FGCU Downs No. 13 Florida, 7-4, In 11 Innings

Junior Sean Dwyer (4-for-6) belted a three-run homer in the 11th inning to lift Florida Gulf Coast (5-1) to a 7-4 victory over No. 13 Florida (3-5) and a sweep of the teams’ three-game series at McKethan Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Junior right-hander Harrison Cooney (1-1) threw five innings of scoreless relief and registered five strikeouts to pick up the win and the Eagles totaled a season-high 16 hits. Sophomore Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.) (0-1) took the loss and freshman Richie Martin (Brandon, Fla.) had three hits for the Gators.    

After Florida was unable to convert an opportunity in the 10th when it had the bases loaded with none out, junior Brandon Bednar (2-for-6) poked a one-out single into left center field in the 11th and freshman pinch hitter Tyler Selesky earned a free pass on a full count. Moments later, Dwyer sent Shafer’s initial offering over the fence in right field to put the Eagles ahead by three runs. Cooney worked around a one-out single by Harrison Bader (Bronxville, N.Y.) in the home part of the inning to hand the Gators’ their fourth-straight defeat.  

“First of all, I want to congratulate Florida Gulf Coast,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “They earned what they got this weekend and they played outstanding. They swung the bats very well, so I don’t want to take anything away from them. With that being said, we have a lot to work on. We’ve got to get the ball down, we have to execute better on the mound and we’ve got to get better starts – we haven’t had a really good start all year long. We had our opportunities – when you have bases loaded and nobody out, somebody has to hit a fly ball.”

Although FGCU had consecutive two-out singles to begin the game against freshman Eric Hanhold (Palm Harbor, Fla.) by Dwyer and redshirt senior Brooks Beisner (3-for-6), the right-hander whiffed sophomore Michael Suchy for his second strikeout of the inning. Hanhold was making his first collegiate start.

The Eagles plated a pair of runs in the second inning on an RBI double by junior Andrew Valencia and a squeeze bunt by redshirt sophomore Alex Diaz to open the scoring. Sophomore Zack Tillery led off with a single up the middle and came around on Valencia’s double into the left-field corner. A single by freshman Colton Bottomley pushed Valencia to third and Diaz laid down a perfect bunt to score Valencia and give the visitors a 2-0 lead.

Florida put a pair of runners aboard with two down in the third against freshman Michael Murray, as Bader walked and Martin collected his second hit of the contest. However, Murray had sophomore Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) line out to left field to end the inning.

Following a leadoff walk to Valencia in the fourth, sophomore Johnny Magliozzi (East Milton, Mass.) replaced Hanhold (3.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 3 K, 1 BB). Although Diaz and Bednar had back-to-back singles that loaded the bases with one down for FGCU, Magliozzi had both senior Mike Reeves and Dwyer pop up to hold the Gators’ deficit at 2-0.

In the home part of the frame, redshirt sophomore Zack Powers (Seffner, Fla.) (2-for-4) doubled to right center with one down and went to third on a grounder by freshman Kevin Stypulkowski (Lake Worth, Fla.). Matthews had sophomore Taylor Gushue (Boca Raton, Fla.) fly out to preserve the 2-0 count.

Martin cut FGCU’s lead in half with a two-out RBI single in the fifth that drove in senior Cody Dent (Boynton Beach, Fla.). Senior Vickash Ramjit (Miami, Fla.) (2-for-5) began the inning by legging out an infield single but was erased at second base on a fielder’s choice by Dent. A throwing error on the play by Diaz enabled Dent to occupy second base. A grounder by Bader advanced Dent and Martin put the Gators on the scoreboard with his third hit of the contest. Murray maintained the Eagles’ advantage by having Turgeon fly out to left field.

The Gators plated three runs on four hits in the sixth to build a 4-2 advantage. Shafer started things off with a single that raised his hitting streak to six games and Powers followed with a base-hit into right field to put the Orange and Blue in business. Stypulkowski sacrificed his teammates over with a bunt and Gushue punched a game-tying single into center field. Redshirt freshman Gabe Rivera replaced Murray (5.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER) and an infield single by Ramjit drove in Powers to move UF ahead. Rivera was called for a balk, advancing Gushue and Ramjit, and Dent provided the Gators with a 4-2 lead on an RBI grounder to shortstop.  

Beisner knotted the game at 4-4 in the seventh with a two-out, two-run homer to right field. After Magliozzi recorded the first two outs, Dwyer singled through the left side and Beisner sent the next pitch over the right-field wall for his team-leading fourth homer, second of the series. A single by Suchy prompted a call to the bullpen, with freshman Jay Carmichael (Cape Coral, Fla.) replacing Magliozzi (3.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R). The righty had Tillery to right field.

Cooney came in for Rivera (0.2 IP) prior to Florida’s seventh at bat and tossed a 1-2-3 inning. Carmichael set down the Eagles in order in the top of the eighth and Cooney did the same to the Gators in the bottom of the stanza.

A one-out single by Reeves in the ninth brought junior Daniel Gibson (Lutz, Fla.) in for Carmichael (1.2 IP, 1 H) and Dwyer greeted the lefty with a single into center field for two runners aboard. Shafer came in from right field and caught Beisner looking on strikes for the second out and had Suchy ground out to keep the contest deadlocked.

In the bottom of the inning, Dent drew a one-out walk and moved into scoring position with his first theft of the season. Cooney countered with strikeouts of Bader and Martin to give the fans free baseball at McKethan Stadium for the second time this week.

After Shafer notched three-straight outs in the 10th, Turgeon roped a leadoff single into left field and advanced to third base on a failed pickoff attempt by Cooney. The Eagles walked Shafer and Powers intentionally to load the bases and the move paid off when Cooney had Stypulkowski fly out to right field, a grounder by freshman pinch hitter Christian Dicks (Jacksonville, Fla.) force Turgeon at home and then a fly out by Ramjit send the game to the 11th.

