Losing to the North Florida Ospreys on April 3 was a noticeable blemish on the Florida Gators’ portfolio this season so there was no doubt that one of the top teams in the country was looking for revenge Tuesday night in Gainesville, FL. It may have taken 11 innings but No. 5 Florida (36-13) got just that by taking down North Florida (28-21) 4-3 at McKethan Stadium to split the season series 1-1.

After wasting a number of opportunities to plate a run in the latter innings of the contest, junior catcher Mike Zunino (3/5, 2 RBI, SB, BB) came through in the clutch with a walk-off RBI double down the left field line in the bottom of the 11th to score redshirt freshman pinch hitter Connor Mitchell (1-2, R).

Freshman right-handed pitcher Johnny Magliozzi got the mid-week start for the Gators but struggled with his command early on, giving up a pair of earned runs on five hits with one walk and no strikeouts in 2.2 innings. Florida was able to match the runs by rallying in the bottoms of the second and third to tie the game 2-2.

The Gators took the lead in the fifth as junior shortstop Nolan Fontana (2/4, HR, RBI, R, 2 BB) began the frame with a solo homer. UF maintained their one-run advantage for the duration of sophomore RHP Keenan Kish’s appearance (4.0 IP, 4 H, 3 K).

Sophomore RHP Jonathon Crawford (0.1 IP, 2 H, ER, K) took over in the top of the eighth but did not fare well, allowing two hits and the game-tying run while only registering a single out. Florida had multiple opportunities to retake the lead in regulation but left the bases loaded in the eighth and a man on second in the ninth.

UNF threatened in the top of the 10th until junior left-hander Steven Rodriguez struck out consecutive batters with the bases loaded to get UF out of the inning. The Ospreys tried again in the 11th but were equally unsuccessful as freshman RHP Ryan Harris (2-0, 1.0 IP, H, K) got the final three outs of the contest.

The Gators now move on to their final home games of the regular season as they host Mississippi State in a three-game weekend series. Florida will also celebrate Senior Day for five upper classmen; a number of UF’s juniors will also be playing their last regular season game at McKethan Stadium over the weekend.

Tags: baseball, Connor Mitchell, Johnny Magliozzi, Jonathon Crawford, Keenan Kish, Mike Zunino, North Florida Ospreys, Ryan Harris, Steven Rodriguez

1 » At a Gator Gathering in Orlando, FL on Tuesday, Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp announced that sophomore Tevin Westbrook (6’5” 268 lbs.) will switch from defensive end to tight end over the summer. Westbrook, who appeared in three games as a true freshman but did not see much action in those contests, was one of the last players to commit to Florida in 2011 and did so knowing that he would not play much right away as the team had plans to develop his talents. There were rumors that Westbrook was considering transferring following the spring but he has apparently decided to take on this new challenge. He committed to UF over offers from Connecticut, North Carolina, Purdue and South Florida.

2 » Muschamp also touched on a number of other topics during the event. He noted that redshirt junior wide receiver Stephen Alli will miss approximately three months of action after having successful surgery on a stress fracture in his leg, depleting the team’s pass catchers even further, and added that linebacker Graham Stewart, who the school announced last week decided to transfer, will move on to UConn.

3 » Four-star defensive tackle Caleb Brantley, a pledge to the Gators since Jan. 28, wrote Monday on Facebook that he is now a soft commitment to Florida. UF’s third-highest rated recruit according to Rivals at No. 82 overall and best overall recruit according to ESPNU (No. 18), Brantley wanted to reassure Gators fans that while his commitment status has changed he is not planning to play for any other team but Florida. “I feel like I rushed myself into a commitment, that is all,” he told InsidetheGators.com of his decision to open his recruitment slightly. “Not ever, I am not decommitting,” he added. “Florida is at number one, like way in front of the pack, but then you have Bama at two and three is USC and Florida State.” Other schools have continued to recruit Brantley, but he was quick to note that the Gators have been in constant contact with him as well. In addition to visiting other campuses, Brantley also plans to speak with Muschamp and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to get a better feeling of what Florida’s depth chart will look like upon his arrival.

