Florida Softball Rectifies Sports Year with National Championship

 Gainesville can finally celebrate! In its 17^th season, the University of Florida’s Gator softball team has finally brought home its first National Championship in team history. The Gators went 5-0 in the Women’s College World Series and capped it off with a sweep of their SEC foe, the Alabama Crimson Tide, in the Finals.  The softball team’s National Championship serves as a happy ending for what has been a very chaotic Gator sports year full of upsets and surprises.

I asked a UF student named Will Davis, a sophomore chemical engineering major, to share his thoughts about softball’s National Championship.  His response was nothing short of thrilled.

“Softball’s first National Championship, the University of Florida's 31st, is an exciting and invigorating accomplishment since it's the first one that softball has brought home and because of the adversity Gator sports collectively has experienced this year. Football struggled, baseball was knocked out earlier than expected, and basketball, which had an excellent season all things considered, lost a heartbreaker in the Final Four. To top off a year characterized by adversity, even our success was diminished with gymnastics having to share the national title rather than being the sole champion. With all this in mind, it makes a softball championship that much sweeter since it ended a difficult year on a good note. Aside from that, it further strengthened our campaign of being known as the ‘everything school’ since it is the 13th different sport to win a national title. To put things into perspective, only one other school in Florida, UM, has more than a total of 13 National Championships in all of their sports combined.”

           

Seniors Hannah Rogers and Stephanie Tofft close out there Gator softball careers as National Champions.  Rogers was a freshman on the 2011 squad that lost to the Arizona State Sun Devils in the WCWS Finals.  Tofft joined the Gators during her junior year after transferring from Northern Illinois University. She felt some of Rogers’s pain as the Gators were eliminated by Texas in the 2013 WCWS.

With just one last WCWS run left for both of them, Tofft and Rogers elevated their games to completely different levels. Tofft hit .433 in the NCAA Tournament and had 11 RBI’s with just one home run.  Her lone home run was a big one though as she tied Game 2 of the WCWS Finals with an opposite field shot to left field in the bottom of the first inning.

Rogers became virtually unhittable in the postseason as she posted a 7-0 record with a 0.64 ERA on route to being named the 2014 WCWS Most Outstanding Player this postseason. She allowed just two runs the entire WCWS! In a very fitting manner, it was Rogers who recorded the last out of the game on a ground ball hit right back to her on the mound. When she made the final throw of her Gator career to first base, Hannah Rogers put three years of anguish behind her and cemented both her and Tofft’s legacy in Florida softball lore.

*All stats accredited to Gatorzone.com & NCAA.com

2014 Gator Baseball: A Year In Review

The 2014 season marked the 100th in the storied history of Gator baseball. Having no seniors at all on the team, 11 juniors were tasked with leading the team to Omaha. Unfortunately, Florida's road to Omaha lasted just a brief weekend as they were out in two games after losing to College of Charleston and North Carolina.

Even though the Gators did not make it very far in the postseason, it doesn't mean that the 100th baseball season was all for nothing. Among many other things, the 2014 Gator baseball squad:

• Swept all three games they played against #1 Florida State.
• Took two out of three games from the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia, and then eliminated them from of the SEC Tournament.
• Swept UConn, FSU (who they played three total games against in three different locations), LSU, Georgia, and Missouri at McKethan Stadium, while sweeping Alabama on the road to tally six sweeps on the year.
• Won 10 out of the 14 three game series they played
• Defeated six teams in the NCBWA Top 30 rankings
• Finished the regular season ranked #10 in the NCBWA rankings, #8 in the USA Today Coaches' rankings, and #3 in the Baseball America rankings. They finished #3 overall in RPI and put the 2013 team's 29-30 mark behind them as they went 40-21 to finish 19 games over .500.
• Most importantly, the Gators won their 13th SEC regular season title and finished as the runner-up to LSU in the SEC Tournament.

When the SEC Tournament rolled around, the Gators dug themselves a deep hole by losing to Kentucky in the first round. Entering the loser's bracket, the Gators climbed their way back up as they defeated (and eliminated) South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Kentucky in the rematch. In the SEC Championship vs LSU, the Gators lost 2-0 after giving up a two out home run in the eighth to break a scoreless tie.

After the SEC Tournament, the Gators received the #2 national seed overall going into the NCAA Tournament. What happened next is still unexplainable to me as the Gators were upset by College of Charleston 3-2 and lost to North Carolina 5-2 in their own Gainesville regional. Just like that, the Gator baseball season was over. 