Gators Rally for First Win at Alabama Since 2009

Trailing by 13 points with 10:17 remaining, Florida used a 21-4 run to erase the deficit and earn a 67-61 victory against Alabama at historic Foster Auditorium on Sunday afternoon.

Sophomore Kayla Lewis (Decatur, Ga.) scored 15 points with 11 rebounds to post the third double-double of her career, while junior Jaterra Bonds (Gainesville, Fla.) scored 11 of her game-high 15 points in the second half, as the Gators (16-12, 5-9) halted their three-game skid and collected their first win in Tuscaloosa since Feb. 5, 2009, when the Gators claimed the 92-71 victory in Coleman Coliseum.

Redshirt-junior Lily Svete (Granger, Ind.) scored all of her 11 points in the first half, when she drilled three three-pointers, while freshman Sydney Moss (Union, Ky.) distributed a career-high-tying nine assists with six rebounds and four points. With her fourth assist of the game, Moss dished her 100th assist this season, just the 18th time in program history a Gator has topped the milestone in a year and the first time since 2010-11 when Lanita Bartley had 119.

“We showed a tremendous amount of fight and I think this is a great sign of this team growing and maturing and playing the way that we should play in the face of adversity,” UF head coach Amanda Butler said. “We couldn’t get ourselves to the free throw line as much as we thought we would be able to, and couldn’t get the ball into the block as cleanly as we thought we’d be able to. They wouldn’t go away.

“Our players just kept fighting and finding ways to make a difference,” Butler continued. “They handled the challenges that their coaches issued to them and stepped up and made plays in critical moments. I thought our team energy and team chemistry was fantastic.”

Alabama scored the first eight points of the second half, erased Florida’s one-point halftime lead and took a 39-32 lead.

Vicky McIntyre became the ninth of nine Gators who dressed for the game to score, as she halted the run with a short jumper inside.

The teams traded buckets for the next couple of minutes before the Tide ripped off eight consecutive points and took a 51-38 lead with 11:16 remaining.

Florida hit just 2-of-15 during those the first 10:52 of the second half and had committed four more turnovers that brought their total to 18, as Alabama converted into 20 points.

After the teams traded buckets, the Gators started their rally as they ripped off a 21-4 run and took a 61-57 lead with 4:07 remaining.

Bonds began the game-changing run by nailing her first three-pointer since the February 3rd home game against Alabama. Christin Mercer then converted consecutive buckets and Lewis hit a jumper inside to cap a 9-0 run.

The teams exchange scored for the next two minutes and with the Gators trailing by six points, 57-51, Lewis went to work again as she banked in a jumper from the free throw line.

Jennifer George, who blocked a shot in the first half for the 173 rd of her career that moved her pass DeLisha Milton for fourth in program history, hit a bucket inside on a great pass from Moss and Lewis added an eight-foot jumper off an in-bounds play. Moss then connected on a six-footer in the paint, before Lewis capped a 10-0 march with a short shot inside that gave Florida a 61-47 lead with 4:10 on the clock.

Kaneisha Horn stopped the run with a bucket, but George came right back with a jumper inside and Bonds hit another driving layup and Florida’s lead swelled back to six points with 1:20 remaining.

Meghan Perkins then scored two of her 14 points the Alabama (12-15, 2-12 SEC), which dropped its eighth straight game.

Myers, who finished with 15 points, launched a three-pointer that was off the mark and Bonds corralled the miss and was fouled. She went the line and hit both ends of a one-plus-one and sealed the victory.

“We had some players who we had been waiting on early in the game to come alive, that came alive and Sydney Moss was one of those players, Kayla Lewis was one of those players,” Butler praised. “There were some spots where it made it difficult for her to play defense because of her size. We had players who subbed in like Lily and January (Miller), who made a difference defensively.”

Alabama converted 5-of-14 three-pointers in the first half, but missed all 11 attempts in the second, as Florida hit 44.1 percernt overall from the floor during the final 20 minutes after making just 2-of-15 through the first 10 minutes of the frame.

The Gators turned the focus to rebounding, as they held a 48-37 edge by the end of the game after holding just a 22-21 lead in the first half.

The Gators scored the first six points of the game, as Christin Mercer, Jennifer George and Lily Svete each hit field goals in the opening 1:55.

A different Gator connected on each of UF’s first six field goals and Florida was able to counter each Alabama point and managed to push its lead to as many as eight points, 17-10, after back-to-back three-pointers from Carlie Needles.

The Crimson Tide then marched off a 7-0 spurt and tied the game after Shafontaye Myers drilled her second of three three-pointers during the first half that forced Florida to call a timeout with 9:01 remaining in the opening period.

Junior Jaterra Bonds immediately responded with a pair of driving layups and Kayla Lewis added a short shot in the paint and took the Gators to a six-point lead, 23-17.

Alabama countered with its second big push, using a 12-3 run and took a 29-26 lead with 3:49 remaining. Svete’s three-pointer was the lone Gator score during the march, but that bucket helped the Gator junior in the closing two minutes, as she halted Alabama’s eight-point run at the end of the spurt with another trey at the 2:01 mark and followed with another from the left side 20 seconds later and gave Florida a 32-29 lead.

Myers finished the first half scoring with her fifth field goal of the period, as she totaled 13 points during the first 20 minutes.

Svete led Florida with 11 points, as eight of the nine Gators who dressed for the game scored during the first half.

The Gators committed 14 turnovers, but hit 13-of-31 from the floor, including 6-of-13 from the arc.

No. 4 Gators Win Thriller Over No. 13 Stanford, 4-2

With over 1,000 fans on hand to start and through one weather delay and change of venue, the 4^th-ranked Florida women’s tennis team defeated 13^th-ranked Stanford, 4-2 at the Ring Tennis Complex Sunday afternoon.