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Tags: ALC, ALC Tournament, Caleb Brantley, Carlos Dunlap, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Indians, Dan Quinn, Graham Stewart, Johnny Damon, MLB, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, NFL, Stephen Alli, Tevin Westbrook, Will Muschamp

1 » New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow was featured as part of yet another Saturday Night Live skit on Saturday as New York Giants QB Eli Manning hosted the long-running television program. In the skit, Taran Killam (dressed as Tebow) performs his signature “Tebowing” move as a celebration while EA Sports is taking motion capture footage for the latest Madden video game.

2 » Tebow and former Florida Gators head football coach Urban Meyer took part in the 2012 Chik-fil-A Leadercast last week. An event that was viewed by more than 125,000 people across the United States via simulcast, the Leadercast included a number of high-profile guests with Tebow and Meyer standing as two of the signature participants. Both men were interviewed by CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien, who got some interesting notes from the duo. “I just know that I really care about what I do. I’m very passionate about it, I love what I do, and I’m willing to put it all on the line. And I think when you’re willing to do those things…people can respect you for it,” said Tebow about being a leader. “What’s so frustrating for me is you have all these athletes, celebrities and entertainers that say, ‘I’m not a role model.’ Yes you are, you’re just not a very good one.” (Tebow apparently received a solid round of applause for that line.)

Meyer indicated that things were not always smooth when it came to his early relationship with Tebow but that his respect for the player’s intensity, integrity and leadership helped them get along just fine. “When I first met Tim, I didn’t like Tim,” Meyer said, according to The Christian Post. “I admired him, but I didn’t like him…Tim has a unique ability to force you to look inward, to evaluate yourself. Because everything you see Tim do, it’s hard to believe.” Tebow also discussed how he has been able to block out so many distractions and focus on football. “Don’t worry about what you can’t control,” he said. “There’s a lot of things we can’t control. We can’t control what people write about us, what they say about us, but we can control a few things: our attitude, our effort, our focus and how we go about treating our teammates.”

Extra BIT » Florida Gators assistant women’s basketball coach Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick will be moving on from the program as it was announced Monday that she will be the new head coach at North Carolina-Asheville. Kirkpatrick, who has served as a Florida assistant for six seasons, is a local product; UF notes that her family lives 40 minutes away from UNC-Asheville. “I’ve never coached a game without Brenda as my assistant,” Gators head coach Amanda Butler said in a school release. “She’s outstanding and is so ready for this opportunity. I’m so proud of her that it’s hard to linger on the negative of her leaving for too long. She’s not only fulfilling part of her dream of being a head coach, but she gets to do it in her own backyard. That’s super cool.”

Tags: Amanda Butler, Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick, New York Jets, NFL, Tim Tebow, Urban Meyer, women's basketball

Florida Gators track and field star senior Gray Horn has been suspended from the team just days before the 2012 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships.

Head coach Mike Holloway announced at the schools all-sports press conference on Monday that Horn would not participate in the event, a decision he likely made after learning Horn was arrested and charged for driving under the influence on April 14.

“Gray will not be competing this weekend. Gray’s been suspended from the team, not that I want to go into it right now but he won’t be competing,” Holloway said on Monday according to GTN‘s Julie Quittner.

Horn, a three-time All-American (two outdoor, one indoor), is the three-time defending SEC Outdoor champion in the decathlon. He also won the SEC Indoor title in the heptathlon in 2011 but was unable to finish competing in the event this year after going down with an injury (he led by 18 points).

Alachua County court records note that Horn filed a “not guilty” plea to the DUI charge and has requested a jury trial. His pre-trial conference is set for May 30 at 9 a.m.

The 2012 SEC Outdoor Championships begin May 10 and last through the weekend. Horn’s absence will undoubtedly hurt a Florida team looking to win its first outdoor conference title since 2010.

Tags: field, Gray Horn, Mike Holloway, SEC, SEC Outdoor Championship, track

1 » Florida Gators lacrosse continues to make history as, in just the third season of the program’s existence, it was announced Sunday that the team received the No. 1 overall seed in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Florida, which won the ALC regular season title for the second-straight year and captured the first ALC Tournament Championship in team history on Saturday, is on a 13-match winning streak heading into the tournament. The Gators will receive a tremendous homefield advantage in the first two rounds (should they advance) before being forced to travel to Stony Brook, NY for the Final Four. Florida is looking to become the fastest program in the sport’s history to go from inception to national title but has a long road ahead of them beginning on Saturday, May 12 at 1 p.m. against Albany at Donald R. Dizney Stadium in Gainesville, FL.