Both these games did have significant weather delays, but it still doesn't fully excuse why Gator pitchers couldn't avoid the big inning and why the lineup couldn't produce with runners in scoring position. The Gators are the highest national seed to ever get eliminated this early in the NCAA Tournament.

Now, let's take a look at some of the stat leaders of the 2014 baseball campaign:

Offense

Hits: Taylor Gushue (71) (Junior)

RBI's: Taylor Gushue (49) (Junior)

Home Runs: Taylor Gushue (6) (Junior)

Batting Average: Harrison Bader (.337) (Sophomore)

Slugging %: Taylor Gushue (.467) (Junior)

On Base %: Harrison Bader (.421) (Sophomore)

Stolen Bases: Richie Martin (18) (Sophomore)

Runs Scored: Richie Martin (49) (Sophomore)

Strikeouts: Taylor Gushue (30) (Junior)

Walks: Casey Turgeon (35) (Junior)

Defense

Assists: Casey Turgeon (195) (Junior)

Putouts: Taylor Gushue (337) (Junior)

Errors: Richie Martin (21) (Sophomore)

Pitching

Wins: Logan Shore (7) (Freshman)

Losses: Bobby Poyner and Logan Shore (4) (Junior/Freshman)

Strikeouts: Logan Shore (68) (Freshman)

ERA (Min. 16 Appearances): Logan Shore (2.16) (Freshman)

Saves: Ryan Harris (5) (Junior)

Appearances: Kirby Snead (32) (Freshman)

The Gator baseball team welcomed in 15 new freshmen for the 2014 season and 12 of them saw a good amount of playing time. The other three were redshirted for the season. Having 15 freshmen is vital to the Gator baseball program as every single one of them will be big contributors when they are seniors.

Speaking of seniors, the Gators might possibly have five seniors for the 2015 campaign. I say five because C Taylor Gushue, 2B Casey Turgeon, OF/RHP Justin Shafer, RHP Ryan Harris, RHP Keenan Kish, and RHP Karsten Whitson were just selected in the MLB Draft this weekend. Here are the what rounds they went in and the teams who selected them:

• Gushue went in the 4th round (131st overall) to the Pittsburgh Pirates 
• Shafer went in the 8th round (234th overall) to the Toronto Blue Jays 
• Whitson went in the 11th round (344th overall) to the Boston Red Sox
• Turgeon went in the 24th round (735th overall) to the St. Louis Cardinals
• Harris went in the 26th round (794th overall) to the Boson Red Sox
• Kish went in the 34th round (1025th overall) to the Cincinnati Reds 

This is huge for the University of Florida and is a great opportunity for these five young men who have given their heart and soul to the Gator baseball program for three years. The fact that I played against Gushue in high school makes this even more surreal.

If these six draftees forgo their senior years and leave for the MLB, it will be the next man up mentality for the Florida baseball team. Gushue was the offensive powerhouse for the Gators during his three seasons at Florida. With him gone there are now three catchers on the roster who I bet have been waiting for this day for a while. It'll be an interesting battle to see who nabs the starting catching job for the 2015 season.

Similar to Gushue, Turgeon's presence on this team will be missed if he chooses to leave. He was a solid second baseman and was one of the few Gator bats who was still hitting at the end of the year. Shafer was utilized for both his bat and his pitching during his career at Florida. Both of those intangibles will be hard to replace but also provide an opportunity for someone to win a spot. Harris and Kish were also solid pitchers in the Gators bullpen. If they leave, their absences will create two new spots that will be up for grabs in the Gator bullpen.

Whitson's selection is an intriguing one because this is the second time he has been drafted. When the San Diego Padres drafted him 9th overall in the first round out of high school, Whitson turned down their $2.1 million signing bonus and decided to attend the University of Florida. His decision looked like it was panning out as he pitched well his freshman and sophomore Gator campaigns.

Unfortunately, calamity struck his junior year when Whitson missed the entire year with a shoulder injury. He returned as a redshirt junior for the 2014 season and posted a 1-1 record with a 3.84 ERA in 14 appearances. Seeing Whitson get drafted again is great because it shows that MLB teams still believe he has the talent to play at the next level despite being hindered by an injury.

The Gators will be well experienced going into 2015 as both now the rising senior and junior classes have experienced two straight years of losing in the regional round of the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan was smart by playing many of his freshmen this season as many of them will be ready to assume bigger roles as sophomores. Look for him to utilize this same strategy with the incoming freshmen in the 2015 season.

