FOUR BITS: Baseball sweeps Georgia, tennis advances to Round of 16, softball hosts regional

1 » With two games in hand, No. 4/5 Florida Gators baseball (37-12, 20-7 SEC) swept their series against the Georgia Bulldogs with a 9-3 win Sunday afternoon at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, FL. Freshman starting pitcher Brian Johnson (5-2) tossed 5.2 strong innings, striking out three while only giving up one earned run. Sophomore first baseman Preston Tucker (1-3) and junior designated hitter Bryson Smith (2-3) each tallied two RBI, while freshman shortstop Nolan Fontana (2-4) and junior second baseman Josh Adams (1-3) both crossed home plate twice. Florida has now won eight consecutive contests over Georgia; the three-day total attendance of 14,619 set an all-time weekend series Gators record. UF will face North Florida on Tuesday before traveling to Columbia, SC, for a season-defining three-game series against the No. 8/12 South Carolina Gamecocks (41-11, 20-7 SEC). The Gators and Gamecocks are tied atop the Southeastern Conference regular season standings.

Three more BITS on women’s and men’s tennis advancing in the 2010 NCAA Tournament and softball’s honors and hosting duties…after the jump!

2 » No. 3 women’s tennis (26-2), also holding down the No. 3-seed in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, swept its second straight team – the Washington Huskies (12-7) – 4-0 in second-round action at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, FL. Florida freshmen No. 8 Allie Will and No. 9 Lauren Embree each won their singles matches with the No. 5 doubles team of Will and senior Marrit Boonstra also taking their doubles match. Florida advances to the Round of 16 (their sixth consecutive appearance in the round), where they will take on Ole Miss (17-5) at Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, GA, on May 20.

3 » Like it’s women’s counterpart, No. 6 men’s tennis (21-4) – which also holds the sixth seed in the event – swept their second-straight team, the Auburn Tigers (12-13) 4-0 in second-round action in the 2010 NCAA Tournament at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, FL. The No. 8 doubles pair of junior Alexandre Lacroix and redshirt senior Antoine Benneteau took their doubles match; No. 7 Lacroix also won his singles contest, as did Benneteau and the rest of UF’s squad. The Gators move on to the Round of 16 for the 16th time in the last 20 years. They will face the hosts, Georgia, at Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, GA, on May 21.

4 » Plenty of good news was to be had for No. 4 Florida softball (43-8) over the weekend. Senior third baseman Corrie Brooks and junior shortstop Megan Bush were both named to the 2010 SEC All-Tournament Team, even though their team fell to LSU 9-1 in second-round action.

Sunday, the women were notified that the University of Florida will host the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament beginning Friday, May 21 at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Also in the Gainesville Regional are Central Florida (35-21), Florida International (36-19) and Bethune-Cookman (32-22). Should the Gators win their regional, they will be posed to host the Super Regional as well.