The match, which was part of the first ever USTA College Match Day, brought to the courts a sold-out, standing room only crowd of 1,033, which was the 2^nd-largest in program history and saw a great come from behind victory for the Gators (6-1) in handing Stanford (4-2) its second loss of the year.

The win also extends Florida’s overall home winning streak to 112 straight matches and 117 regular-season home matches.

“We talked beforehand that we kind of knew it was going to be the classic Stanford-Florida battle,” Florida head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “It was going to be a lot of points, long games, long sets, grueling and we knew that if we could make it that, that was going to give us the best chance to win, and I think after losing the doubles point where Stanford played well, we were a little tentative maybe. I think we regrouped really well and found a nice rhythm in singles to make points long, and obviously we had some spectacular play at two because the kid at two (Kristie Ahn) for Stanford is world-class. That kid has played center court U.S. Open, and so for Sofie (Oyen) to get off the court quick, for Olivia (Janowicz) to get off quick, that really set the tone for us, but it’s a team of warriors. We work hard, we run and at the end of the matches, you have to be able to use your legs when it’s hard to hit the corners. Today was a great example of that.”

Stanford took the air out of the raucous crowd early after winning the doubles point with wins at the top two courts, but Florida was able to stay at their opponent’s heels all day, winning on two of the first three singles courts to go final. With three singles matches remaining and either team only needing two more points, all matches were sent to a deciding third set; that was when Florida’s freshman Brianna Morgan (Beverly Hills, Calif.) and junior Alexandra Cercone (Seminole, Fla.) took over and won it for the Gators.

After dropping the first set to Stanford’s Krista Hardebeck, who is ranked 10^th in the nation, 6-4, Cercone battled back to win the final two sets, 6-4, 6-3. The match, which was finishing up over three hours after it began because of a rain delay and a move of location into the brand-new indoor facility, saw multiple deuce points and long rallies. With the fans that did make it indoors, Cercone was able to dig down and give UF its third team point of the day. The win also keeps Cercone perfect on the year in singles at 4-0.

“Roland came into the locker room and asked us if we wanted to go inside,” Cercone said.  So he and the Stanford coach could deliberate on what they wanted to do. We told him that we wouldn’t be upset if we went indoors because we’ve had experience practicing in there and Stanford hasn’t, so we figured maybe that could be like a one-up.”

After Cercone’s win at court three, senior Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) and Morgan were involved in the only two matches left and both were in deciding third sets. Embree’s match with Nicole Gibbs was featuring long games and long points, while Morgan’s match was moving much faster as she neared the clinching sixth game-winner.

Morgan had an early advantage after winning the first frame, 6-4, but was taken to a third set after dropping the second, 6-3 to the Cardinal’s Stacy Tan. With the match tied at 2-all, it seemed as if whoever broke the first serve would have the upper hand. Sure enough, Morgan was able to break Tan’s serve for a 3-2 lead and then hold in the next game to move ahead 4-2. Tan did return the favor to hold her serve in the next game to pull within 4-3, but Morgan stayed ahead and then broke Tan one more time after a couple of deuce points to give Florida the 4-2 win. The final line for Morgan and Tan’s match ended up 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in favor of Morgan.

“I think definitely after the first set and in the first game of the third set, I mentally wasn’t there,” Morgan said. And so in the third set I tried really forget about everything that had happened and kind of hitting the reset button mentally. That was what helped me.”

“That was some serious tennis,” Thornqvist said. “Two great athletes that both hit the ball world class, and it says a lot about an athlete, I think, to have the lead, lose the lead and then act like nothing happened and then be able to break for us to win this match.”

Not to be overlooked, the Gators were able to get quick wins from juniors Sofie Oyen (Leopoldsburg, Belguim) and Olivia Janowicz (Palm Bay, Fla.) at courts two and six, which allowed UF to make up the ground lost in doubles play. Janowicz was the first off the court after defeating Lindsey Kostas, 6-2, 6-2, for her sixth win of the year. Barely eight minutes later, Oyen was off the court also after dispatching Kristie Ahn, 6-2, 6-2, to move to 5-2 in singles this year.

Offense Leads No. 3 Florida Lacrosse To Win Over UAlbany

Four Gators scored multiple goals to help lead No. 3 Florida lacrosse to a 17-7 win over UAlbany Sunday at Donald R. Dizney Stadium. The Gators improve to 6-0 with the win with help from leading scorer sophomore midfielder Shannon Gilroy (Northport, N.Y.), who recorded five goals and a career-high and UF single-game high eight draw controls in the effort.

Gilroy, senior attack Ashley Bruns (Ellicot City, Md.), senior attack Kitty Cullen (Rockville, Md.) and senior midfielder Brittany Dashiell all chipped in at least two goals apiece to help UF on the afternoon. Gilroy’s eight draw controls bested her previous high of seven she recorded three times in her career. The eight draw controls also pushed her career total to 104, as she becomes the second Gator to record 100 in her career.

“She (Gilroy) dominated the draw and that’s what she does,” Head coach Amanda O’Leary said. “She is not only a threat on the draw but offensively. She has been getting better and better on those draws and at the beginning of the season she was hesitant going after ground balls but today she stayed with the ball and picked them up and got the momentum going for us.”

Bruns recorded her second-straight game with four goals as she chipped in five points total for the afternoon.  Cullen added a hat trick for the Gators while Dashiell found the back of the net twice in the win. Senior attack Caroline Chesterman (South Nyack, N.Y.) led with three ground balls on the afternoon as part of the Gators 21 ground balls on the day.

The Gators led the Great Danes in draw controls (21-4) and ground balls (21-17) on the afternoon, helping swing the offensive momentum into their favor. UF was also 3-for-5 on free position attempts with Dashiell going 2-for-2.  

