By Mike Brandes – OnlyGators.com Contributor

Spring is here and No. 3/4 Florida Gators softball is set to kick off the 2014 season by playing six games in four days as part of the Wilson-Demarini Tournament in Tampa, FL.

The Gators open as the preseason favorite to with the Southeastern Conference title, according to the league’s coaches, receiving 10 of 13 first-place votes.

Florida hopes to improve successful 2013 season which saw it finish 58-9 on the year and advance as far as the semifinals of bracket play in the 2013 Women’s College World Series. While the Gators once again fell short in Oklahoma City, OK, they return the core of last year’s squad and possess the veteran leadership to make another deep postseason run, one which could result in program’s first-ever national title despite five WCWS appearances in the last six seasons.

KEY DEPARTURES

Outfielder Kelsey Horton: The 2012 Capital One All-American, Horton was a mainstay in the outfield for Florida, starting 65 games while also serving as a team captain. She was a steady offensive presence in the middle of the lineup, finishing the 2013 season batting .262 (slugging .524) with 10 home runs and 37 RBIs. While Horton’s ability to impact the team on the field will be missed, her presence in the locker room and dugout might be the greatest loss for the Gators.

Continue Reading » 2014 Florida softball primer: Is this the year?

Tags: Brianna Little, Chelsea Herndon, Delanie Gourley, Francesca Martinez, Hannah Rogers, Kelsey Hortn, Kelsey Stewart, Lauren Haeger, NCAA, SEC, SEC Championship, softball, Tim Walton, Women's College World Series

For as bad as things went for the Florida Gators at times in 2013 (see the Not Top 13 for 2013), there were more than a fair share of bright spots. From breathtaking moments and game-winning plays to earning championships and setting records, the Gators had plenty to be proud of in 2013. Check out OnlyGators.com‘s Top 13 for 2013.

13 » A NEW TRADITION
Florida’s football program did not get much right in 2013, but instituting a new pre-game tradition – a “celebrity” serving as Mr. Two Bits in honor of the original, George Edmondson – was absolutely a bright spot. The Gators also picked the perfect person to kick off the new tradition with former running back Errict Rhett performing as if he was made for the role. Others had trouble stepping up to the high benchmark set by Rhett, but the honorary Mr. Two Bits was nevertheless a great sight for fans all season long…even if the team was not. OnlyGators.com sat down with Rhett after his appearance for an extensive interview about the experience and his career.

12 » 15-INNING MARATHON
In the fourth-longest game ever played at the Women’s College Series (longest since 1992), Florida softball prevailed 9-8 over Nebraska in a night game that lasted 15 innings and more than five hours, spanning into the early morning of the next day. The Gators lost two separate leads in the contest before rallying to score two runs in the top of the 15th; UF conceded a run in the latter half of the inning but held on for the victory. Unfortunately for Florida, it had to suit up just hours later for an elimination game against Texas at 1 p.m., one it lost 3-0. The Gators were ranked No. 2 entering the 2013 NCAA Tournament but fell short of a title.

11 » ALL HE WANTED WAS A CHANCE

Redshirt junior quarterback Tyler Murphy waited patiently as he got overlooked time and time again, most recently by head coach Will Muschamp and his offensive coordinators in favor of younger players with higher ratings coming out of high school. When junior QB Jeff Driskel went down with a fractured fibula against Tennessee, Murphy finally got his shot and made the most of it. Over a three-game stretch including games on Sept. 21, Sept. 28 (at Kentucky) and Oct. 5 (vs. Arkansas), Murphy completed 39-of-54 passes (72.2 percent) for 530 yards with five touchdowns and just one interception. (He also gained 135 yards and picked up two more scores with his legs.) Unfortunately for him, Murphy injured his shoulder on Oct. 12 against LSU and was simply not the same player as he took the field in more pain than he or the coaching staff decided to admit publicly. Murphy missed the final three games of the season due to that injury and ultimately transferred, feeling Muschamp would not give him a fair chance to win the starting job in 2014.

Continue Reading » Top 13 for 2013: Florida’s best moments of the year

Tags: Abby Wambach, Ballon d'Or, baseball, Billy Donovan, Boston Red Sox, Bradley Beal, Brianna Little, Bridget Sloan, Casey Prather, David Ross, Erin Andrews, Errict Rhett, FIBA, FIBA World Championship, field, gymnastics, ITA, Jaterra Bonds, Jeff Driskel, Kenny Boynton, Lauren Embree, Michael Frazier, Mike Rosario, MLB, Mr. Two Bits, NBA, NCAA, NCAA Championship, NCAA Outdoor Championship, Player of the Year, SEC, SEC All-Sports, soccer, softball, tennis, track, Tyler Murphy, United States, Washington Wizards, Will Muschamp, women's basketball, Women's College World Series

Forced to take the field less than 13 hours after last leaving it, No. 2 Florida Gators softball simply could not make contact with the ball, only registering one hit and striking out 14 times as the No. 4 Texas Longhorns picked up a 3-0 win in Sunday’s Women’s College World Series elimination game.

