1 » For all of the flack that former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow has received about his mechanics and throwing motion, perhaps forcing a player to tinker with something that they have used to reach a high level of success is not the best thing to do. (Who would have thunk it?) Bruce Feldman of ESPN breaks down an instance where adjustments like these did an injustice rather than facilitated an improvement, focusing on the story of Steve and Chris Walsh of the Miami Hurricanes.

Additional note: ESPN NFL Draft talking heads Mel Kiper, Jr. and Todd McShay have both upgraded their projections, agreeing that Tebow will likely be a second-round pick in the upcoming event. However, both made sure to state that picking him that early is indeed “a reach” by any team that does so.

Three more BITS on Tishman, LSU’s Sheppard and women’s tennis after the jump!
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Tebow, Tishman, Shepard, tennis

Tags: Allie Will, Billy Donovan, Chris Walsh, Lauren Embree, Linder Stadium, LSU Tigers, Marrit Boonstra, Miami Hurricanes, North Carolina Tar Heels, Ring Tennis Complex, Rod Tishman, Russell Shepard, Steve Walsh, tennis, Tim Tebow

No. 6/7 Florida Gators baseball (9-2) has completed a two-game sweep of the Illinois State Redbirds (4-7), defeating them 8-2 and 8-0 on Tuesday and Wednesday night at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, FL.

Read more about Florida baseball’s sweep of Illinois State after the break!

On Tuesday, freshman starter Hudson Randall (2-0) tossed five innings of one-run ball along with five strikeouts as the Gators carried a 8-1 lead into the top of the eighth inning. Freshman first baseman Austin Maddox went 1-4 with a three-run home run in the sixth and two runs, while sophomore outfielder Tyler Thompson supported him with a 2-4 performance with two RBI.

Freshman OF Kamm Washington was 3-4 with an RBI and three stolen bases; Florida totalled a season-high nine swiped bags on the evening.

The Gators continued their domination of the Redbirds Wednesday, with Maddox remaining on his power surge. He drove in a career-high six runs on a 4-5 performance with his first career grand slam in the sixth inning.

Sophomore pitcher Anthony DeSclafani (1-1) registered the win after giving up only one hit in 5.1 innings with a season-high six strikeouts. The game marked Florida’s first shutout since Feb. 24, 2009 against Eastern Michigan (12-0).

The Gators remain home for eight more games and will begin a three-game series with Charleston Southern on Fri., March 12.

Photo Credit: University of Florida

Tags: Anthony DeSclafani, Austin Maddox, baseball, Hudson Randall, Illinois State Redbirds, Kamm Washington, McKethan Stadium, Tyler Thompson

Bubble Watch » All four teams riding the 2010 NCAA Tournament bubble \in action Tuesday won their respective contests. South Florida (20-11) took down DePaul 58-49, Rhode Island (22-8) defeated Saint Joseph’s 87-76, Dayton (20-11) lit up George Washington 70-60 and Seton Hall (19-11) was victorious over Providence 109-106.

1 » In the first of what will be a 10-game homestand, No. 6/7 Florida Gators baseball (8-2) took down the Illinois State Redbirds (4-6) 8-2 Tuesday night at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, FL. Freshman starter Hudson Randall (2-0) tossed five innings of one-run ball along with five strikeouts as the Gators carried a 8-1 lead into the top of the eighth inning. Freshman first baseman Austin Maddox went 1-4 with a home run in the sixth, three RBI and two runs; sophomore outfielder Tyler Thompson supported him with a 2-4 performance with two RBI; and freshman OF Kamm Washington was 3-4 with an RBI and three stolen bases.

2 » A team filled with mostly freshman, Florida lacrosse has already had a remarkable inaugural season. Looking to put a feather in its cap Tuesday, the Gators (3-2) took the No. 5 Georgetown Hoyas (2-1) to the wire, falling 13-11 in just under two hours. Freshman goalkeeper Cara Carrington (3-2) got the loss as fellow freshman Caroline Chesterman contributed three goals and five shots in 65 minutes of field time. Each team accounted for 33 shots and 11 ground balls, but Georgetown cleared more shots than Florida – 17/17 to 12/16. The Hoyas outscored the Gators 10-5 in the first period, but UF came roaring back with a 6-3 total in the second period.

Two more BITS on awards given to the Florida Gators…after the jump!
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Baseball wins, lacrosse falls to No. 5

Tags: Alex Pantelodis, Austin Maddox, baseball, Cara Carrington, Caroline Chesterman, Charlotte Browning, Christian Taylor, field, Georgetown Hoyas, Hudson Randall, Illinois State Redbirds, Kamm Washington, lacrosse, McKethan Stadium, Mike Holloway, NCAA Tournament, Todd Morgan, track, Tyler Thompson, USTFCCCA

After a slow start in which it was winless in its first four games, the Florida Gators club hockey team has won 17-straight and most recently qualified for nationals at the South Regional Championship in Pelham, AL.

Given a No. 6 ranking going into the tournament, Florida rattled off a 5-2 win over No. 7 East Carolina before taking on the No. 3 Loyola-Marymount Greyhounds.

Up a goal (2-1) with 28.5 seconds left, the Gators gave up a score to Rob Summerlin. Just when it looked like Florida would have to go into overtime, senior assistant captain Matt Chais made a power move to the net and scored with 14.5 seconds remaining to give the Gators a 3-2 victory.

“We were huge underdogs, no other players, coaches or directors around the league thought we should have even been at regionals,” Chais told OGGOA reader Aaron H., who brought this story to our attention. “However, we’ve now won 16 games in a row [and haven’t lost] since October 23.”