2 » Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah was knocked out of Game 3 of his team’s first-round series against Philadelphia after severely spraining his ankle midway through the contest. Noah did his best to continue playing but was badly limping and eventually headed back to the locker room where he was told he would be unable to return to the court. He sat on the bench in a suit and air cast during Game 4 on Sunday and is also expected to miss Game 5 (as well as the remainder of the series should it advance past that point). Noah’s injury is a tough blow for a Chicago team already without point guard Derrick Rose. The top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Bulls may wind up eliminated in the first round while playing without their two biggest stars.

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Tags: Al Horford, ALC, ALC Championship, ALC Tournament, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, Corey Brewer, Denver Nuggets, Dizney Stadium, Joakim Noah, lacrosse, NBA, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Playoffs

No. 7 Florida Gators softball failed in their opportunity to capture a regular season title on Sunday, losing two of three games to the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide over the weekend and finishing third in the Southeastern Conference.

Florida (44-10, 21-7 SEC) opened the three-game series with a 4-1 win over Alabama (46-6, 22-5 SEC) on Friday but was routed Saturday in a 9-1 loss and defeated 5-3 on Sunday as the Crimson Tide took firm grasp of the 2012 SEC regular season championship. The Gators had to win two of three games in order to bring the title back home to Gainesville, FL.

Sophomore right-hander Hannah Rogers pitched a gem in the opening game, allowing one earned on three hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in a complete game effort. However, she struggled mightily on Saturday (2.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) and was even less effective on Sunday (0.0 IP, 3 H, 4 ER) as she fell to 26-6 on the season with a victory and two losses.

Freshman designated hitter Lauren Haeger was Florida’s only consistently productive batter in the three-game series, finishing 4/8 with a homer, four RBIs, a run and a walk. She also filled in for Rogers after she was pulled without recording an out on Sunday; Haeger allowed five hits and gave up an earned run while striking out six in 6.0 innings.

The Gators also celebrated Senior Day over the weekend, honoring center fielder Michelle Moultrie for her contributions to the team over the last four seasons. She finished the series 2/8 with a RBI, two runs and a walk.

UF will now set their sights on competing for the 2012 SEC Tournament title. Florida, the No. 3 seed in the event, will take on No. 6 seed LSU in first-round action on May 10 at 12 p.m. on ESPNU. The Gators would have to win three games over three days to bring home the tournament championship for the first time since 2009.

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Hannah Rogers, Lauren Haeger, Michelle Moultrie, SEC, SEC Tournament, softball

No. 5 Florida Gators baseball (35-13, 14-10 SEC) fell just short of their first weekend series sweep in over a month, winning two of three games on the road against the No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats (37-11, 15-9 SEC) at Cliff Hagan Stadium in Lexington, KY.

Florida won Thursday’s contest 5-3 and pulled out a late 5-1 victory on Friday before dropping the series finale 2-1 to Kentucky on Saturday. UF faces an uphill battle to defend their conference championship as they are currently behind both South Carolina and LSU in the standings.

The Gators saw their starting pitching return to form over the weekend.

Junior right-hander Hudson Randall improved to 5-1 on with a 6.2-inning outing on Thursday. He held the Wildcats to one run through six innings but coughed up two more before heading to the dugout (6 H, 3 ER, BB, 4 K) and allowing junior left-handed reliever Steven Rodriguez (2.1 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 K) to pick up his first save of the season.

Sophomore RHP Karsten Whitson followed Randall’s effort by putting forth his best performance since returning from injury on Friday, holding Kentucky to one earned run over 4.2 innings despite allowing six hits, walking three batters, hitting another, throwing two wild pitches and striking out just two. Whitson was relieved by a trio of throwers including freshman LHP Bobby Poyner (1.0 IP, 2 H), senior RHP Greg Larson (W 6-0, 1.1 IP, HBP) and Rodriguez (S2, 2.0 IP, 2 K).