Florida (58-9) got most of its base runners on walks and hit batters as Texas (50-9) ace Blaire Luna kept the Gators at bay with her great command and terrific riseball, shutting out UF for the first and only time this season.

After getting a lead-off batter on board and in scoring position for the third-straight inning, the Longhorns finally delivered in the top of the third. With one down and runners on first and second, Kim Bruins lifted a ball just over the left field fence and off the outstretched glove of Gators sophomore left fielder Brianna Little for a three-run homer that provided Texas an early 3-0 advantage.

Florida responded by loading the bases in the bottom frame on a walk and two batters being hit by pitches, but sophomore designated player Lauren Haeger stranded all three of her teammates by striking out on a full count to end the inning.

Luna no-hit the Gators for 3.1 innings until freshman catcher Taylore Fuller finally smacked a single down the left field line. Florida wound up with two down and runners on first and second but left the inning without plating a run as sophomore pinch hitter Bailey Castro registered UF’s ninth strikeout in the first four innings.

Junior right-hander Hannah Rogers (7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K) allowed too many lead-off batters on but only struggled mightily in the top of the third. Luna (7.0 IP, 1 H, 5 BB, 14 K) simply out-pitched her as the Gators swung at too many pitches outside and off the plate. UF struck out 39 times during 29 innings of WCWS play (three games), an average of 1.34 times per inning.

Florida concludes the 2013 season by exceeding everyone’s expectations. The Gators swept the Southeastern Conference Championships (regular-season, tournament) and were ranked as a top-five team in the nation over their final 62 games of the 2013 campaign. UF advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 11th-straight season and moved on to the WCWS for the fifth time in the last six years.

Tags: Bailey Castro, Brianna Little, Hannah Rogers, Lauren Haeger, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, softball, Taylore Fuller, Texas Longhorns, Women's College World Series

The fourth-longest game ever played at the Women’s College World Series ended in celebration for No. 2 Florida Gators softball, which needed 15 innings and more than five hours to prevail 9-8 and eliminate the No. 14 Nebraska Cornhuskers from the 2013 NCAA Tournament. Florida (58-8) lost two separate leads on Saturday before rallying to score two runs in the top of the 15th, exactly the number it needed to take down Nebraska (45-16) and continue its storybook season.

The Gators flashed offense by loading the bases in the third but did not score until the fifth, when UF posted all six of the runs it plated during regulation. An incredible bottom of the seventh kept the Cornhuskers in the game, and a run by each team in the 10th inning extended Saturday’s contest even further.

Junior right-handed pitcher Hannah Rogers (8.0 IP, 11 H, 7 R [6 ER], 3 BB, K) – two days after lasting less than an inning in Florida’s WCWS opener – showed a renewed focus for the first six innings but unraveled in the final frame of regulation. She returned in the 15th and gave up another run but held on for the save. Sophomore RHP Lauren Haeger (7.0 IP, 3 H, ER, 4 BB, 4 K) was terrific in innings 8-14, keeping the Gators in the contest and picking up the victory.

Continue Reading » No. 2 Florida softball eliminates No. 14 Nebraska from WCWS with 9-8 win in 15-inning thriller

Tags: Bailey Castro, Brianna Little, Hannah Rogers, Jessica Damico, Kelsey Horton, Kelsey Stewart, Kirsti Merritt, Lauren Haeger, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Nebraska Cornhuskers, softball, Stephanie Tofft, Taylor Schwarz, Taylore Fuller, Women's College World Series

No. 2 Florida Gators softball (57-8) is now one loss away from elimination in the Women’s College World Series portion of the 2013 NCAA Tournament after the No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers (50-10) took it to the home team early and often, pulling away for a dominant 9-2 victory in Thursday’s opening-round game.

Florida, which edged Tennessee two games to one during a regular-season series that consisted of three-straight extra-inning affairs, struggled with its pitching in the early going and was never able to recover.

Junior right-handed pitcher Hannah Rogers got the start for the Gators but immediately loaded the bases as she had trouble finding the strike zone. Rogers (0.1 IP, H, 3 ER, 3 BB) walked two and gave up a single to load the bases before walking home the Volunteers’ first run of the game and putting her team in a 1-0 hole.

Florida head coach Tim Walton pulled Rogers for sophomore Lauren Haeger, who gave up a two-run double to Melissa Brown that fronted Tennessee a 3-0 lead.

Continue Reading » Tennessee blasts Florida 9-2 in WCWS opener

Tags: Hannah Rogers, Jessica Damico, Kelsey Horton, Kelsey Stewart, Lauren Haeger, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, softball, Stephanie Tofft, Taylor Schwarz, Tim Walton, Women's College World Series

One day after coming from behind to walk off with a 4-3 victory over the UAB Blazers, No. 2 Florida Gators softball nearly lost a one-run lead in the bottom of the seventh but instead held on to win game two of the Gainesville Super Regional 1-0 and advance to the Women’s College World Series for the fifth time in program history.

