Sports - The Independent Florida Alligator

Attacker Shayna Pirreca leads Florida with 44 goals on the season.

SPORTS | OTHER SPORTS LACROSSE

Florida lacrosse looks to clinch conference title against Denver

By Tyler Nettuno | Apr. 19, 2018

The defending Big East champion Florida lacrosse team has looked the part during its tear through league play in 2018. Winner of five straight games, UF now has an opportunity to seal its fourth consecutive Big East title as it travels to Denver to take on the Pioneers on Saturday afternoon at 2 EST.

Junior Alicia Boren and the Florida gymnastics team are in St. Louis to compete in the NCAA Championships tonight at 7. Oklahoma, Utah, Washington, California and Kentucky are the other teams competing in UF's group.

SPORTS | GYMNASTICS

Gators' national title hopes on the line tonight in St. Louis

By Alana Gomez | Apr. 19, 2018

Alicia Boren isn’t one to make predictions.

Game officials owe the world a personal explanation for some calls.

SPORTS | COLUMNS

Refs should do postgame interviews

By Morgan McMullen | Apr. 19, 2018

A funny thing happened during Tuesday night’s baseball game between Florida and Jacksonville.

UF third baseman Jonathan India's solo home run jump-started the Gators' offense on a 3-2 win against Jacksonville at the Gainesville Regional. His solo home run was one of three for Florida on the night.

SPORTS | BASEBALL

India’s streak ends in Florida’s win over Kentucky

By Ethan Bauer | Apr. 19, 2018

Wil Dalton busted the game open in the third inning. His three-run homer gave the No. 1 Gators an insurmountable six-run lead the No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats couldn’t touch. But his at-bat wasn’t the night’s most memorable.

Sophomore Marta Perez was one of two Gators to win their respective matchups in Florida's

SPORTS | OTHER SPORTS GOLF

Florida struggles, drops to fifth place in the second round of the SEC Tournament

By Chris O'Brien | Apr. 19, 2018

If some was bad, more was worse for the Florida women’s golf team on Thursday at Greystone Golf and Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama.

Catcher JJ Schwarz is 8-for-19 from the plate with a pair of home runs over the last five games.

SPORTS | BASEBALL

Over/Under: Examining the Gators’ over- and underachievers April 10-17

By Morgan McMullen | Apr. 18, 2018

The No. 1 Gators (32-7, 12-3 SEC) dropped a midweek matchup to Jacksonville on Tuesday to snap a nine-game home winning streak. With Florida’s next series starting tonight against Kentucky rather than the normal Friday start due to television scheduling, coach Kevin O’Sullivan had to work around using certain bullpen players, including closer Michael Byrne and freshmen Tommy Mace and Jordan Butler.

Shooting guard Dwyane Wade's return to Miami was one of many different storylines that highlighted the 2017-18 NBA season.

SPORTS | MEN'S BASKETBALL

What this NBA Season Taught Me: We Were All Wrong

By Skyler Lebron | Apr. 18, 2018

At the beginning of every NBA season, fans believe that they have it all figured out.

First baseman Kayli Kvistad drove in a pair of runs in Florida's 19-3 win over Florida A&M on Wednesday.

SPORTS | SOFTBALL

Gators softball team thrashes Rattlers in 16-run victory

By Mark Stine | Apr. 18, 2018

UF first baseman Kayli Kvistad jogged up the first-base line.

Sophomore Sierra Brooks performed admirably, but the Gators struggled as a team on Day 1 of the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic.

SPORTS | OTHER SPORTS GOLF

Gators women’s golf team sits in fourth place after Day 1 of SEC Tournament

By Chris O'Brien | Apr. 18, 2018

Compared to the rest of the SEC, the Florida women’s golf team played fairly well on Day 1 of the SEC tournament on Wednesday. For its own standards, however, UF left some to be desired as it finished with a score of 10 over, 12 strokes behind first-place Alabama.

Junior attacker Lindsey Ronbeck scored four goals in Florida's 20-4 win over Cincinnati on Wednesday.

SPORTS | OTHER SPORTS LACROSSE

Rout of Cincinnati puts Gators lacrosse team one win away from conference title

By Tyler Nettuno | Apr. 18, 2018

Florida dominates a conference opponent.

