Entering Friday night’s showdown in Starkville, Mississippi, the No. 1 Florida Gators had already clinched a share of the SEC title, and they were able to use this weekend’s series as a test for their pitchers before the postseason.
UF pinch hitter Jaimie Hoover sprinted across the bases in the bottom of the second inning. She knew the pitch smacked to dead center field was destined to leave the ballpark, but she couldn’t wait to round the bases and greet her teammates.
A baseball cruised through the air and fell down just inside the right-field line as a stampede of Mississippi State Bulldog baseball players circled the bases, finally coming to rest after plating two runs.
Good on you, George Hill.
Camaraderie. Togetherness. Team.
History was set on the final day of the NCAA Kissimmee Regional.
The Florida men’s tennis team returns to play after nearly a week off to compete in the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament and will meet Ole Miss in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Friday at 7 p.m.
If the Gators men’s golf team’s performance on Monday at the NCAA Kissimmee Regional was any indication, then Florida plays better on the back nine then it does on the front.
Legal or not, sports gambling is everywhere.
Before donning their gray SEC Champions shirts, members of Florida’s track and field teams wore t-shirts with two large, blue words scribbled across the front.
No tears dropped, but a soft, bittersweet smile found its way onto senior JJ Schwarz’s face. Giving a small wave, it finally hit him that his last season in a Florida baseball jersey would soon come to an end.
When the Florida men’s tennis team stepped onto the court for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, it looked a little younger than its opponents. Where experience trumped all for other teams, talent in the young core prevailed for the Gators.
Faced with over an hour of rain delays at the Watson Course at Reunion Resort, the Florida men’s golf team didn’t allow the weather affect its postseason aspirations.
It came down to the final competition.
Like he’d done all day, junior Alfredo Perez sent a powerful forehand over the net that his opponent could not handle. One last stretch, but it was out of reach.
All Jack Leftwich could do was watch as Georgia left fielder Keegan McGovern’s 3-run homer sailed over the scoreboard in right field.
It had been 1,101 days since UF last won an NCAA Tournament game, and early in its second-round game against Colorado at Donald R. Dizney Stadium, it appeared that drought would continue for another 360-some-odd days. But behind an eight-goal run and seven combined goals from the Pirreca sisters, Florida stymied the Buffaloes for a 13-9 victory.
When freshman Katie Kubicz’s final shot went just a little too wide, the Florida Gators NCAA Tournament run sailed away with it.
Execute.
UF’s Aleshia Ocasio stood in the circle as her teammates rushed to meet her.
Solutions by The State News
