1 » After suffering their first loss of the season against No. 6/3 Florida State in the inaugural Florida Four tournament, the No. 5/6 Florida Gators traveled to Coral Gables, FL, for a three-game series against the No. 16/11 Miami Hurricanes. OGGOA will wrap-up the series on Sunday, but on Friday, the Gators (6-1) took down the Hurricanes (6-2) 7-1 in the series’ first game. Sophomore starter Alex Pantelidois (3-0) held Miami hitless into the fifth inning and registered a career-high eight strikeouts. Fellow sophomore Nick Mardone earned his first career save by striking out seven over 3.1 innings without giving up a hit or run. Three Gators acquired two RBI in the contest.

Five more BITS including a softball doubleheader, gymnastics triangular meet and SEC openers for men’s and women’s tennis…after the break!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS Baseball, softball, gymnastics, tennis win

Tags: Alex Pantelidois, Alexandre Lacroix, Allie Will, Antoine Benneteau, Arkansas Razorbacks, Ashanée Dickerson, Ball State Cardinal, baseball, DeMarini Invitational, Ensley Gammel, Francesca Enea, gymnastics, Lauren Embree, Marissa King, Marrit Boonstra, Miami Hurricanes, Nick Mardone, North Carolina Tar Heels, O'Connell Center, Pacific Tigers, SEC, softball, Stanford Cardinal, Stephanie Brombacher, Tegan Gerhart, tennis

On Senior Day, the Florida Gators hoped an emotional spark from senior forward Dan Werner coupled with the need for a marquee win would earn them a berth in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Instead, the Gators (20-10, 9-6 SEC) fell 64-60 to the No. 13/19 Vanderbilt Commodores (23-6, 12-3 SEC) at home at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL.

Werner played well for most of the game, contributing eight points on 3-of-6 shooting with five rebounds and two steals, but an accidental tip-in of a Commodores layup late in the second half may very well have cost Florida the game.

Redshirt junior transfer center Vernon Macklin was a rock for the Gators, scoring 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting with a game-high nine rebounds. However, freshman guard Kenny Boynton shot a paltry 2-for-15 from the field (1-of-6 from downtown), sophomore point guard Erving Walker only added five points on 1-of-9 shooting (0-for-3 from beyond the arc) and junior F Chandler Parsons – the team’s spark plug and most reliable player – barely contributed, only shooting the ball four times for three points.

Read the rest of OGGOA’s Florida vs. Vanderbilt game story after the break!
Continue Reading » Tourney chances slip away as UF falls to Vandy

Tags: A.J. Ogilvy, Chandler Parsons, Dan Werner, Erving Walker, John Jenkins, Kenny Boynton, O'Connell Center, Ray Shipman, Senior Day, Vanderbilt Commodores, Vernon Macklin

Location: Stephen C. O’Connell Center – Gainesville, FL [Capacity: 12,000]
Time: 7:00 p.m. (EST)

TV: ESPN/ESPNHD
Online Video: ESPN360.com
Live Updates: OGGOA on Twitter

Odds: Florida -3, O/U (OFF)

KEEP AN EYE ON…
» The dynamic backcourt of…sophomore point guard Erving Walker and freshman guard Kenny Boynton who are averaging a combined 29.4 points per game in conference play this season.
» Speaking of Walker and Boynton…they have hit 64 treys in SEC action. After struggling from downtown, Boynton went 6-for-9 from beyond the arc Saturday.
» Junior forward Chandler Parsons…who has scored in double figures in seven straight games and has two double-doubles in those contests. He has helped dish the ball and run the point while averaging 17.7 points and 8.4 rebounds and shooting 56.3 percent.
» Double-digit scoring by Vernon Macklin…the Gators are 13-3 when the redshirt junior transfer center finishes in double figures.
» Junior F Alex Tyus…who is looking to rebound from his worst outing of the season. Tyus went 0-for-4 from the field for no points against Georgia. He is averaging 11.9 points and 6.9 rebounds this season.
» Senior F Dan Werner…who is playing his final game in the O’Dome after four years in the Orange and Blue. Werner, stuck in the middle of the worst season of his career, is averaging 4.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and two assists per game.
» Commodores’ senior G Jermaine Beal and sophomore F Jeffery Taylor…who are averaging 14.6 and 14.3 points per game, respectively, this season. Taylor also contributes 5.3 boards per game.