Florida took an early 3-0 lead with all three goals in a 1:30 span, started by Dashiell with her free position goal with 26:53 left in the first half followed by back-to-back goals from Gilroy. UAlbany’s Rachel Bowles got them on the board on a free position shot at the 19:53 mark, but UF scored the next four goals en route to a 7-1 lead.

Bruns added back-to-back goals at 9:03 and 5:34 as UF would go on to score the final three of four goals in the first half, taking a 12-4 halftime lead.  Albany was held the 14 shots on the day, seven in each half and were led by Bowles with four goals and Allie Phelan with two.

The teams exchanged goals to start the second half but Dashiell’s free position shot put the Gators up 10 just four minutes into the half. Sophomore midfielders Nicole Graziano (Mendham, N.J.) and Nora Barry (Marcellus, N.Y.) along with freshman attack Lauren Lea (Elkridge, Md.) all scored a goal for the Gators. The Gators now improve to 2-0 all-time over the Great Danes and have a perfect 6-0 record against opponents in the American East Conference.

“I thought we came out and played really, really well,” O’Leary said. “We got out to a really solid start and we went well over 50 percent shooting, which I know is one of the goals for our attack. I thought defensively we played very, very well and overall I’m just really pleased”

Florida is back in action on Saturday as it travels to Miami to take part in the Orange Bowl Classic with a meeting against rival No. 6 Syracuse at Sun Life Stadium. The Orangemen and Gators previously met in the NCAA Final Four, where SU won 14-13 in overtime. Opening draw is set for 5 p.m. on Sun Sports with Larry Vettel and M.C. McFadden on the call.

UF men break Auburn's hold on SEC pool

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Florida men's swimming team ended Auburn's streak of 16 straight SEC Championships on Saturday night.

Auburn's SEC run was the third longest streak for a single program in conference history. The UF men finished first with 1,408 points and had four individual championships and one relay championship.

“It's great for the guys,” UF coach Gregg Troy said. “We have been chasing Auburn and nipping at their heels every year, and we've been close a couple of them. I think this kind of takes us over the top from the standpoint that it gets the monkey off our back. It's a good building point towards the NCAA meet and it's not an end in itself, but it certainly is a good conference win.”

This is the 34th SEC title for the men's team, the most of any school in the conference as Auburn is the next closest with 18. Florida last won the SEC Championship in 1993, breaking a 20-year streak and having finished runner-up for 11 years. The Gators collected four titles, had 10 top three finishers and 27 top eight finishes. Junior Marcin Cieslak led the team with two titles as he won in both the 100 and 200 fly.

“The SEC is always competitive,” said Troy. “When you add two good teams like Missouri and Texas A&M, this meet was actually very comparable with the NCAA meet a couple of years ago in a lot of events.”

UF's women finished third with 1,190.5 points. The Georgia women won their fourth straight SEC Championship and Texas A&M finished second. The Gator women had three individual titles, as junior Elizabeth Beisel won the 400 IM and 200 back for the third straight year and freshman Natalie Hinds won the 100 fly in the nation's best time.

“We are really fortunate to have the great staff we do here at Florida,” Troy said. “The other coaches, the kids came from every different training group and did a great job. Martyn Wilby, Anthony Nesty, Leah Stancil, Donnie Craine with the divers and Steve Jungbluth with the sprinters, they all did a great job with the swimmers.”

The Gators finished the final night of competition at the SEC Swimming & Diving Championships adding two more titles to their collection to give them eight total. Beisel won the women's 200 back and sophomore Matt Elliott won his first SEC title, finishing first in the men's 200 breast.

UF's strong second half puts away Razorbacks

Florida coach Billy Donovan isn’t big on payback. But senior forward Erik Murphy felt a sense of satisfaction shortly after UF’s 71-54 win over Arkansas at the O’Connell Center.

“We wanted to let them know that we were the better team,” Murphy said. “That first game at their place, they came out on fire and we weren’t ready. That’s not us.”

Florida avenged its 80-69 loss at Arkansas on Feb. 5 with muscle and hustle. The Gators outscored Arkansas 42-18 in the paint. Although Arkansas outrebounded Florida 41-38, the Gators finished with more second-chance points (18-16).

“That was a big emphasis, getting the ball in the paint whether it’s on drives, on post feeds, whatever it is,” Murphy said. “When we get the ball in the paint, we were more efficient on offense.”

Senior guard Mike Rosario led four Florida players in double figures with 15 points. Center Patric Young added 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Kenny Boynton and Murphy each had 12 points.

Coty Clarke led Arkansas (17-10, 8-6 SEC) with 18 points, but the Razorbacks were unable to get off to the same hot start from the perimeter that they did in upsetting the Gators three-and-a-half weeks ago. Arkansas shot just 36.2 percent from the floor and 22.2 percent (6 of 27) from 3-point range.

Defensively, Florida held an opponent to under 60 points for the 19th time this season. The Gators smothered Arkansas guard B.J. Young, limiting the sophomore guard to just three points on 0-for-8 shooting. Young, who entered the game third in the SEC in scoring at 16.5 points per game, was held without a field goal for the first time in his career.

Donovan credited junior guard Scottie Wilbekin for blanketing Young throughout the game.

“Scottie did a good job cutting off angles, and I thought when he did get around us, we were able to provide a little bit of help,” Donovan said.

The Gators (22-4, 12-2 SEC) extended their SEC lead to two games with four left to play. But it came with a price. Freshman guard Michael Frazier II suffered a concussion in the second half when his head hit Wilbekin’s knee diving for a loose ball. Frazier is doubtful for UF’s next game Tuesday night at Tennessee.

“Obviously, there are baseline tests that they will do on him,” Donovan said. “I don’t know how long he will be out for.”

Florida didn’t have its best night from the perimeter (8 of 23 from 3-point range, 34.8 percent) but didn’t need to with the production from Young and Murphy. With Arkansas’ defense hugging the 3-point line, Florida also got some early driving baskets from Boynton and Rosario.