With the 100th season done, all that comes to mind now is the 101st season. Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan understands what it takes to get to Omaha, and always knows how to get the best out of his players. This group of seniors, now possibly six players removed because of the MLB draft, has one final chance to leave their mark on Florida baseball and bring the team its first ever National Championship. With juniors who have felt the same pain as the seniors for two years, a more than experienced sophomore class, and freshmen who are always eager to contribute, the 2015 Gator baseball team should have more than enough firepower to compete for a National Championship.

*Stats accredited to Gatorzone.com and NCAA.com

GATOR SOFTBALL HAS WON THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!

THE GATOR SOFTBALL TEAM HAS WON ITS FIRST EVER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP! Sorry, I needed to get that out of my system. With their 6-3 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide in Game 2 of the WCWS Finals tonight, the Florida Gators have brought the University of Florida and the Gainesville community the softball National Championship they have been waiting for. If I'm all over the place in this article, please forgive me as I am still trying to settle down after such an amazing and historic win.

I was nervous the entire game, I just wanted it to be the seventh inning already and for the game to end. I was even more unsettled when Coach Tim Walton decided to start junior Lauren Haeger for this game over senior Hannah Rogers. Rogers had been dominating the entire tournament and had shut down the Tide offense in Game 1 the night before. I did not at all understand Coach Walton's logic and I'll man up and say I had my doubts.

That's why I'm not the coach. Walton knew the entire time what he was doing. Haeger ran into some trouble in the first inning and gave up one run, but managed to get out of the inning without allowing any major damage. Haeger would go on to pitch three innings while allowing just two runs.

I thought Rogers would come in to close it out after Haeger's departure in the fifth inning, but I was wrong again as Tim Walton sent freshman lefty Delanie Gourley out to pitch. I was at the game in Gainesville when Gourley gave up three runs to Alabama in the first inning, so I was a bit on edge about this pitching decision. She wound up in a bases loaded jam but found away to pitch out of it unscathed. She would pitch two no hit innings of shutout relief. Walton's risk paid off again. Gourley would ultimately get the win in Game 2, her 15th of the year. Coincidentally, her earlier game against Alabama would be her only loss as she finshes the year 15-1.

The stage was now set in the sixth inning for Hannah Rogers. She pitched a pretty clean sixth inning and I knew the seventh inning would be the toughest three outs of her career. It all started when Alabama pinch hitter Andrea Hawkins lined a ball to shallow left center. It looked like it would drop in for a base hit but Kirsti Merritt came diving in to record the first out of the inning. Merritt's diving catch would earn her the No. 4 spot on ESPN's Top 10 plays.

After giving up a triple, Rogers got the second out of the inning on a pop fly to left field. The Gators were now just one out away. Bama's Kaila Hunt singled to narrow the score 6-3 and keep their seventh inning rally going. Rogers, however, would have no more of it as she got cleanup hitter Jadyn Spencer to hit the ball right back at her. Very fittingly, Rogers threw to first base to secure the first National Championship in Gator softball history. This was just her second save of the season, and it couldn't come at any bigger moment.

Defensively, the pressure of winning it all must have gotten to the Gators as they committed four errors on the night. Keep in mind they had made no errors in the WCWS up to this point. Katie Medina committed three at shortstop and left fielder Briana Little misjudged a fly ball in left field. However, the Gators made some great plays to make up for these errors.

• The Gators turned their WCWS record sixth double play to end the second inning after Medina's throwing error. The Gators would turn there seventh WCWS double play the very next inning.
• Second baseman Kelsey Stewart fielded a ground ball with the bases loaded, bobbled it, and threw it to first base to get the Gators out of the jam in the fourth inning. This came after Briana Little's dropped fly ball put Bama runners on second and third with no outs.
• Finally, and perhaps the defensive play of the WCWS for the Florida Gators, center fielder Kirsti Merritt recorded the first out of the pivotal seventh inning with her diving catch that took away an extra base hit.

Offensively, my MVP and player of this game in general is sophomore Kirsti Merritt. The amazing seventh inning catch aside, Merritt hit what will be remembered as one of the biggest home runs in Gator softball history with a three run shot in the bottom of the second inning. This gave the Gators a 5-1 lead at the time and proved to be the difference as they won by three runs.

Merritt, of course, was not alone in the Gator offensive production in this game. Lauren Haeger, who had been in a horrendous slump in the WCWS prior to Game 1 of the Finals, broke out for three hits tonight. Stepanie Tofft, in her final game as a Gator, left her mark as she blasted a solo home run with two outs in the first inning to tie the game at 1.

