Sports | Baseball - The Independent Florida Alligator

SPORTS | BASEBALL

Thompson, Zunino help Gators ground Owls

Mar. 6, 2012

Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan looked out and saw reserves all over the field.

SPORTS | BASEBALL

9th-inning rally pushes Florida baseball past Miami

By TOM GREEN | Mar. 4, 2012

CORAL GABLES — For the better part of eight innings, it looked as though Miami would put an end to Florida’s recent dominance in the in-state rivalry.

SPORTS | BASEBALL

Johnson makes up for arm with bat in Florida's win against Miami

By TOM GREEN | Mar. 3, 2012

CORAL GABLES — Brian Johnson couldn’t get it done for Florida on the mound, so he did it from the plate instead.

SPORTS | BASEBALL

Zunino powers Florida past Miami

By TOM GREEN | Mar. 2, 2012

CORAL GABLES — Kevin O’Sullivan said eight games were too small of a sample size to say the Gators struggle to hit left-handed pitchers.

SPORTS | BASEBALL

UF, Miami set to continue rivalry

Mar. 1, 2012

On paper, the matchup looks great.

Florida junior starting pitcher Hudson Randall said he enjoys strength coach Paul Chandler’s pool exercises, adding that the resistance has helped him tremendously.

SPORTS | BASEBALL

Florida’s pitching staff benefitting from unusual workouts

Feb. 29, 2012

Brian Johnson was 1,254 miles from Gainesville, playing in the Cape Cod League, when he began to feel some discomfort in his shoulder.

William & Mary shortshop Ryan Williams (left) tags Florida catcher Mike Zunino (right) during a rundown in Saturday’s game, a 5-1 UF win. Zunino injured his hamstring during the play.

SPORTS | BASEBALL

Top-ranked Florida plans to use rare off week to get healthy

Feb. 27, 2012

Baseball players don’t get a Spring Break.

Shortshop Nolan Fontana makes the most of a rain delay Sunday by pretending to be a deer. Teammates in a center-field TV tower bagged the 10-point buck before the game was called in the sixth inning with the Gators leading 5-3. UF swept the three-game series.

SPORTS | BASEBALL

Gators clinch series against William & Mary in rain-shortened win

Feb. 26, 2012

Kevin O’Sullivan and Frank Leoni walked toward one another and shook hands, officially concluding a day of tarp slip-and-slides, fake deer hunting and just more than five innings of baseball.

Preston Tucker's solo home run in the third inning was his 215th career RBI, moving him ahead of Brad Wilkerson as UF's all-time leader.

SPORTS | BASEBALL

Tucker breaks RBI record in 5-1 win; Zunino injured late

By TOM GREEN | Feb. 25, 2012

As soon as the ball left his bat, Preston Tucker knew he was alone.

SPORTS | BASEBALL

Randall, Maddox shut down William & Mary in Florida win

Feb. 24, 2012

Daniel Pigott raced toward the left-field wall, jumped and caught a deep Tadd Bower shot that would have otherwise been a game-tying home run in the sixth inning.

Florida senior right fielder Preston Tucker needs just one RBI to pass Brad Wilkerson for the all-time school record in the category.

SPORTS | BASEBALL

Tucker on verge of breaking school RBI record

Feb. 23, 2012

Preston Tucker’s room is littered with souvenirs from games he has played over the years. Some of them are more memorable than others.

In his first start as a Gator, sophomore Jonathon Crawford tossed five scoreless innings while striking out four and allowing just two hits. Florida beat UCF 8-0 on Wednesday.

SPORTS | BASEBALL

Crawford leads Gators to win against UCF

Feb. 22, 2012

Jonathon Crawford made people forget Sunday in a hurry.

Florida catcher Mike Zunino hit two home runs in Tuesday’s 8-6 win.

SPORTS | BASEBALL

Tucker’s game-winner outshines two-homer night from Zunino

By TOM GREEN | Feb. 21, 2012

Preston Tucker’s first four plate appearances Tuesday didn’t go as planned.

Florida senior Preston Tucker said the team realizes it needs to get better at manufacturing runs, a problem that cost the Gators last year.

SPORTS | BASEBALL

UF baseball reminded of run-scoring woes ahead of first midweek game

Feb. 20, 2012

For the Gators, every fall scrimmage began the same way: bases loaded, no outs, a bitter memory for everyone who was wearing orange and blue on June 27, 2011.