“That was the whole objective, us being aggressive off the bounce, and getting into the paint,” Rosario said.

The Gators were outscored 24-16 in the paint in their loss Tuesday night at Missouri.

“I think you just try to learn from the Missouri game,” Donovan said. “That was a great thing. When people think attacking the paint, or points in the paint, they ultimately think throwing the ball inside to the post.”

Donovan said he felt the Gators could have even scored more in the paint if not for some missed transition layups by Boynton, Rosario and Casey Prather.

“But at least we had a mentality of trying to attack a little bit more,” Donovan said.

Young and Arkansas forward Marshawn Powell each picked up two first-half fouls. So did Wilbekin. Though Florida led by as many as 10 points in the first half, the Gators led just 32-28 at halftime after a putback from Arkansas forward Jacorey Williams.

But the Gators started the second half with an 18-5 run, extending their lead to 50-33 on a 3-pointer by Frazier with 13:25 remaining.

“Billy does a great job with his team, and those guys were ready,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “They had a little something to prove, and obviously I thought in the second half they really did.”

Florida kept pouring it on offensively. A Rosario 3-pointer put Florida ahead 57-37 with 10:31 left, and Florida maintained its double-digit lead for the rest of the game.

“More than any game, I didn’t worry about our team coming out to play,” Boynton said. “I knew we were going to have energy coming out to play them and losing to Missouri the last game.”

The Gators have yet to lose two games in a row this season.

“It says we’re able to regroup,” Boynton said. “Missouri, I didn’t think we even should have lost that game, but it happens. We’ve just got to move forward.”

With the win and Alabama’s overtime loss earlier in the day, Florida moved a step closer to its fourth outright SEC title in school history. Florida has previously won outright SEC basketball titles in 1989, 2007 and 2011.

“I’m not going to and our guys aren’t going to sit down here and say, ‘Wow, let’s take a deep breath,’ ” Donovan said. “We got a heck of a challenge Tuesday night (at Tennessee), I know that.”

FREE THROWS: Florida hosted a family from Sandy Hook Elementary School for the Arkansas game. The family attended UF’s pregame shootaround Saturday afternoon. “I really appreciated our guys getting involved with them and shot around with them and did some things with their kids,” Donovan said. “If there was some way we could maybe bring a smile to their face, that was a good day today.” … Junior forward Will Yeguete took part in pregame drills, including going through layup lines, but was not available for the game. “This is part of his recovery, getting him back in layups, jogging, running, shooting,” Donovan said. “He’s starting to do some of this light work now and every day there is no swelling, or no discomfort, they push him a little bit further.” … Florida’s announced crowd of 12,609 was its fourth straight sellout and fifth sellout of the season.

No. 16 Men's Tennis Drops Tight Match to No. 20 Baylor, 4-3

The Florida men’s tennis team was on court for over four hours on Saturday, dropping a tightly contested match to No. 16 Baylor, 4-3, at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex. After falling behind early, the Gators evened the match at 3-3 but couldn’t pull out a victory. The Gators fell to 6-4 on the season and look to begin SEC play next weekend.

“That was a great match,” said head coach Bryan Shelton afterward. “I thought Baylor played great tennis, especially when the pressure was on and the stakes were the highest they played there very best. I give them a lot of credit today.”

Baylor (7-1, 0-0) came out firing in doubles, as the Bears’ pair of Julian Lenz and Patrick Pradella beat the Florida duo of Mike Alford and Florent Diep, 8-3, at the No. 2 position. Baylor clinched the doubles point when Diego Galeano and Marko Krickovic closed out UF’s Billy Federhofer and Luke Johnson, 8-5, on court three.

“I was proud of our guys,” said Coach Shelton. “We got down 1-0 and this team came at us. They were fired up. They were their own cheering section out there. They were loud and they were getting after it. Our guys didn’t back down and I was very proud of our effort and our fight.”

The Gators did bounce back, when Piro evened the match with a victory at No. 2 singles, beating Tony Lupieri in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. Johnson finished off Galeano at No. 6 singles to put Florida ahead 2-1 overall in the match.

Baylor responded with a point from Pradella at No. 1 singles over UF’s van Overbeek, 6-4, 6-4. With the match square at 2-2, the remaining three courts went to a third set, and Federhofer was the first to pull through. After falling in an early 4-1 hole in the first set, he rallied to beat No. 56 Krickovic, 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-4.

“Billy is resilient,” said Shelton. “He made some adjustments and picked up the emotional fight and got himself into the battle. Once he got in there he did a nice job, even losing the second set, starting so strong in the third set. He went up big early in the third, almost went up 5-1. For the [Baylor] guy to continue to fight against him and come back showed me a lot too. I have a lot of respect for Baylor and for how hard those guys fought today. To see Billy close it out in the end, that was tremendous. It was huge for us.”

With a 3-2 lead the Gators needed one of the two remaining matches with courts two and four still playing. On court four, Alford took the first set from Baylor’s Mate Zsiga, but couldn’t hold on and lost, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. With all eyes on the match between Diep and Lenz at No. 2 singles, Diep fought back after dropping the first set and forced a third, but Lenz was too much in the third set, winning 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

“Overall, I thought we did a nice job of just competing hard,” said Shelton. “Next time we’re in that situation I want to see us run through the door and get across that finish line first. I believe that we can and I believe that we will. We’re looking forward to what lies ahead with the SEC season. This coming weekend we get to play Texas A&M. It’s a new season for us and I’m ready to get started.”

With the start of SEC play next weekend, the Gators will have their work cut out for them. There are currently nine SEC teams in the top 25 and No. 14 Texas A&M will travel to Gainesville next Sunday for a 1 p.m. match. Florida will hit the road for its next five matches, beginning with a trip to South Carolina and No. 8 Georgia.