Taylor Schwarz and Kelsey Stewart were the dynamic duo in the #9 and #1 spots of the lineup as they both had two hits and combined to score three runs. Stewart was the only Gator in tonight's game to cross the plate twice. Eight Gator players had at least one hit and the team had 12 hits in total. They outhit the Tide 12-7. What also helped the Gators was their ability to knock Alabama ace, Jaclyn Traina, out of the game after just 1.1 innings. This was the second straight game that they tagged Traina for five runs. I will give her replacement, freshman Bama pitcher Sydney Littlejohn (her last name killed me haha), credit thought as she pitched a solid 4.2 innings of relief and allowed just one unearned run. She will be a force for the Gators to reckon with in the future.

Finishing the deal and ending this season with a National Championship is very fulfilling to me as both a reporter and a UF student. I had been extensively covering the Gator softball games going all the way back to regionals with a few regular season games sprinkled in here and there. Seeing legendary Coach Tim Walton and the girls finally win it all after heartbreaking losses in 2009 and 2011 makes me happy that I was there for every moment of a magical postseason.

For the girls to win the first softball National Championship in their history during my freshman year at Florida, that's a moment and memory I will cherish for the rest of my life. It's honestly a surreal feeling as I used to be a Miami Hurricanes fan and none of their main sports teams ever won any championships in the five years that I rooted for them. I've always loved the game of softball (my prom date senior year was a softball player) and I am so happy that I was able to witness history tonight.

Here are my closing thoughts: 

CONGRATULATIONS GATOR SOFTBALL ON YOUR FIRST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP IN PROGRAM HISTORY! IT'S GREAT TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR! GO GATORS! #1! 2014 NCAA SOFTBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!

*All stats accredited to NCAA.com and Gatorzone.com

WCWS Final: #5 UF vs #2 Alabama Game 1

The Gator softball team is now ONE win away from the program's FIRST EVER National Championship after defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide tonight 5-0 in Game 1 of the WCWS Finals. After going to the Finals two times prior in 2009 and 2011, this is the first time the Gators have won a game in the Finals.

Hannah Rogers was, once again, stellar for the Gators as she threw her seventh complete game shutout of the postseason to notch her 30th win of the season. She had a perfect game through four innings and would allow just four hits the entire game. She also struck out three Crimson Tide batters on the night.

The Gator defense was marvelous once again as they committed no errors and turned two double plays. Rogers fielded her position well as she scooped a ball to first base with her mitt in the sixth and turned a clutch double play on a ball hit back to her in the bottom of the seventh.

Offensively, the Gators were ready for the mighty task of facing Alabama's senior pitcher, Jaclyn Traina. Traina was the winning pitcher in both Alabama's victories over the Gators during the regular season.

The Gators cracked the Traina code this game as catcher Aubree Munro blasted a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall to give the Gators an early 1-0 lead. This was just Munro's third home run of the season and gave the Gators the early momentum they needed.

Knowing that just one run most likely won't cut it against the Tide, the Gators struck again in the fifth inning. Kelsey Stewart got the rally going with a two out bunt single and she was brought home on a double by sophomore Kirsti Merritt. Merritt would then score on a single by senior Stephanie Tofft. The Gators gave Hannah Rogers a little more breathing room with the lead now 3-0.

The Gators would add some more insurance runs in the seventh inning as Stephanie Tofft again came through with a sac fly that scored Kelsey Stewart. The final Gator run came from a Lauren Haeger double that plated Kirsti Merritt. This is a good sign for Gator fans as Haeger finally broke out of her 1-10 slump in the WCWS with a 2/4 performance and an RBI today.

After this loss, it's hard to say who Alabama will put on the mound for their do or die Game 2 after Traina's performance tonight. She didn't even go the full the seven innings as junior Leslie Jury came in to stop the bleeding in the seventh. Jury, the Crimson Tide's number two pitcher, was on the mound when the Tide dropped their only game of the regular season series to the Gators 7-1.

Florida fans all know who will be pitching for the Gators tomorrow as Hannah Rogers has been dominant this entire WCWS. She is definitely the overall MVP of the game but my offensive MVP for this game is sophomore Aubree Munro. She had two hits, with the big one being a home run. She helped jumpstart the Gator offense and sopped Jaclyn Traina from getting into any kind of rhythm early on in the game. I'll also note that Stephanie Tofft led the team in RBI's this game with two.