STREAKS:
» Vanderbilt leads the all-time series against Florida 62-56, though the Gators have won 15 of the last 19 meetings. Billy Donovan is 18-10 against the Commodores and 11-2 when facing them at home (eight straight).
» Florida has won nine of its last 12 conference games; the Gators hope to reach 10 league wins for the ninth time in the last 12 years and first time since 2007.
» UF is 6-4 in games decided by five points or less compared to 4-6 in such games last season; they are also 5-2 in the last seven contests that were that close.
» The Gators are 13-3 at home this year and can finish league play 7-1 at the O’Connell Center with a victory.
» Florida only got to the line 10 times Saturday after shooting at least 24 free throws in three-straight games. The Gators are 6-1 when getting to the line that many times.
» Parsons needs just 18 points to reach 1,000 for his career.
» Florida is surrendering 76.0 points per game in its nine losses, while holding opponents to 59.7 points per game in its 20 wins.
» Ranked second in the SEC, Vanderbilt is averaging 78.8 points per game and hitting 47.9 percent from the floor. The Commodores have won five of their last six games.

Tags: Alex Tyus, Billy Donovan, Chandler Parsons, Dan Werner, Erving Walker, Jeffery Taylor, Jermaine Beal, Kenny Boynton, Kevin Stallings, O'Connell Center, SEC, Vanderbilt Commodores, Vernon Macklin

A 27-6 run including three consecutive treys by slumping sophomore point guard Erving Walker led the Florida Gators (20-8, 9-4 SEC) to a 75-62 rout of the No. 19/17 Tennessee Volunteers (20-7, 8-5 SEC) Tuesday night at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL. The Gators, who earned their 12th-straight 20-win season with the victory, snapped a six-game losing streak against the Volunteers by taking their first win in the series since Feb. 3, 2007.

Walker, who was mired in a 5-for-26 (1-for-11 from downtown) slump over the last three games, shot 50 percent on the evening and scored a trifecta of three-pointers in under two minutes in the second half. He and junior forward Chandler Parsons each finished with a team-high 19 points, though Parsons added eight rebounds. Redshirt junior transfer center Vernon Macklin achieved a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 10 boards, while freshman guard Kenny Boynton added 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting.

“We just moved another step closer to where we want to get to,” Walker said. “Definitely a big resume win. They were a ranked team, good RPI, a good team, big conference win, take sole possession of third. We can’t ask for a bigger win right now than this one.”

Read the rest of OGGOA’s Gators vs. Volunteers game story after the jump!
Continue Reading » Gators rout No. 19/17 Volunteers 75-62 in O’Dome

Tags: Alex Tyus, Billy Donovan, Bobby Maze, Cameron Tatum, Chandler Parsons, Erving Walker, Jeff Hathaway, Kenny Boynton, Mike Slive, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, O'Connell Center, Scotty Hopson, SEC, selection committee, University of Connecticut, Vernon Macklin, Wayne Chism

1 » Led by a strong effort from seniors guard Steffi Sorensen and forward Sharielle Smith, the Florida Gators women’s basketball team (14-13, 7-7 SEC) achieved a 64-57 upset over the No. 20 Georgia Bulldogs (20-7, 7-7 SEC) in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Sunday. Sorensen and Smith combined for 31 points and 14 rebounds as the Gators earned their first victory against a ranked opponent in more than a year.

2 » No. 7 men’s tennis (7-2) continued its terrific play this season, taking down the South Florida Bulls (3-5) 6-1 on Sunday at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex. The No. 10-ranked doubles duo of redshirt senior Antoine Benneteau and junior Alexandre Lacroix won its 20th match of 2009-10 with an 8-2 victory. Lacroix, ranked No. 17 as a singles competitor, took down No. 91 Jamal Adderley, 6-2, 6-4 for his 11th win against a ranked opponent this season.

3 » Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski is one of the most famous Gators fans in professional sports. From attending games to razzing teammates who are fans of opposing teams, Pierzynski is not shy about his Florida pride. That includes wearing orange and blue shoes around MLB camp last week, according to the Chicago Tribune.

4 » The Gators want three-star tight end Michael McFarland (Tampa, FL) to gain weight. His high school basketball team? Not so much. “They want me to put 10 to 15 pounds of solid muscle on before I get there,” McFarland told the St. Petersburg Times. “I want to start [working out] so bad.” McFarland, at 6’6” 240 lbs., is his team’s starting center and has two weeks to go before he can begin Florida’s workout routines.

