With the 13th Southeastern Conference championship clinched the day before, Florida (37-19, 21-9 SEC) failed to sweep eastern division foe Tennessee (31-22, 12-18 SEC) losing 7-5 to close out the 2014 regular season.
Florida decided it was as good of a time for a dog pile as any after a 6-5 victory over Tennessee in the 11th inning to open the season’s last weekend series with a win on Thursday.
In a season where non-conference midweek matchups have proved to be potential pitfalls for Florida, coach Kevin O’Sullivan needed a strong performance from the top of his lineup to turn the tide Tuesday night against USF.
There was a hot pitcher on the mound at McKethan Stadium Friday night, perhaps even better than UF’s Logan Shore to open the series.
On Thursday night in the ESPNU showcase game, pitcher Logan Shore did what he does best for No. 4 Florida (34-16, 19-6 Southeastern Conference) in its 1-0 win over No. 18 Vanderbilt (36-14, 14-11 SEC).
For the third time in a row, No. 4 Florida (33-16, 18-6 Southeastern Conference) fell in a midweek game, dropping 4-2 to No. 24 Mercer (35-11, 16-5 Atlantic Sun) on Tuesday.
It took extra innings, five pitchers and the Gators’ fourth outfielder Ryan Larson to scratch out a series-finale win against the Missouri Tigers.
If Aaron Rhodes was still fighting for the Saturday starter spot entering Game 2 of the Missouri-Florida series, he has it all but secured now.
Zack Powers found himself in the middle of a bench-clearing tussle against Florida State. A month later, he came a call away from hitting into a triple play. The bizarre sequence started in the second inning with Powers roping a line drive to Missouri first baseman Kendall Keeton who snagged the liner, stepped on first and fired to third to complete the rare trifecta.
Bobby Poyner watched most of Sunday’s finale from the dugout railing next to coach Kevin O’Sullivan and hitting coach Brad Weitzel. He was a day removed from striking out a career-high seven batters in four innings of relief.
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.
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.
Solutions by The State News