Florida's two seniors are doing a great job at leading the team. Rogers is doing it with her pitching on the mound and Tofft is doing it with her bat and her glove. The Gators will now look to close this series out and win their first ever National Championship as they take on Alabama for Game 2 at 8 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN.

*All stats accredited to NCAA.com and Gatorzone.com

Gator Softball Advances to the WCWS Final!

The Florida Gator softball team is now two wins away from bringing the first ever softball National Championship to Gainesville. After beating #13 Baylor 6-3, the #5 Gators will be taking on the #2 Alabama Crimson Tide in the best of three championship series. This is the third time in program history that the Gators have made it all the way to the WCWS Final.

Hannah Rogers took care of business again today on the mound as she tossed another complete game. Her impressive consecutive inning shutout streak ended at 37 innings today when Baylor scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to narrow the Gator lead to 5-3. Despite a rough fifth inning, Rogers was able to keep her poise for the rest of the game and notch her 29th win of the year.

Florida continued to prove why they are the best defensive team in the country with another errorless game. Out of all the 21 outs recorded by the Gator defense, I'd say the most impressive one came from senior Stephanie Tofft. Playing the hot corner at third base, Tofft dove to her right to catch a screaming line drive hit at her. The play gave the Gators the second out of the inning and should be a Top 10 nominee on SportsCenter.

Offensively, like they have all tournament, the Gators struck first. Stephanie Toft knocked in Kirsti Merritt in the third to give the Gators an early 1-0 lead. The Gators would boost the lead to 2-0 the very next inning when Aubree Munro bunted in Briana Little, who tripled to start off of the inning.

The most important moment of the game, however, came in the fifth inning. With the bases loaded in the top of the fifth inning and two outs, Taylor Schwarz strode to the plate. She was 0-2 on the day already and I remembered a few earlier games this postseason when the sophomore first baseman didn't deliver with the bases loaded. Fortunately for the Gators, Schwarz forgot all about her offensive struggles and roped a bases clearing double in the gap to up the Gator lead to 5-0. She was thrown out trying to advance to third to end the inning. 

Schwarz's hit proved to be critical as Baylor scored three runs in the bottom of the inning. If Schwarz doesn't come up clutch, then the Gators are facing a 3-2 deficit going into the sixth inning. Even though she went 1-4, Taylor Schwarz is my offensive MVP for this game for delivering in crunch time when her team needed it.

Now, the moment we have all been waiting for is here. It's an all SEC final as the #5 Florida Gators (53-12) will battle the #2 Alabama Crimson Tide (53-11) for the National Championship. The Gators and Tide met earlier in a three game series in Gainesville. Alabama took two of the three games to win the series. Things have changed much since that March 21-23 weekend series. The Gators have peaked at the right time and will ride this momentum into there rematch against the Tide. 

My only concern for the Gators going forward is number of runners left on base. In today's game, the Gators left nine runners on base. They have to lower that number in the Championship Series if they want to beat a team as formidable as Alabama. This series should be a classic, and I anticipate that it will go three games with the Gators winning the series 2 games to 1.

Before I end this article, I would like to congratulate the Baylor Bears on a great season and their comeback against the Kentucky Wildcats. Down 7-0 in the sixth inning of their elimination game, Baylor rallied to tie the game and won the game 8-7 in eight innings. Baylor's improbable win vs Kentucky is the greatest comeback in WCWS history and is something that the Bears should be very proud of. They end their season at 49-16.

*All stats accredited to Gatorzone.com and NCAA.com

#2 Florida Gators Eliminated By North Carolina Tarheels

The 100th season of Florida baseball has come to an end in a very disappointing fashion. For the second straight year, the Gators' season has ended in regional play. This time, North Carolina was the culprit, as the Tarheels defeated the Gators 5-2. The Gators finish their season at 40-23 and have now lost six straight NCAA Tournament games.

Bobby Poyner was originally the starter for the Gators in this elimination game. Poyner would not be on the mound for long as a three hour rain delay in the third inning prompted Coach Kevin O'Sullivan to pull him from the game. Poyner's stat line at the time stood at 2.1 innings pitched and two strikeouts. There were two runners on base at the time of Poyner's exit.

After the rain delay, freshman Kirby Snead entered the game and gave up five runs on four hits. It seemed that the UNC hitters continually kept putting the ball in the gap between right and center field. Snead would be pulled after this inning for Dane Dunning who then gave way to A.J. Puk. Together, the two freshmen combined for five shutout innings and six strikeouts. They ended their seasons retiring the last 13 UNC hitters in order.