Florida pitcher Kelly Barnhill is 19-1 this season and was recently selected as SEC Pitcher of the Week.

SPORTS | SOFTBALL

UF takes on Florida A&M tonight as regular season winds down

By Mari Faiello | Apr. 17, 2018

After sweeping South Carolina at home this past weekend, Florida’s softball team will hit the diamond again tonight at 6 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium to take on Florida A&M.

The then-Florida Marlins won the 2003 World Series over Cleveland.

SPORTS | COLUMNS

Seriously, why do sports matter?

By Ethan Bauer | Apr. 17, 2018

It was nearly dusk when I arrived, stepped out of my dad’s Nissan Sentra and inhaled the scent of high expectations.

Junior midfielder Sydney Pirreca scored four goals on five shots Saturday against Marquette.

SPORTS | OTHER SPORTS LACROSSE

Florida’s two-game road trip begins with Cincinnati

By Tyler Nettuno | Apr. 17, 2018

With the Gators’ 18-6 victory over Marquette on Saturday, UF lacrosse coach Amanda O’Leary said that her players are still focused heading into its longest road stretch of the season.

Coach Kevin O'Sullivan and the Gators dropped their first home game since March 23 in an 8-4 loss against Jacksonville Tuesday night. “We’ve gotta clean up some mistakes,” O'Sullivan said.

SPORTS | BASEBALL

Gators falter against Jacksonville in midweek matchup

By Justin Ahlum | Apr. 17, 2018

No. 1 Florida (32-7, 12-3 SEC) fell to Jacksonville 8-4, ending UF’s nine-game home winning streak and snapping a four-game winning streak overall.

Kelly Barnhill has gained an appreciation for other cultures through traveling for softball tournaments.

SPORTS | FEATURES

FROM GEORGIA TO JAPAN: Kelly Barnhill is pursuing gems beyond the softball diamond

By Mari Faiello | Apr. 17, 2018

It’s a quiet morning in the summer of 2016 as Kelly Barnhill walks the streets of Takasaki, Japan.

Cleveland-Golden State IV is set to begin Thursday night at 9 p.m. LeBron James broke the record for most playoff points ever recorded in a career in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics.

SPORTS | MEN'S BASKETBALL

The Cavaliers are in trouble? B---- please

By Andrew Huang | Apr. 17, 2018

Victor Oladipo — a rising star in the NBA — is really, really good. But Oladipo and the Indiana Pacers aren’t getting out of the first round of this year’s NBA Playoffs.

Redshirt junior AJ McFarland placed sixth in the hammer throw at the SEC Outdoor Championship. His teammates, freshman Thomas Mardal and redshirt sophomore Anders Eriksson, finished fifth and second, respectively.

SPORTS | OTHER SPORTS TRACK

Gators’ throwers have contributed to much of teams’ outdoor success

By Alanis Thames | Apr. 15, 2018

The events at the Tom Jones Memorial unfolded like many of the Gators’ previous meets have this season.

Sophomore Andy Zhang is tied for first heading into the final day of the NCAA Kissimmee Regional. He's at 8 under with freshman John Axelsen just behind him at 7 under.

SPORTS | OTHER SPORTS GOLF

Florida finishes fourth at the Mason Rudolph Championship

By Sam Campisano | Apr. 15, 2018

From start to finish, the Mason Rudolph Championship did not go the way the No. 11 Florida men’s golf team wanted it to.

Senior Anna Danilina beat the No. 6 women's tennis player in the NCAA 6-2, 6-0 on Saturday in Florida's regular-season finale against Vanderbilt.

SPORTS | OTHER SPORTS TENNIS

Gators women’s tennis can focus on positives heading into SEC Tournament

By River Wells | Apr. 15, 2018

The Florida Gators women’s tennis team is feeling major déjà vu.

Senior Chase Perez-Blanco played the last regular-season match of his Gators career in UF's 7-0 victory over Alabama on Friday. “I wouldn’t change a thing,” he said. “It’s just been the best four years.”

SPORTS | OTHER SPORTS TENNIS

UF tennis player Chase Perez-Blanco reflects on his Gators career

By Dylan Rudolph | Apr. 15, 2018

As fans filed out of the Ring Tennis Complex on Friday for the last time this season, senior Chase Perez-Blanco, along with fellow seniors Jordan Belga and Josh Wardell, stayed on the court.