UF Softball & Baseball
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Summary of tonight's game: The Gators jumped on Bama in the top of the 1st with back-to-back 2 out Home Runs from Wyatt Langford & BT Riopelle. That set the tone for the game, although Brandon Sproat was ineffective as a starter, only going 3+ innings and Bama came back to tie the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the 4th before the Gators exploded with 2 in the 5th, 4 in the 6th and 2 in the 8th while reliever Ryan Slater pitched a solid 5 innings, being charged with 2 runs on 5 hits, 2 walks and 6 K's. Sproat gave up 4 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks with 2 k's. Blake Purnell pitched a clean 9th to close out the game. The Gators hammered out 18 hits, with Kris Armstrong going 4-5 with a HR and 2 RBI, Wyatt Langford went 3-6 with 2 HR and 4 RBI, Josh Rivera went 3-5, Kendrick Calilao went 2-5 with a HR and 2 RBI, Riopelle went 2-5 with a HR and 2 RBI and Derec Fabian went 2-5 with 2 RBI. Sterlin Thompson is the only Gator player not to get a hit in the game, as he went 0-6, as his batting average continue to fall. Game 3 is at 1 pm Sunday. Would be nice to get a sweep with LSU coming to Gainesville next weekend. It will be interesting to see who O'Sullivan uses on the mound tomorrow, as a lot of arms are available. But who does he trust?
Gator softball won the rubber game of their series at Texas A&M Sunday with an 11-3 6 inning run rule win, improving to 25-3, 4-2 in the SEC. Elizabeth Hightower wasn't great, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits, 3 walks and 4 K's, but she improved to 8-0 as the ace of our staff. The top 4 in UF's batting order was only 1-13 with 3 walks, but the bottom half came up big, going 10-18. Cheyenne Lindsey was 3-4 with a double and 3-run HR, Reagan Walsh was 2-4 with a 3-run HR, Avery Goelz went 2-4 and Sam Roe went 2-4 with 2 RBI.
Charla Echols continues to struggle at the plate and had a base runner mistake today and Kendra Falby had a really bad weekend at the plate from her leadoff spot. The Gators play a home & Home with Stetson Tuesday and Wednesday, then host Tennessee this weekend.
Charla Echols continues to struggle at the plate and had a base runner mistake today and Kendra Falby had a really bad weekend at the plate from her leadoff spot. The Gators play a home & Home with Stetson Tuesday and Wednesday, then host Tennessee this weekend.
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Sunday's game was weird and sloppy and the Gator defense and pitching failed in the end, as we blew a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the 9th and lost 8-7. Tim Manning had a solid 1st inning and then couldn't find the strike zone in the 2nd inning, leaving with the bases loaded and no outs. He was charged with 2 runs, 1 earned. Brandon Neely went 3.2 innings, giving up 3 runs, all earned, on 3 hits and a walk. At one point Bama had 4 runs on 1 hit, a 2-run HR. Garrett Milchin tossed 2 innings and gave up 2 hits, including a solo HR that got him out of the game. Nick Ficarrotta threw the 8th inning, easily retiring the 3 batters he faced. But carrying a 7-6 lead to the bottom of the 9th, O'Sullivan brought in Blake Purnell for his 3rd appearance vs. The Tide to close out the game. He got the 1st out, then hit a batter, gave up a single, then a bunt that might have rolled fould was grabbed by Purnell to load the bases. The next batter hit a hard grounder than bounced off the chest of Derec Fabian that was ruled a hit, scoring the tying run. With 5 infielders and only 2 outfielders, the final batter lined a single to right scoring the winning run. The Gators had 11 hits, led by Wyatt Langford at 3-4 with a HR and 2 RBI, Sterlin Thompson at 2-4 with a HR and RBI, Jud Fabian with a HR and 2 RBI, Kendrick Calilao at 2-4 with an RBI and Josh Rivera at 2-4. UF is now 15-5, 2-1 in the SEC. They host Bethune-Cookman Tuesday at 7pm on SEC+ and then LSU comes to town, with Friday's game at 7 pm on the regular SEC Network, Saturday's 6:30 game and Sunday's noon game on SEC+.
The hitting has been stellar, especially the power, but the defense showed some kinks this weekend and the pitching other than Hunter Barco remains a questionable work in progress.
The hitting has been stellar, especially the power, but the defense showed some kinks this weekend and the pitching other than Hunter Barco remains a questionable work in progress.