Offensively, it wasn't much different from last night. The Gators scored late in the game and left 13 runners on base. Casey Turgeon and Josh Tobias led the team in the hits department with two a piece in today's game. Turgeon also joined Zack Powers as the only two Gators to record RBI's today.

On the other side of the diamond, the North Carolina Tarheels (35-26) have kept their season alive and will play the loser of the College of Charleston/Long Beach State game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

After watching the Gators go two games and out in their own regional, I am stunned at how their offense just completely disappeared. The Gators scored a total of four runs in their two games. The pitching also couldn't avoid the big inning as a three-spot in the first inning of the Charleston game and a five-spot in the UNC game put the Gators away early.

I'm starting to wonder if that late inning loss to LSU in the SEC Championship game might have left an imprint on the Gators' psyche and affected their performance these past two games. The Gators didn't score a run in the SEC Championship and held LSU scoreless until the eighth inning. Whatever it is, it doesn't change the fact that the Gator baseball season has ended in regionals for the second straight year.

Many Gator fans were probably celebrating when rival Florida State, the #5 national seed, was eliminated in two games after the Seminoles' comeback attempt against Alabama fell just short. Little did they know that they would be experiencing the same feeling just a few hours later.

I honestly don't know what's worse: Giving up a five-spot early in the game and realizing that your season might already be over because you know that your offense has been nonexistent, or rallying for five runs in the 9th inning and stranding the tying run on third to lose 6-5 and end your season. Either way, five was the magic number. A five-run second inning sunk the Gators early and a five-run ninth inning proved just not enough for FSU to comeback.

In the upcoming weeks, I will be writing a season wrap-up on the SEC Regular Season Champion Florida Gators. In it, I'll cover: The season's stat leaders, some big wins, my overall opinion on this season, and much more. Stay tuned!

*Stats accredited to Gatorzone.com & NCAA.com

#2 Gators Upset by College of Charleston

The Gator baseball team is in big trouble as they dropped their first Regional game to the College of Charleston Cougars 3-2. A #2 national seed, the Gators will be taking the field in less than 12 hours to take on #3 UNC with their season on the line. Nobody thought these two teams, especially the Gators this early, would be playing each other in an elimination game. This loss snaps Florida's perfect 12-0 mark in Regionals at McKethan Stadium.

The Gators sent freshman Logan Shore to the mound and tonight was not his night as he gave up three runs on 10 hits in five innings. All three of the runs that the Cougars scored came in the first inning. Shore would settle down after the first inning and go on to strike out six, but the damage had already been done. 

Junior Justin Shafer, who usually plays as an outfielder, came on in relief for Shore in the sixth and was superb as he retired every batter he faced and struck out five. Despite Shafer's ability to halt the Cougar offense, the Gators couldn't muster up enough offense to win the game.

I don't know where to begin with the offensive struggles. The Gators left 11 men on base in total including the bases loaded twice in the third and fourth innings. Florida also lost another run scoring opportunity in the bottom of the fifth inning when Braden Mattson came up with two runners on base and crushed a ball to centerfield that was caught then bobbled on the transfer. It was a long single and Mattson was called out because he accidentally ran past Taylor Gushue at first base. The Gators would score a run in the inning, but Mattson's running gaffe might have cost the Gators a couple more runs. This, of course, is all speculation and I don't blame Mattson as the Gator team as a whole was not hitting well on the night. The box score may say they had nine hits but it sure didn't feel like it on this night.

Even though the Gators lost, I will note that juniors Casey Turgeon, Harrison Bader, and Josh Tobias all had two hits a piece tonight. Sophomores Richie Martin and Mike Fahrman drove in the only two Gator runs tonight as both players had one RBI.

The game was supposed to originally have started at 7 p.m. but inclement weather delayed it for three hours. This worked out because I actually got to see the game. I cannot say the same for the players as the game started a little after 10 p.m. and ended a little after 1 a.m. Whether this time change and the delay affected the Gators is not for me to say.

With their backs against the wall, it is now put up or shut up time for the #2 nationally seeded Gators (40-22) as they will face the North Carolina Tar Heels (34-26) to keep their season alive. I have no idea who the Gators might start on the mound for this game. I have a hunch it might be freshman A.J. Puk but we will just have to wait and see. Game time is at 1 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN3. The College of Charleston Cougars, now in a very good position after this huge win, will take on the Long Beach State Dirtbags at 7 p.m. following the Florida/North Carolina game.

*Stats accredited to NCAA.com