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No. 3 Florida Finishing Regular Season In SEC Play

Tara Ingalls — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:14:46 +0000

The Gators baseball team will finish out the regular season on the road with a three-game series starting tonight against Auburn. Florida is starting the weekend off two games behind Kentucky, leading 18-9 in the SEC. The Gators also trail behind LSU and South Carolina, but hope to win a share of the SEC Championship for the third year in a row. Seeding for the SEC tournament will not be concluded until the weekend’s results are in.

Florida and Auburn have not met on the field since 2009 at Plainsman Park when the Gators won two out of a three-game series. In tonight’s game, junior Hudson Randall will start for Florida, as he took his last three starts against Arkansas, Kentucky, and Mississippi State for a 3-0 record and 2.75 ERA in 19.2 innings. Sophomore Karsten Whitson, with a season high of four strikeouts in 3.1 innings against Mississippi State, will start in the finale against Auburn for his fifth start in action. Auburn will open tonight with senior pitcher Jon Luke Jacobs with a 3.10 ERA.

The Gators have clubbed 62 home runs in 52 games, including 14 from junior Mike Zunino, 12 from senior Preston Tucker, nine from junior Nolan Fontana, seven from senior Daniel Pigott, five from freshman Taylor Gushue, and five from junior Brian Johnson, who will begin the Auburn series on seven-game hitting streak. Johnson, leading the team with 13 starts, will return to the rotation in game two on Friday after being out in the game against Mississippi State due to a hamstring injury.

You can catch all the action on our sister station, Country 103.7 the Gator starting at 7pm.

Gators Baseball Has a Tough Night on The Road at Samford

Renee Gork — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:41:23 +0000

***courtesy of UAA Staff*****

Samford sophomore C.K. Irby limited No. 3 Florida (38-15) to one run and one hit over five innings and the nation’s home-run leader, senior Brandon Miller (2-for-4), belted a pair of two-run homers as the Bulldogs (34-19) notched a 12-7 victory on Tuesday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field. For the Gators, senior Preston Tucker was 2-for-3 to match Mark Ellis’ school-record total of 319 career hits.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a bases-loaded, two-out triple by Irby off of freshman Johnny Magliozzi.

A two-run homer by junior Zeth Stone over the right-field wall in the second inning moved the hosts ahead by a 5-0 count. Sophomore Tyler Filliben (3-for-3) legged out a bunt single up the third-base line with one down and Stone followed with his first round-tripper of the season. Consecutive two-out singles by Saxon Butler and Ervin ended the night for Magliozzi (1.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R). Freshman Ryan Harris caught Miller looking on strikes to end the frame.

Freshman Taylor Gushue drew a one-out walk from Irby in the third and stole his first career base to move into scoring position. Irby responded by having junior Nolan Fontana and Tucker each fly out.

Miller belted his 19th of the campaign with Butler aboard in the fourth for a 7-0 margin. Butler was hit by a pitch with one out and Miller delivered a round-tripper to left field.

Senior Jeff Moyer began the fifth with the Gators’ first hit, a double to left field. A grounder by freshman Josh Tobias pushed Moyer to third and Gushue put the visitors on the board with an RBI grounder to second base.

Redshirt junior Christiaan Durdaller was plunked by Harris to start the bottom of the stanza, bringing sophomore Keenan Kish into the contest. Filliben collected his third hit of the night with a base-knock into left center to drive in his teammate for an 8-1 count.

After Irby worked five strong innings, Tucker greeted senior Joseph Burns in the sixth with a single into left field, bringing him within one of tying Ellis’ school standard. When junior Brian Johnson was hit by a pitch with one down, freshman Andreas Gracia replaced Burns. Senior Daniel Pigott’s grounder was misplayed by second baseman Stone to load the bases with one out and freshman Justin Shafer brought home Tucker with a sacrifice fly to straightaway center field for an 8-2 deficit. Gracia had Moyer ground out to second base to complete the inning.