No shame in taking 2 of 3 from Bama on the road. They are a solid team. Glad the softball team bounced back.
No. 8 Florida Matches Up With Bethune-Cookman in Midweek Tilt - Florida Gators
Florida is 13-1 vs. the Wildcats under head coach Kevin O'Sullivan while the Gators boast a 21-4 record across their last 25 regular season home games.
floridagators.com
UF softball improved to 26-3 with a 7-0 win at Stetson. Lexie Delbrey threw 5 innings, gave up only 1 hit, 2 walks with 7 K's. Natalie Lugo pitched the last 2 innings and gave up 1 hit, no walks with 3 K's. The Gators had 10 hits and 5 walks and were led by Charla Echols, with 2 hits, including a HR, and 3 RBI. Cheyenne Lindsey went 3-3 with an RBI, Kendra Falby went 2-4 with a triple and stolen base and Reagan Walsh hit a HR. The teams are supposed to play again in Gainesville Wednesday at 6 pm, but there's a good chance it will be rained out.
#8 UF baseball improves to 16-5 with a nail biting 3-2 win over Bethune-Cookman. The Gators outhit them 11-1, as 7 walks, a costly error and stranded base runners made the game too close for comfort. Nick Pogue didn't get out of the 1st inning as he walked 4 and gave up 2 stolen bases, throwing 34 pitches. Nick Facarotta settled things down and only surrendered an unearned run in 4.1 innings of work. Tyler Nesbitt, Phillip Abner and Karl Hartman pitched the final 4 innings, giving up no hits, 3 walks and 6 strikeouts, with Abner getting the win and Hartman the save. Mac Guscette got the Gators on the board in the 4th with a sacrifice squeeze bunt that drove in Ty Evans. Jud Fabian hit solo HR's in the 5th and 7th to give Florida their other 2 runs. The Gators had 11 hits and 3 walks on the night, but struck out 8 times and stranded 12 base runners. But they came out with the win. 4 young pitchers, handled well by Guscette, came through in a big way against a scrappy team. LSU comes to town for a weekend series starting Friday night.
Going into the weekend softball series vs. Tennessee, the Gators are 3rd in the SEC with a team batting average of .352, behind Georgia & Kentucky. Tennessee is last with a team BA of .285. Tennessee is tied for 5th in home runs with 43, while the Gators are next to last with only 23. We are 2nd in runs scored with 205, Tennessee is 9th with 178. We have the fewest strikeouts with 99, the Vols are 11th with 150. We lead the SEC in stolen bases with 73, Auburn is 2nd with 52, Tennessee is 3rd with 45. Surprisingly, to me, the Gators lead the SEC in ERA at 1.61, UT is 6th at 2.56. We also lead in lowest opponent's batting average at .162; Tennessee is 3rd at .201. Our pitchers are 6th in K's with 178, UT is 11th with 156. Our pitchers have allowed the fewest hits, 106, but have the most walks, 92. UT is 4th in hits allowed, 139, and 5th in fewest walks allowed with 63. Should be an interesting, competitive series.
UF softball dropped to 26-4, 4-3 in the SEC, losing to Tennessee Friday night 6-0. Gator bats were ineffective against a grad transfer pitcher for the Vols, who has replaced their ace who is out with an injury. She didn't walk any Gators and scattered 6 hits. with 5 K's. Elizabeth Hightower was solid for 4 innings, but gave up a solo HR in the 5th and then lost it in the 6th, giving up 2 more runs. Melissa Mesiemore gave up 3 more runs in the 7th, as the Gators looked like the inferior team in their opening game against #14 Tennessee.
Hunter Barco was dominant again, going 7 innings, giving up no runs on 2 hits, 3 walks, 2 hit batters with 8 K's. Colby Halter led off the bottom of the 1st with a HR, BT Riopelle hit a solo HR, Wyatt Langford slugged a 2 run HR and the Gators coasted to a 7-2 win. Nick Ficarotta threw the last 2 innings and gave up 2 runs on 2 hits, a HR, a walk and a hit batter. Not what you want to close out a game, but UF wins the opener of a big 3 game series vs. LSY. Need Sproat to be on Saturday.
I know UF is ranked #8, but its hard to see them as one of the last two standing with such a weak bullpen . Sometimes its easy to ignore when winning 7-2.....but it will stand out in nail bitters if we make it to the CWS.
Other than that, the team looks a lot better, overall, compared to last year.
