With fewer than 24 hours separating Florida’s first and final game of the series against Georgia, the Gators’ bats came on strong Saturday and stayed hot through Sunday’s afternoon contest.
John Sternagel raised his finger to the sky as he rounded first base. He did it again once he crossed home plate. The freshman just delivered a one-run lead by sending a baseball into the tan glove of a fan standing in the left-field bleachers.
Hitting coach Brad Weitzel tossed baseballs about 45 feet from home plate to a group of Gators that included Casey Turgeon, Justin Shafer and Richie Martin. The three players played through a sub-.500 season in 2013 that had Florida and coach Kevin O’Sullivan on the fringe of missing postseason play.
The Gators had their work cut out for them two weeks ago. An eight-game road trip that included three top-10 teams awaited them.
A Justin Shafer sacrifice fly scored the go-ahead run against South Carolina on Saturday night to even up the Southeastern Conference series and keep Florida tied at the top of its division.
The Gators got on the board first Friday night, but the Gamecocks got the best of them.
TALLAHASSEE — Florida State students arrived two hours before the game to get a ticket. They sat throughout Dick Howser Stadium and filled the right-field bleachers to capacity.
Bobby Poyner, usually reliable, found himself in the middle of Kentucky’s offensive outburst in Florida’s series finale in Lexington, Ky.
Florida baseball has to watch out for the Friday night hangover in Game 2 against Kentucky and not the kind that comes with a night out in Lexington, Ky., either. Instead, it’s the one that results from a 17-1 drubbing from No. 22 Kentucky (21-9, 5-5 Southeastern Conference) at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Buddy Reed stepped to the plate with runners on first and second in the ninth inning against Florida Atlantic. Florida needed one run for the walk-off win. It never came. The Gators’ leadoff batter reached base in the ninth and 10th frames only to leave the go-ahead run on the bases.
March didn’t treat only the Florida men’s basketball program well.
When Florida visited LSU in May 2013, the Tigers greeted the Gators with a dominating three-game sweep.
In a game where one swing can decide a game, Florida had two carry them to a Game 1 victory in Saturday’s doubleheader against No. 4 LSU.
The Gators defeated the top team in the nation Tuesday, but now they have to beat one of the best pitchers.
JACKSONVILLE — Dugout-clearing fights tend to draw attention. Ones that involve a Heisman-winning quarterback become national news.
The Gators and Aggies went to extra innings for the second time in their three-game series Sunday, but unlike the first time, Texas A&M came out victorious.
Florida (15-7, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) opened its first SEC road series with an extra-inning, 5-3 win against Texas A&M (15-8, 1-3 SEC) on Friday night at Blue Bell Park in College Station, Texas.
A.J. Puk watched his cousin play against his adopted school Thursday afternoon.
Tuesday night, Josh Tobias watched his third-inning solo home run sail into the filled left-field bleachers longer than he normally would.
Normally, when your starting pitcher goes only three innings against the No. 2 team in the country, it means your bullpen is in for a long night of trying to contain a blowout.
Solutions by The State News