“We’re not afraid to work hard,” Coach Shelton said after Saturday’s match. “I know the coaching staff here is on a mission. I’ve got two of the best coaches that I work with in Scott Perelman and Amer Delic. We’re on a mission and I think these guys are on a mission to get it right. I feel like we’re working on the right things. We’ve just got to keep working and keep grinding and keep fighting, keep battling. It’s not just on match day. It’s every single practice day. We’ve got to eke out every single debt that we can from every single practice to give ourselves more opportunities like we had today.”

Dendy Leaps to World-Leading Mark to Join Triassi as Saturday's SEC Champions

Sophomore Marquis Dendy (Middletown, Del.) and senior David Triassi (Jacksonville, Fla.) took home Southeastern Conference titles on the second day of the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships at the University of Arkansas on Saturday.

“I love where we’re at,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “I think what you saw out of us today is who we are and what we’re about. We had great runs across the board, we were tremendous in the field events today and I’m very proud of everyone for stepping up where it counts.”

Dendy claimed his second-straight SEC title in the men’s long jump with a new personal best and school record of 8.25m/27-0.75. In the process, Dendy set a new SEC Championship meet record and leapt the best jump in the world this year.

“When we recruited Marquis out of high school, we knew he was a big-time athlete,” Holloway commented. “He had some injury problems last year and was just a freshman, but he struggled a bit with fouls at the Nebraska meet this year and he and Coach (Nic) Petersen went to work and got those things adjusted. That’s what you saw today. I’m really proud of him. SEC Champion and the SEC Championship record-holder and world leader, I just couldn’t be prouder of him and the work he and Coach Petersen have put in.”

“All season I have been fouling huge jumps, so my coaches and I have been working on my approach to a tee,” Dendy said. “Every day in practice it was just approaches, approaches, approaches, then today I came out and executed like I do in practice. I just wanted to go out there, put my foot on the board and compete hard for my team.”

Triassi started the day off strong for the Gator men at Walker Pavilion, claiming the SEC men’s weight throw title with a personal-best mark of 21.59m/70-10, just one centimeter off the school record of teammate Jeremy Postin (Andover, Kan.), who turned in a runner-up finish Saturday with his throw of 21.48m/70-5.75.

“Very, very pleased with the weight throwers today. David has been looking very good in practice and Coach (Steve) Lemke mentioned in practice the other day that he thought David was capable of winning it,” Holloway said. “When your teammate is the school record holder and the NCAA runner-up in the hammer throw outdoors, that’s a big statement. But true to Coach Lemke’s prediction, David was on fire today. To Jeremy’s credit, he didn’t let him get it easily either. For both of them to throw over 70 feet was a great start for us today.”

“I came into today really relaxed,” Triassi said. “I wanted my last one (SEC Indoors) to be my best one. I knew that if I didn’t throw a PR on my first throw, there was no way that I could beat Jeremy and that’s what I did.

“The great thing about this group of guys is that all four of us (Triassi, Postin, David Levin [Altamonte Springs, Fla.] and Kyle Strawn [Temecula, Calif.]) are a brotherhood and we’re there for each other in our successes,” Triassi finished. “We’re so pumped to get 18 points for Florida to start the meet.”

Junior Eddie Lovett (West Palm Beach, Fla.) had a record-setting day for the Orange and Blue, setting a new school record in the men’s 60-meter hurdles. The two-time SEC Champion in the event torched the track with his time of 7.57, a new lifetime best and the collegiate leader in the 60-meter hurdles. Lovett’s time goes down as the third-fastest in the nation this year and tied for the sixth-fastest in the world. Only 12 athletes have run faster than Lovett in collegiate history.

“Eddie Lovett was phenomenal today. He and Coach (Erin) Tucker really got into a groove and they really get each other. Eddie understands what Coach Tucker is asking him to do and to watch that race, and we’ve seen some great hurdle races at the University of Florida, but that was a tremendous race and the first thing Eddie said was, ‘I’ve got to keep my mind straight and do it again tomorrow.’ I think that’s a great mindset for all of our athletes heading into tomorrow.”

On the women’s side, juniors Cory McGee (Pass Christian, Miss.) and Agata Strausa (Riga, Latvia) scored in the women’s 3,000 meters, finishing 2-3 in the event with new personal bests of 9:15.67 and 9:16.25. McGee’s PR was cemented by nearly 10 seconds and she and Strausa are now second and third all-time at UF.

“That’s what Cory and Agata do. If you talked to them before the race, they obviously would have liked to go 1-2 but they both ended up with huge PRs and are now second and third in school history,” Holloway noted. “Coach (Paul) Spangler has done a phenomenal job with them and I’m very pleased with their effort in the mile as well, along with Steph Strasser.”

Junior Lorraine Graham (Springdale, Md.) and sophomore Ciarra Brewer (Union City, Calif.) both scored in the women’s long jump, finishing third and seventh with jumps of 6.18m/20-3.50 and 6.03m/19-9.50, respectively.

Graham’s jump was a new personal best for her and goes down as tied for eighth all-time in Florida program history. In the span of 24 hours, Graham has cemented herself as second all-time in UF history in the women’s pentathlon (4,010 points), third all-time in the 60-meter hurdles (8.44), to add to her finish in the women’s long jump Saturday.

Earlier in the day, McGee and Strausa joined senior Stephanie Strasser (Fernandina Beach, Fla.) to qualify for Sunday’s finals of the women’s mile. Strausa led the Gator pack with her second-place qualifier of 4:44.47 and McGee was sixth overall in 4:47.38. Strasser finished with a new personal best of 4:48.69 to take the 10th and final qualifying spot for Sunday’s final.