Trying to capitalize on its success, the Gators took on and eventually fell to the No. 1-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks 3-2 in the SEC Championship game, simultaneously snapping its 17-game winning streak.

Florida is one of four teams from the Southeastern region to earn a trip to nationals, where it will compete against 15 other squads for the 2010 American Collegiate Hockey Association D3 National Championship.

The Gators will face College of Canyons, Saginaw Valley State and Robert Morris in pool play at nationals from March 10-13 at the Germain Arena in Estero, FL.

Tags: ACHA, D3 National Championship, hockey, Matt Chais, South Regional Championship

1 » 2011 linebacker recruit Lateek Townsend recently told his hometown newspaper, The State, that he is strongly considering leaving home and playing for the Florida Gators after his senior season of high school. “I’m thinking Florida highly,” he said. “That’s a winning program, so things must be done right. I’m going down there soon for an unofficial visit. I’ve not seen the campus yet. I put them up there with Clemson [his leader] and South Carolina.”

2 » Mark Wheeler of Rivals is reporting that Gators redshirt senior safety Dorian Munroe was denied a sixth year of eligibility and a medical redshirt by the NCAA last week. Munroe, who has suffered with injuries throughout his college career, was hoping to get a redshirt exception after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament for the second time. Munroe has appeared in 28 games in his Florida career, collecting 43 total tackles while playing a role on defense and special teams. He had a career-high six tackles in the SEC Championship against the Arkansas Razorbacks in 2006. He will appeal the ruling.

3 » University of Florida alumnus Tom Thurston is competing in the Iditarod this year, and The Gainesville Sun put together a nice profile piece on the former student. Thurston hopes for a top-30 finish in the annual event.

4 » Gators senior outfielder Francesca Enea was the recipient of SEC Player of the Week honors Monday. Smacking four home runs (three grand slams) this week, Enea is now second all-time in the SEC record book with 51 homers. Also honored this week is Florida freshman lacrosse player Ashley Bruns, who brought home the American Lacrosse Conference’s Rookie of the Week for scoring five goals in one half of competition. It is the second-straight week a Gators lacrosse player has won the honor. Last but not least, the 2009 SEC Champion UF women’s cross country team was named the USTFCAAA All-Academic Team of the year with a combined 3.56 GPA.

Bubble Watch » The unranked Saint Mary’s Gaels (26-5, 11-3 WCC) defeated the No. 14 Gonzaga Bulldogs (26-6, 12-2 WCC) 81-62 Monday to earn the WCC Championship and a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Two teams are now guaranteed to represent the WCC instead of one (Gonzaga), taking away an at-large bid.

Tags: All-Academic Team, American Lacrosse Conference, Ashley Bruns, cross country, Dorian Munroe, Francesca Enea, Iditarod, lacrosse, Lateek Townsend, NCAA, Player of the Week, Rookie of the Week, SEC, SEC Champions, softball, Tom Thurston, University of Florida, USTFCAAA

1 » Competing in the DeMarini Tournament over the weekend, the No. 3/10 Florida Gators began with a solid 12-3 win over Pacific on Friday. Falling to No. 10/12 Stanford 2-0 later that afternoon, the Gators needed to rebound through the final two games of the tournament in order to come out on top. Florida did just that, earning a 12-0 victory over the Cal State Fullerton Titans (3-16) in five innings on Saturday. Senior outfielder Francesca Enea led the Gators with a 2-3 performance for two home runs (including a grand slam) and five RBI. Sophomore OF Michelle Moultrie also contributed, going 3-3 from the plate with three runs. Junior starter Stephanie Brombacher (11-2) earned the win in four innings of work.

Sunday was the final day of the tournament, and the Gators still had some work to do. Florida began the day with a dominating 14-3 win over the UC Davis Aggies (7-11) while totaling a season-high 16 hits (third-most in school history). Enea went 3-4 and extended her hit streak to 11 games while jacking another grand slam. Her 51 career home runs tie for second on the SEC’s all-time list. Brombacher (12-2) got another win on three innings of work. Later that day, the Gators (16-2) closed out the event with a 13-1 victory over the Loyola Marymount Lions (3-7). Junior shortstop Megan Bush went 3-3 with two home runs, three RBI and three runs as freshman starter Ensley Gammel (3-0) earned the complete game win.

Read about tennis’ dominating victories, golf and track & field after the jump!
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Softball, tennis dominate; golf, track

Tags: Alexandre Lacroix, Allie Will, Antoine Benneteau, Auburn Invitational, Auburn Tigers, Cal State Fullerton Titans, DeMarini Tournament, Ensley Gammel, field, Francesca Enea, golf, Lauren Embree, Linder Stadium, Loyola Marymount Lions, LSU Tigers, Marrit Boonstra, Megan Bush, Michelle Moultrie, Ring Tennis Complex, Roland Thornqvist, softball, Stephanie Brombacher, tennis, track, UC Davis Aggies

Coming off their first loss of the season in the inaugural Florida Four tournament to No. 6/3 Florida State, No. 5/6 Florida Gators baseball (7-2) extracted two wins over a three-game series this weekend against the No. 16/11 Miami Hurricanes (7-3) on the road in Coral Gables, FL, at Alex Rodriguez Park.

Read OGGOA’s full recap of all three Florida-Miami games after the break!
Continue Reading » Florida baseball takes weekend series at Miami

Tags: Alex Panteliodis, Alex Rodriguez Park, Austin Maddox, baseball, Brian Johnson, Bryson Smith, Daniel Pigott, David Gutierrez, Eric Whaley, Harold Martinez, Josh Adams, Kevin Chapman, Miami Hurricanes, Mike Zunino, Nathan Meledres, Nick Mardone, Scott Lawson, Tommy Toledo