Miller connected on his second dinger of the night with two down in the home part of the inning for a 10-2 score. Junior Mike Zunino brought the Gators within 10-5 in the seventh with a towering three-run blast into the trees overlooking left field. Fontana had drawn a two-out walk from Gracia and Tucker smashed a hard single to equal Ellis’ standard that has stood since 1999. Zunino cranked a 1-0 pitch out of the yard for his team-leading 14th homer, the second-straight contest that he has gone deep. Junior Sean Handlan came in for Gracia and issued a four-pitch walk to Johnson. Senior Tyler Vanderheiden was summoned from the bullpen and Pigott (2-for-4) moved Johnson over with a single through the right side of the infield. The reliever had Shafer fly out after a long at bat to strand the runners and keep the Bulldogs up by five runs.

Kish worked two innings, allowing three hits and two runs, and sophomore Daniel Gibson took the hill prior to Samford’s seventh at bat. Butler delivered a two-run single for a 12-5, bringing freshman Bobby Poyner to the mound for Gibson. The southpaw worked out of the jam by having Ervin pop out and Miller foul out to Zunino.

Florida plated two runs in the ninth on a run-scoring double by Johnson and an RBI single by Pigott to finalize the 12-7 margin.

The Gators conclude their conference schedule and regular season with a three-game series at Auburn (29-24/12-15 SEC) beginning on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. All three games will be carried on Country 103.7 The Gator with Jeff Cardozo and Steve Russell.

Tuesday Sports News And Notes: Lakers Crushed; FSU To Big 12?

Steve Russell — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:48:05 +0000

Florida State moving to the Big 12? The LA Lakers get crushed in the playoffs…just some of the stories in Tuesday’s Sports News And Notes…

** Is Florida State leaving the ACC for the Big 12? Those rumors have been flying for a few days now as the ACC has its annual meetings in Florida. FSU’s president Eric Barron says there would be pros and cons to changing leagues and adds that negotiations between FSU and the Big 12 are not taking place at this time…but stay tuned.

** The rested Oklahoma City Thunder crush the weary Los Angeles Lakers 119-90 in Game 1 of an NBA Western Conference matchup. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant combine for over 50 points in the win.

**In one of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Philadelphia beats Boston 82-81 to even that series at one game each. Tonight, Miami hosts Indiana up 1-0 and San Antonio starts a series with the LA Clippers.

** In the NFL, the New Orleans Saints release former Gator offensive lineman Phil Trautwein while the New York Giants sign former Gator safety Will Hill.

** The Gator football team gets a verbal commitment from Columbus, Georgia athlete Marqui Hawkins, who becomes Florida’s 16th verbal commitment in the 2013 class. He could play offense or defense at Florida but he will probably play receiver.

Gator Softball Gets NCAA National Seed; Gator Tennis Advances In NCAA’s Too

Steve Russell — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:56:11 +0000

The Gator softball team is a number five seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, meaning that if the Gators continue to win in regionals and super regionals they will play at home.

Florida will host an NCAA Regional for the 10th straight season with this tournament an all State of Florida affair. USF will face UCF Friday at 3:30pm and Florida will take on Florida Gulf Coast at 6pm. The winner will go on to a Super Regional.

Meanwhile the Gator tennis teams both advance to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament. Florida hosted the first two rounds with the Gator men playing Sunday and beating Harvard 4-0; they will now face Ohio State Friday in Athens, Georgia.

The Gator women beat Washington State Saturday to advance to the Sweet 16 and the second seeded Gators will face Michigan on Thursday.

The Gator track teams did not win any SEC team titles at the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships; the Gator women finished second while the men were in fourth.

The Gator lacrosse team advances in the NCAA Tournament with a hard fought 6-4 win over Albany; the Gators next play at home on Saturday.

Kuchar Wins TPC; Monday Sports News And Notes

Steve Russell — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:42:52 +0000

A new winner at the TPC this year; the Miami Heat start out winners in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA playoffs and a walk off win for the Miami Marlins in today’s Sports News And Notes…

** Matt Kuchar has won the TPC at Sawgrass by two shots. He held off Ben Curtis, Rickie Fowler, Zach Johnson and Martin Laird who all finished tied for second place. Kuchar ended 13 under par for the tournament.

** The Miami Heat wins Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 95-86 home win over the Indiana Pacers. With center Chris Bosh sidelined with an injury during the game, league MVP LeBron James and guard Dwayne Wade stepped up and led the Heat to the win. Game 2 is in Miami tomorrow.

** The Los Angeles Clippers move on to the Western Conference semifinals after beating Memphis 82-72 Sunday. LA will now play at San Antonio in Game 1 of that series tomorrow. Tonight, Philadelphia is at Boston with the Celtics up 1-0 and the LA Lakers open a series at Oklahoma City as well.