Other than that, the team looks a lot better, overall, compared to last year.
Very weak pre-conference softball schedule has left the Gators seemingly unprepared for the tough pitching in the SEC. Tennessee's SOS was #3 coming in to the weekend, ours is #62. This is the 2nd year in a row that our team hasn't made those trips out West to play a bunch of games against Pac-12 and Big 10 teams that get us ready, especially the freshmen who are playing a lot. But on top of that our AA Charla Echols is really struggling at clean-up and Hannah Adams just isn't making solid contact very often. Only Skylar Wallace and Cheyenne Lindsey are hitting consistently, regardless of what the numbers say.
UF softball got beat up by Tennessee again, losing 7-2 to drop their record to 26-5, 4-4 in the SEC. Lexie Delbrey started in the circle for the Gators and hit the leadoff batter, wo then stole second, took 3rd on a wild pitch and scored on a ground out. They scored 3 more in the 3rd and 3 more in the 5th on only 5 hits, but got 4 walks and 2 hit batters to cruise to the win. Delbrey threw 5 innings and was charged with all 6 runs, Meanwhile the Gators didn't have a base runner until the 4th inning, only had 3 hits for the game and only scored on a 2-run HR from Emily Wilkie in the bottom of the 7th. The series concludes Sunday at 2 pm and who know who the Gators will pitch - Hightower again, Trlicek, Lugo? They look like a lost team right now.
Gator baseball got blasted by LSU 16-4 Saturday night. Florida got a solo HR from Deric Fabian, a 2 run HR from Sterlin Thompson and an RBI double from Kendrick Calilao, but only had 5 hits and 1 walk for the game,as LSU dominated from the 1st inning. Brandon Sproat walked the first batter he faced, then gave up a 2-run HR to the next batter. In the 3rd inning, Sproat walked the leadoff batter, then gave up a double, sac, fly RBI, an error by Calilao at first scored another run and that was followed by a single. Tim Manning cam into the game and gave up back to back home runs to put the Gators in an 8-0 hole. Between Sproat and Manning, they went 4.1 innings, giving 7 hits, 9 runs (7 earned), 2 walks and a hit batter. Ty;er Nesbitt and Philip Abner threw the next 2.1 innings and gave up no runs, no hits and 3 walks. Karl Hartmann pitched a scoreless 8th innings, but in the 9th he hit the first batter, gave up a double, single and double and was relieved by Carsten Finnvold with nobody out. Finnvold threw a wild pitch allowing another run to score, then surrendered an RBI sac. fly, gave up 2 straight singles and a home run before getting out of the inning. Between Hartmann & Finnvold, they threw 2 innings and gave up 7 runs on 6 hits, 2 walks a hit batter and a wild pitch. This was UGLY!!!
Where is the quality pitching from all of these highly touted recruits?? It's just mind boggling that so many really good arms can all be so bad so much of the time. This season could get away from the Gators very quickly if they don;t come up with some answers. Over the next 4 weeks they play 2 midweek games with #7 FSU, and have weekend series with current #17 Georgia in Athens, current #3 Arkansas at home, current #4 Vanderbilt in Nashville and current #5 Tennessee (maybe the most complete team in the country) in Gainesville. That's a brutal stretch coming up for the Gators and it makes winning Sunday's rubber game with LSU at noon seem very important.
Where is the quality pitching from all of these highly touted recruits?? It's just mind boggling that so many really good arms can all be so bad so much of the time. This season could get away from the Gators very quickly if they don;t come up with some answers. Over the next 4 weeks they play 2 midweek games with #7 FSU, and have weekend series with current #17 Georgia in Athens, current #3 Arkansas at home, current #4 Vanderbilt in Nashville and current #5 Tennessee (maybe the most complete team in the country) in Gainesville. That's a brutal stretch coming up for the Gators and it makes winning Sunday's rubber game with LSU at noon seem very important.
Softball team is a bit of a headscratcher right now. They are in a slump and seem to not know who can pitch. Baseball team is young. Lots of young arms. It will take mid season Problem is as we know the SEC is dominant in softball and baseball. I'm not too concerned about baseball. But softball could be in a difficult spot.
Teams with long seasons have hot times and cold times. Hopefully this cold time will end soon, and the hot time will come on the tourney. For both teams, optimally.
Good point. Softball last season case in point. Really hot all year then ice cold in the supers.