The men’s distance corps had a banner day also, as Mark Parrish (Tampa, Fla.) and Josh Izewski (Doylestown, Pa.) scored for the Gator men on Saturday in the men’s 3,000 meters. Parrish ran a new lifetime best of 8:03.54 to finish fifth on the evening, good for fourth all-time at Florida. Izewski turned in a lifetime best of 8:11.27 to finish eighth and etch his name at tenth all-time in program history. Freshman JL Hines (Orlando, Fla.) landed just outside the top-10 all-time at UF with his personal best of 8:11.95 and freshman Jimmy Clark (St. Johns, Fla.) finished 11th in a personal-best time of 8:16.10.

Sophomore Hugh Graham, Jr. (Miami, Fla.) qualified for two of Sunday’s finals, unleashing times of 6.64 in the 60 meters and 45.86 in the 400 meters, both new personal bests.

“I mean, Hugh Graham, Jr. runs 6.64 and 45.86 in the same day…I’m just speechless,” Holloway said. “I just don’t think anyone has ever done that. In this conference, that says something.”

Joining Graham in double-qualifying for Sunday’s finals was junior Ebony Eutsey (Miami, Fla.), who qualified with new PRs in the 200 (23.58) and 400 (52.48), good for 10th and fourth all-time at UF, respectively. Along with Eutsey, Graham and Lovett, Sunday’s qualifiers included Dedric Dukes (Miami, Fla.) in the men’s 200 meters (20.79 – PR), Ugonna Ndu (Newark, N.J.) in the women’s 60-meter hurdles (8.38 – SB), Sean Obinwa (Tampa, Fla.) in the men’s 800 meters (1:50.85), Shayla Sanders (Pompano Beach, Fla.) in the women’s 60 meters (7.37 – PR) and Antwan Wright (Riviera Beach, Fla.) in the men’s 60 meters (6.69 – PR).

“I’m really excited about our qualifiers for tomorrow. Overall, I’m really proud of both teams and we’re ready to get back to the hotel, get rested and get everyone fed, and come out here tomorrow and get after it.”

The Championship Central for this weekend’s meet can be found on ArkansasRazorbacks.com, including the meet schedule, performance lists, Fan Guide and much more. Live results will be provided by Flash Results and full recap will be available on GatorZone each day. Fans can interact with the Gators on Twitter throughout the meet at @GZTrackField.

The meet will be broadcast live on RazorVision from 12-12:30 p.m. CT on Sunday. Beginning at 12:30 p.m. CT on Sunday, the meet will air live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. Dwight Stones and Larry Rawson will be on the call with Lewis Johnson on the sideline.

FGCU Clinches Series With 8-3 Victory Over No. 13 Florida

Senior Mike Reeves (2-for-5) snapped a 1-1 tie with a two-out RBI single in the fifth inning and FGCU (4-1) added a three-run homer by sophomore Michael Suchy (2-for-3) in the sixth inning en route to an 8-3 win over No. 13 Florida (3-4) on Saturday afternoon at McKethan Stadium. Junior left-hander Brandon Bixler (1-0) limited the Gators to one run on four hits over five innings before senior R.J. Brown hurled the final four innings to collect his first save of the season. Three different Eagles turned in multiple-hit outings after the visitors had captured Friday’s opener.

“I thought we got a good start from Tucker Simpson,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We have to do a better job offensively. We had seven hits that were scattered. We are trying to do some things offensively; put guys in motion; hit and runs. We haven't been able to string along quality at bats. We have some work to do; it’s as simple as that. Teams go through periods where they don't play so well. At this point, we aren't playing so well. There is nothing we can do about yesterday or today, we just have to come out and be ready to play tomorrow.”

After an eight-pitch top of the first inning by freshman righty Tucker Simpson (Oxford, Ala.) (0-1), sophomore Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.) put the Gators on the scoreboard with a wind-aided RBI double to center field. Freshman Harrison Bader (Bronxville, N.Y.) had drawn a leadoff walk from Bixler and stolen second for his team-leading third theft. Freshman Richie Martin (Brandon, Fla.) was hit by a pitch for two Gators aboard and sophomore Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) advanced his teammates with a grounder. Shafer’s team-high third double provided the hosts with the opening score for the second day in a row. A fielder’s choice by redshirt sophomore Zack Powers (Seffner, Fla.) to Bixler resulted in Martin being thrown out at the plate and then Shafer was erased at the dish on an attempted double steal.

Redshirt senior Brooks Beisner (2-for-4) led off the second for the Eagles with a double into left field and junior Brandon Bednar walked before sophomore Zack Tillery moved his teammates into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Simpson worked out of the jam by striking out Suchy and having freshman Colton Bottomley pop up to second base.

Simpson had retired seven-consecutive FGCU batters until hitting Beisner with one down in the fourth. A wild pitch moved the runner into scoring position and a grounder by Bednar pushed Beisner to third with two out. Simpson had Tillery ground out to Powers to end the frame.

The Eagles scored twice in the fifth to seize a 2-1 lead. Suchy led off with a base-hit into center field, went to second on a grounder by Bottomley and came in on a double into left field by redshirt sophomore Alex Diaz. After fanning freshman Tyler Selesky for the second out, Simpson (4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 K) was replaced by junior Daniel Gibson (Lutz, Fla.). Reeves greeted the southpaw with a base-hit up the middle to plate Diaz.

“No doubt I felt a lot more comfortable today versus last week,” Simpson said of his second collegiate start. “I know going out there, in the bullpen especially, I felt like I had it under control but then seeing the pre-game video on the board I started to get a little bit nervous. But, I think getting that under my belt and coming out today I was a lot more comfortable than last week.”

UF threatened in the bottom of the inning, as senior Vickash Ramjit (Miami, Fla.) and sophomore Taylor Gushue (Boca Raton, Fla.) started with consecutive walks. Bixler retired Tobias on an infield fly, Ramjit was thrown out at third as part of a double steal for the second out and Bixler struck out senior Cody Dent (Boynton Beach, Fla.) to preserve the Eagles’ advantage.  