** The Miami Marlins get a walkoff win against the New York Mets Sunday as Giancarlo Stanton hits a grand slam homer to help the Marlins beat the New York Mets 8-4 Sunday. Atlanta also won, downing St.Louis 7-4 while Tampa Bay outlasted Baltimore 9-8.

Gator Baseball Takes Series From MSU 2-1

Steve Russell — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:34:58 +0000

Despite struggling at the plate, the Gator baseball team manages to take its final home SEC regular season series by beating Mississippi State 2-1 on Sunday.

Florida only collected three hits on the day but one of them was catcher Mike Zunino’s homer in the eighth inning that gave Florida the win to move them to 16-11 in the SEC and to 38-14 overall while the Bulldogs slip to 13-14 in the SEC and to 31-20 overall.

The Gators in fact didn’t hit much the entire series and were shut out 2-0 on Saturday after winning 3-1 on Friday.

The Gators end the regular season on the road, playing at Samford Tuesday and at Auburn on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Gator Baseball Hosts Mississippi State This Weekend

Steve Russell — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:59:37 +0000

The Florida baseball team has its final SEC regular season home series starting this weekend as it hosts Mississippi State. You can hear all the games live on Country 103-7 The Gator Friday and Saturday at 7pm and Sunday at 1pm.

On Friday the Gators will send righty Hudson Randall (5-1, 3.53 ERA) to the mound to be opposed by a possible first round draft choice in junior righty Chris Stratton (9-0, 2.19 ERA). Lefty Brian Johnson throws Saturday for Florida with righty Karsten Whitson scheduled to go Sunday.

The Bulldogs, coached by former Gator assistant John Cohen, have played good baseball as of late to climb back to .500 in SEC play at 12-12 while the Gator stand 14-10 in league play. Cohen will not coach Friday’s game due to an SEC suspension after he was ejected after last Sunday’s game against Alabama.

The Bulldogs have suffered a lot of injuries this year that has hurt their production in the lineup but the pitching has been excellent as the team boasts one of the top staffs in the SEC.

Florida will also hold its annual Senior Day this weekend as well. The Gators are currently in fourth place in the SEC, trailing Kentucky and league co-leaders LSU and South Carolina.

Gator Tennis And Gator Lacrosse In NCAA Tournament Action This Weekend

Steve Russell — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:53:34 +0000

The Gator men’s and women’s tennis teams and the Florida lacrosse team are all in action this weekend in Gainesville in NCAA Tournament play.

The Gator women’s tennis team plays today against South Carolina State at 2pm. The winner of that match will face the winner of Florida State and Washington State on Saturday at 3pm. Florida is the defending national champion and the overall number two seed in the tournament.

The Gator men begin play tomorrow in the NCAA Tournament; if they win their first round match they will play on Sunday.

And the Florida lacrosse team begins play in the NCAA Tournament when it hosts Albany on Saturday. You can hear the match live starting at 12:50pm on WRUF Sports Radio 850.

Gator Softball Edges LSU In SEC Tournament

Steve Russell — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:50:00 +0000

The Gator softball team advances in the SEC Tournament being held in Alabama after nipping LSU 1-0 on Thursday. The Gators will play Tennesee today at 3pm after the Lady Vols edged Auburn 2-1.

Florida’s only run came in the fifth inning but it was enough to support the fine pitching of Lauren Haeger who threw a two hit shutout. She walked five and struck out eight in the complete game performance.

Sami Fagan’s rbi single proved to be the game winner and helped the Gators advance.

Second Round Of TPC Starts Today

Steve Russell — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:46:25 +0000

The second round of the Tournament Players Championship gets underway today in Ponte Vedra Beach.

Ian Poulter and Martin Laird share the first round lead after opening with seven under par 65′s on Thursday. Blake Adams is one shot off the lead with Kevin Na and Ben Crane two shots back.

Tiger Woods was awful; he was at two over par 74 and could miss the cut. Phil Mickelson is at one under par while world number one Rory McElroy is even par.

Five Gator golfers are in the field; Brian Gay is one under par; Chris Couch is even par and Chris DiMarco is one over par. Camilo Villegas is three over and Matt Every is five over par.