “Baby Shaq” Phillips (7-0, 220, Dayton, OH/Glendale, AZ Dream City Christian).
Mississippi State: D.J. Jeffries (6-7, 225), who averaged 8.9 points and 4.2 rebounds last year after transferring from Memphis, has withdrawn from the transfer portal and will return to Mississippi State to play for new coach Chris Jans next season.
Missouri: Chris Shearin, a backup DB who played almost exclusively on special teams in 2021, is transferring to UConn.
South Carolina: Wide receiver/tight end EJ Jenkins, who was a record-setting receiver in D1AA before transferring to South Carolina last year, is transferring to Georgia Tech. He caught eight passes for 117 yards and a touchdown last year.
Texas A&M: Not everything the Aggies do with football recruiting works perfectly. North Caddo Magnet School (Vivian, LA) head coach JJ Kavanaugh received a letter in the mail addressed only to the “head football coach” and owing $1.56 in postage. On twitter Kavanaugh said “with all due respect I will not be paying for your postage.”
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Perhaps the NCAA thought that it’s tough-sounding memo that vowed to crack down on NIL would cause everyone to shake in their shorts. Well, perhaps the NCAA miscalculated. Again.
The state house and senate in the state of Missouri have passed a bill that will allow any athletic department official including COACHES to assist players with NIL deals. The only thing remaining is a signature by Governor Mike Parsons to become state law. This gives new meaning to the newly coined phrase “Now It’s Legal” because it means a coach can collaborate with collectives or boosters to get money to recruits and there isn’t anything the NCAA can do about it since it has no ability to enforce its restrictions if they run contrary to state law.
Missouri isn’t the only state expanding NIL legislation. They’re doing it in Tennessee, Louisiana and Illinois, each state amending existing laws to expand what collectives, boosters and others can do to pay for players. If they’re doing it Tennessee and Louisiana, you know that every other legislature in states that are home to SEC schools will also act quickly to change or amend their laws. No sense in getting left behind, is there?
This is not what the NCAA intended, but when does anything the NCAA intends work out anymore? You know that answer already and in the words of that already used too much phrase, the toothpaste is out of the tube and it’s not going back in. Maybe you don’t like the idea of pay for play, but it’s here and it isn’t going away.