Extra BIT » High school junior Lindsey Cooper, the younger sister of former Gators wide receiver Riley Cooper, recently made unofficial visits to Florida and Florida State as she decides where to attend college on a soccer scholarship. A standout at Clearwater Central Catholic High School, Cooper hopes to sprint for a university’s track and field team as well.

Tags: A.J. Pierzynski, Alexandre Lacroix, Antoine Benneteau, Chicago White Sox, Georgia Bulldogs, Jamal Adderley, Linder Stadium, Lindsey Cooper, Michael McFarland, MLB, O'Connell Center, Riley Cooper, Ring Tennis Complex, Sharielle Smith, South Florida Bulls, Steffi Sorensen, tennis, women's basketball

1 » No. 3/9 Florida Gators softball (5-1) shutout the Campbell Camels (1-4-1) 7-0 Friday night on the back of a school-record six home runs. Leading their team to victory, junior first baseman Megan Bush had lead-off home runs in back-to-back plate appearances, and junior starter Stephanie Brombacher (4-1) blanked Campbell over five innings while compiling a season-high 11 strikeouts. Six of Florida’s seven runs came on solo homers from five different Gators including Bush (4th, 6th), sophomore outfielder Michelle Moultrie (4th), junior catcher Tiffany DeFelice (6th), freshman C Kelsey Horton (6th) and junior outfielder Kelsey Bruder (7th).

Florida softball (6-1) continued its dominance Friday with a 12-4 win over the Kansas Jayhawks (2-5) in the Gators’ second game of the night. Junior second baseman Aja Paculba went 4-4 with a career-high five RBI. In all, seven UF players accounted for 14 hits and freshman pitcher Erin Schuppert (1-0) earned her first career win in four innings of relief with seven strikeouts while allowing only two runs. Freshman Ensley Gammel started for the Gators.

2 » Florida’s newest sport, women’s lacrosse, is set to debut Saturday against the Jacksonville Dolphins (0-2) at 6 p.m. in the brand new Donald R. Dizney Stadium for the first regular season game in school history. Head coach Amanda O’Leary has done a terrific job preparing the Gators, including recruiting the No. 1–ranked signing class in the nation according to Inside Lacrosse Magazine. The team, which fell 17-8 in its first exhibition match against the U.S. National Development team before rallying to a 7-7 tie at Rutgers and a 10-8 win over Princeton, is made up of two seniors, one junior, two sophomores and 24 freshmen. Admission is free for all home games, so be sure to go out and support this up-and-coming team in its first season!
- Athletic director Jeremy Foley is proud of the school’s newest sport.
- The Florida lacrosse team was years in the making.
- Everything you need to know about how lacrosse is played.

Gators swimming & diving and gymnastics also impressed on Friday…
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Softball sets record, lacrosse debuts

Tags: Aja Paculba, Amanda O’Leary, Campbell Camels, Conor Dwyer, diving, Dizney Stadium, Ensley Gammel, Erin Schuppert, Gemma Spofforth, Georgia Gym Dogs, gymnastics, Jacksonville Dolphins, Kansas Jayhawks, Kelsey Bruder, Kelsey Horton, lacrosse, Megan Bush, Michelle Moultrie, NCAA Championship, O'Connell Center, SEC Championship, Shaune Fraser, softball, Stephanie Brombacher, swimming, Teresa Crippen, Tiffany DeFelice

Led by a strong all-around effort from junior forward Chandler Parsons, the Florida Gators (18-8, 7-4 SEC) held on for a 78-70 victory over the Auburn Tigers (12-14, 3-8 SEC) Thursday evening at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL.

In a must-win game for the Gators, their frontcourt players stepped up from the get-go, scoring 42 of the team’s 78 points and amassing 23 of Florida’s 28 rebounds. Parsons, who led the Gators with a team-high 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting with five rebounds and four assists, had plenty of support from starting juniors F Alex Tyus (12 points, seven rebounds) and center Vernon Macklin (seven points, four rebounds). Surprisingly, it was Florida’s bench that truly made the difference as senior F Dan Werner went 3-for-5 for nine points and four boards and freshman F Erik Murphy contributed seven points on 3-of-3 shooting with three rebounds.

Read the rest of OGGOA’s Florida vs. Auburn game story after the jump!
Continue Reading » Frontcourt leads Florida over Auburn in O’Dome

Tags: Alex Tyus, Andre Malone, Auburn Tigers, Chandler Parsons, Dan Werner, DeWayne Reed, Erik Murphy, Erving Walker, Kenny Boynton, Lucas Hargrove, O'Connell Center, Tay Walker, Vernon Macklin