Florida brought junior LHP Brian Johnson out for the finale and saw him work his way through four innings before allowing a run on two hits and a walk in the bottom of the fifth. Johnson (L 5-4, 5.0 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 2 K) was replaced by sophomore RHP Jonathon Crawford (3.0 IP, 3 H, R, 2 K), who would have held the Wildcats scoreless had it not been for two fielding errors in the bottom of the eighth.

Gators senior right fielder Preston Tucker powered UF through the first two games of the series, hitting a homer on Thursday and finishing the three-game trip 5/11 with three RBIs, three runs scored and a walk.

Johnson (4/11, 2 RBI) and freshman left fielder Justin Shafer (4/10, 2 RBI) knocked in runs as part of Florida’s two wins though senior center fielder Daniel Pigott was the only player to get on the board in the finale with a solo homer in the top of the ninth. The Gators had the tying run on second but were unable to finish their rally on Saturday.

Florida will look to get revenge against North Florida on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Gainesville, FL before hosting their final home games of the season in a three-game series against Mississippi State Friday-Sunday.

Tags: baseball, Bobby Poyner, Brian Johnson, Cliff Hagan Stadium, Daniel Pigott, Greg Larson, Hudson Randall, Jonathon Crawford, Justin Shafer, Karsten Whitson, Kentucky Wildcats, Preston Tucker, Steven Rodriguez

There have been plenty of firsts for the young Florida Gators lacrosse program but few will be as memorable as what the team accomplished on Saturday, defeating the Northwestern Wildcats 14-7 at Donald R. Dizney Stadium in Gainesville, FL to capture the 2012 ALC Tournament Championship.

No. 3 Florida (17-2), the top seed in the tournament, played stellar defense throughout the contest and used seven clutch goals and a career performance by freshman midfielder Shannon Gilroy to upend No. 1 Northwestern for the second time this season and third time in the last two years.

The victory marked the first ALC tournament title in school history and the third conference championship overall as UF has won the league’s regular season title in each of the last two years.

The teams traded goals to open the match, but the Gators went on a 4-0 scoring stretch including two goals each by Gilroy and junior attacker Kitty Cullen to take an early 5-1 lead. UF was able to maintain that four-goal advantage through the break by matching both goals the Wildcats scored down the stretch and taking a 7-3 lead into the half.

Florida and Northwestern took turns scoring in the second half with the Gators’ lead never dipping below three goals for the duration of the contest. In fact, once UF’s lead was cut to three, Florida scored three-straight goals to jump ahead 11-5 with 12:44 left in the match. The Gators held on down the stretch, using a combination of tough defense, controlled ball handling and consistent scoring to outlast the Wildcats and pick up the hard-fought victory.

Joining Gilroy’s efficient, effective and dominating offensive performance (seven goals on nine shots with three draw controls) were Cullen (three goals on six shots) and junior A Caroline Chesterman (two goals on three shots). Midfielders junior Brittany Dashiell and freshman Nora Barry added a goal each.

Florida handed Northwestern their worst loss in nine years and is proving to be a major thorn in the side of a team that has won six of the last seven national titles. The Gators are 3-1 against the Wildcats over the last two seasons with all three victories resulting in ALC titles (two regular season, one tournament). Florida is also the first team besides Northwestern to win the ALC Tournament in the event’s six-year history.

The Gators will now set their sights on the 2012 NCAA Tournament where UF may very well earn the No. 1 overall seed in the event. Either way, Florida will play host at least through the quarterfinals of the event as long as they are awarded a top-four seed.

ALC Tournament MVP: Junior goalkeeper Mikey Meagher
ALC All-Tournament Team: Brittany Dashiell, Shannon Gilroy, Mikey Meagher, junior defenders Sam Farrell and Jamie Reeg

Tags: ALC, ALC Championship, ALC Tournament, All-Tournament Team, Amanda O'Leary, Brittany Dashiell, Caroline Chesterman, Jamie Reeg, Kitty Cullen, lacrosse, Mikey Meagher, MVP, Nora Barry, Northwestern Wildcats, Sam Farrell, Shannon Gilroy