Gator baseball getting beat early. Starter Ryan Slater hit a batter in each of the first 2 innings, but gave up no runs. But in the 4th he hit another batter, then gave up a home run; hit another batter and gave up another home run. Nick Ficarrotta now pitching with UF down 4-0. We loaded the bases on the bottom of the 1st on 2 walks and a hit batter, but couldn't score. Had a runner in scoring position in the 3rd and couldn't get the big hit.
For those not watching the game, we've hit SEVEN LSU batters so far today and it's only the top of the 6th inning.
Just my opinion but both Sully and Walton have kind of appeared to hit a wall a bit and I wonder if due to all the past success that complacency has set in a bit. Of course Iām by no means say fire them but I do wonder if both programs have gone a little stagnant. Yes I know both programs are still recruiting good but you still have to coach them up and develop. Iām also not saying this is currently happening but I saw what Iām saying above happen to Becky Burleigh and the womanās soccer team. Just something to keep an eye on as we move on throughout the year
Softball went to supers last season, have some talented freshmen and another crop of top notch freshmen coming in next year. Baseball is coming off about 3 years in a row with a top 3 recruiting class. They have some crazy number like 8 freshmen pitchers. Last year was a down year, this year may be a little down too, but both programs should bounce back next season.
UF baseball lost 11-2 to LSU, dropping them to 17-7, 3-3 in the SEC. They will surely drop out of the top 10 with their next games being in Jax Tuesday vs. FSU. Gator bats only got 5 hits and 5 walks, as they hit under .200 as a team for the weekend series. Pitching, again, was the issue as 6 Gator pitchers gave up 11 earned runs on 12 hits, 8 hit batters, no walks and 3 home runs.
The softball team avoided the sweep by beating Tennessee 4-1 to improve to 27-5, 5-4 on the year. Elizabeth Hightower went 4.1 innings, giving up 1 run on 2 hits, 4 walks, a hit batter and 5 K's. Natalie Lugo got the win, going the final 2.3 innings giving up nothing but a walk. Florida fell behind early on a solo HR from the Vols, but tied it in the bottom of the 3rd on an RBI single from Cheyenne Lindsey. Reagan Walsh put the Gators ahead with an RBI single in the 5th. They scored 2 more in the 6th on a solo HR from Avery Goelz and a double from Charla Echols. The star of the game for the Gators, however, was Skylar Wallace, who had a double, single, 2 walks, 3 stolen bases and 3 runs scored. The Gators next host a ranked UCF team who beat them twice last year Wednesday at 6 pm on SEC+. They then head to Auburn for their weekend series.
Whatās behind the pitching woes. We are told that the Gators have excellent recruiting classes every year. How can they look like a one man pitching staff right now?
Excellent question that I'm sure even Kevin O'Sullivan is pondering. He has Top 5 recruiting classes every year and this class was loaded with highly touted pitchers. Plus we have several guys who are redshirt freshmen or sophomores and, except for Barco and a couple of short term relievers, none of these guys has shown the ability to succeed (yet) at the big time level.
I believe many of his highly recruited pitchers are never making it to school as they are going to the draft and IMO the development of our pitchers hasnāt been as good as it was in the past under Sully. A bit of a head scratcher
That has always been a bugaboo for UF, the players that decide to go pro. I remember years where we had the overwhelming #1 class and lost half of them to the pros, while FSU would have a class barely in the top 10, but they all went to FSU, and they ended up having a far more talented team. The trick is finding kids with enough talent to excel in college but not quite elite draft talent so they don't get that huge signing bonus, and also are in no huge rush to ride the minor league bus.
Hoping we can find some NIL money and convince these kids a couple of years on a college team will be fine for their development.
NIL could also fix the issue with schollys. Never understood why baseball had a 25 man roster and 12 schollys. Now, you give a kid a six figure NIL that includes his full ride, now he's a walk-on, and you can save your schollys for the fill-in players, good enough for college ball but not exciting enough to attract NIL $$$. Heck, in football you'll be able to sign 50-60 kids a year, most just getting NIL money and paid-for college, no scholly.
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Good win for the Gators tonight. Played pretty well against a good fsu team. Nice to get the first one.
When Title IX came in years ago, they had to equal out the schollys for men's & women's sports. Since football uses 85 and there is no woman's "football equivalent" - in terms of number of schollys required - they had to reduce men's schollys somewhere. Baseball was the BIG loser in this.
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But softball can also only give 12 schollys.
However, that is the reason we have competitive cheerleading.