Sophomore Ryan Harris (Jupiter, Fla.) took over for Gibson (0.1 IP, 1 H) prior to the sixth and issued a one-out walk to Bednar. Tillery followed with a single into left field and then Suchy boosted FGCU’s lead to 5-1 with a three-run homer to left field for his first career round-tripper.

Bixler limited the Gators to one run on four hits over five innings before Brown took over on the mound. Martin had a one-out infield single and Turgeon was hit by a pitch before Shafer flew out to right field. Powers was plunked to fill the bags with two down and Ramjit walked to narrow Florida’s deficit to 5-2 as Martin came in. Brown worked out of further trouble by inducing a pop-up by Gushue.

FGCU used a pair of triples in the seventh by junior Sean Dwyer and Bednar to expand its lead to 7-2. Freshman Danny Young (Boca Raton, Fla.) came in at the outset of the inning for Harris (1.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R) and yielded a leadoff single to Selesky. The left-hander had Reeves pop up a sacrifice bunt attempt and Dwyer ripped a triple to center field to score Selesky. Freshman Mike Vinson (Miami, Fla.) came in for Young (0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R) and Powers robbed Beisner of a potential single with a diving stab for the second out. However, Bednar tripled to center field to put FGCU ahead by five runs.

Beisner had an RBI single in the ninth inning with one down that brought home Reeves, who had singled with one down off Vinson (2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 K). In the Gators’ ninth, freshman Kevin Stypulkowski (Lake Worth, Fla.) came through with his first career extra-base hit with a double into left center and freshman Brady Roberson (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) delivered a pinch-hit RBI single up the middle to score Stypulkowski and finalize the 8-3 margin. The Eagles out-hit UF, 11-7, and neither team committed any errors.

Gator Men Maintain Lead Heading into Final Day at SEC Championships, Women Currently Third

Junior Marcin Cieslak (Warsaw, Poland) won his second individual SEC title of the meet to lead the Gators on night four of the 2013 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships. Florida’s men maintained their hold on first place, accumulating 1,038 points as they head into the final day of the meet. The UF women sit in third place with 852.5 points, trailing Georgia (1,058) and Texas A&M (985).

Florida continued to rewrite the history books as they had 16 participants in the finals tonight, and eight different Gators swam personal-best times during the fourth night. The men and women competed in the 200 fly, 100 back, 100 breast, women’s platform and 400 medley relay.

The Gators made up half of the field in the men’s 200 fly, with four qualifying during the prelims session earlier today. The group set the pace early, never relinquishing the top three spots to sweep the podium. Cieslak defended his SEC title in the event, posting a 1:42.17 for a NCAA “A” time and currently the fastest time in the country. His win gave him a sweep of the fly events.

Finishing in second was redshirt junior Sebastien Rousseau (Cape Town, South Africa). Rousseau set a new personal-best time of 1:42.18 (NCAA “A”) to surpass Ryan Lochte for third all-time in UF history. Senior Cameron Martin (Clearwater, Fla.) completed the top-three sweep with a personal-best time. He swam a 1:43.04 NCAA “B” time that ranks fifth in school history.

Sophomore Dan Wallace (North Berwick, Scotland) swam his personal-best time for a fifth place finish. He clocked in at 1:44.18 for a NCAA “B” cut time. Taking the win in the B-Final was freshman Luke Torres (Miami, Fla.), who also saw a personal-best time with his 1:46.09 NCAA “B” time. Fellow freshman Adam Bull (Dallas, Texas) took 14^th with a NCAA “B” time of 1:47.30.

In the women’s 200 fly, senior Jamie Bohunicky (Gainesville, Fla.) finished eighth with a NCAA “B” time of 1:58.24. Sophomore Molly Dubrasky (Estero, Fla.) tied for 11^th, swimming a personal-best NCAA “B” time of 1:58.44 and fellow sophomore Rebecca Rainer (Richmond, Va.) clocked in at 2:00.71 to take 16^th. Also scoring was sophomore Lauren Neidigh (Orange Park, Fla.) with her 21^st place finish in 2:00.75.

Finishing fourth in the men’s 100 back was freshman Corey Main (Auckland, New Zealand), who swam a personal-best 46.84 to rank eighth in UF history. He just missed the podium by .10 of a second. Sophomore Christian-Paul Homer (Trinidad and Tobago) challenged for the win in the B-Final, just .05 behind ninth place to take 10^th with his personal-best time of 47.69.

Earning her first trip to the podium was freshman Sinead Russell (Burlington, Ontario). Russell finished third in the women’s 100 back with a NCAA “A” time of 51.95 to rank second in school history behind Gemma Spofforth. Junior Hilda Luthersdottir (Harfnarfjordur, Iceland) won the women’s 100 breast B-Final in her season-best time of 1:00.15.

Two Gators competed in the A-Final of the men’s 100 breast as sophomore Matt Elliott (Peoria, Ill.) finished in sixth place and sophomore Richard Munch (Clifton, Va.) took eighth. Both swam NCAA “B” times, with Elliott clocking in at 53.41 and Munch 53.58. Elliott set the new school record in the morning prelim session with his time of 53.19.

Women’s diving competed on the 10-meter platform. Freshman Kahlia Warner (Queensland, Australia) finished 12^th with a score of 241.75. Also scoring for the Gators was freshman Delaney Dye (Tallahassee, Fla.) who finished 15^th with a score of 235.10.

The last event of the evening was the 400 medley relay. Florida’s group of Main, Elliott, Cieslak and junior Brad deBorde (Longwood, Fla.) finished second for the men with a NCAA “A” time of 3:07.80. That time ranks fifth in school history. On the women’s side, junior Elizabeth Beisel (North Kingstown, R.I.), Luthersdottir, freshman Natalie Hinds (Midland, Texas) and Bohunicky combined for a fifth place finish with a time of 3:32.94. Their time ranks third in school history.