Florida (57-7) and UAB (40-19) were scoreless through three innings with Gators right-hander Hannah Rogers looking primed for one of her standout performances. Rogers (7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 7 K) struck out the first five batters she faced on Sunday, boosting the confidence of her entire team in the early going.

After stranding a total of two runners in the first three innings, Florida finally got on the board in the fourth. Sophomore designated player Lauren Haeger (1/2, BB) singled to left before senior Ensley Gammel entered the game as a pinch runner to take her place on first base. Gammel (R, SB) stole second after the Gators registered their second out of the inning and came around to score on an RBI double to left-center from freshman first baseman Taylor Schwarz (1/3, RBI).

UF was only 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position on Sunday with Schwarz’s big hit making all the difference.

Rogers continued to deal, stranding a Blazers base runner in the fifth and sixth before closing things out for the Gators in the seventh to conclude her complete-game outing. The bottom of the seventh was not without its share of excitement, however.

A one-out double from UAB catcher Anna Kimbrell came about a foot from leaving the park but instead bounced off the wall. Two batters later, with pinch runner Hailey Glynn replacing Kimbrell, pitcher/designated player Lauren Webster smacked an infield single that was fumbled by Florida freshman second baseman Kelsey Stewart (0/3) and therefore allowed Glynn to move over to third.

The Blazers decided Stewart’s mishandling of the ball was its best chance to tie the contest and sent Glynn home from third, but Stewart threw her out by a wide margin at home plate to end the game and begin the Gators’ dog pile on the infield dirt.

Florida’s fifth Women’s College World Series appearance comes one year after the program was uncharacteristically knocked out of the NCAA Tournament during regional play. The Gators were predicted to finish seventh in the Southeastern Conference this season but instead won the league’s regular-season and tournament titles, entering NCAA play as the No. 2 overall seed.

UF is 8-0 in postseason play this year, outscoring opponents by a combined 52-18.

All five of the Gators’ WCWS appearances have come in the last six seasons.

Florida will take on Tennessee in double elimination bracket play beginning Thursday at a yet to be determined time. UF won two of three games against UT during the 2013 regular season in Gainesville, FL. All three games went to extra innings.

Tags: Ensley Gammel, Hannah Rogers, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, SEC, Super Regional, Taylor Schwarz, UAB Blazers, Women's College World Series

For as much as the Florida Gators were in the news off the field in 2012 (check out Sunday’s post), the Gator Nation was making plenty of headlines on it as well. From breathtaking moments, game-changing and game-winning plays to winning championships and setting world records, Florida accomplished some unique athletic feats in 2012. Below are OGGOA‘s Top 12 On the Field Moments of the Year.

12 » MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH
If there was a theme to Gators athletics in the spring it was Florida teams falling short of their goals. In addition to men’s indoor track & field, women’s outdoor track & field and men’s swimming & diving all just coming up just short of winning major titles, basketball, baseball, gymnastics, lacrosse and softball all gave valiant efforts but faced immense disappointment in the end. It all started with the Gators basketball team, which advanced to the Elite Eight for the second-straight year and once again choked away a late lead and failed to advance to the Final Four. Up 11 points with 8:14 left in the game, Florida was outscored 18-3 down the stretch by Louisville, which held on for the 72-68 victory. The Gators hit just 1-of-12 shots over the final 8:14 while also going 1-for-4 from the charity stripe down the stretch and 0-for-9 from downtown over the final 20 minutes. Gymnastics did just about everything it could during the 2012 NCAA Super Six in late April but came just short of earning the first national title in program history, falling 197.850-197.775 to Alabama and losing by 0.075 points. Next up was softball, which looked primed to return to the championship game of the 2012 Women’s College World Series for the third time in the last four years. Instead, Florida got upended 10-1 by eventual national champion Alabama in the finals of the 2012 SEC Tournament and was eliminated in the Gainesville Regional portion of the 2012 NCAA Tournament due in part to suspensions levied against three key players. It was the first time since 2006 that UF did not at least advance to the Super Regional. A controversial finish led to another tough loss for lacrosse (see No. 9), leaving one sport to provide the ultimate disappointment to Gators fans in 2012.

Perhaps most heartbreaking for Gators fans was seeing a baseball team that was the national title favorite from the very start of the season fall fast and finish the campaign without a single title. Cruising along in the SEC Tournament with a one-run lead and three outs to go in the championship game, Florida baseball collapsed against Vanderbilt, allowing its opponents to score five runs on five hits in the top of the ninth and hold on for the title. Junior closer Austin Maddox imploded after coming on to get the final three outs, giving up a lead-off double to right and eventually allowing Vandy to tie the game after a sacrifice bunt, hit batter and suicide squeeze. It only got worse from there. The Commodores accomplished a double steal, hit an infield single, loaded the bases (intentional walk, double steal, intentional walk) and then pulled off a triple steal to score their third run of the inning. A two-run single put the nail in the coffin as the Gators allowed more stolen bases in a single frame (seven) than had ever been given up in an entire SEC Tournament game in the history of the event. With horrible memories of the SEC Tournament behind them and the NCAA Tournament upcoming, Florida hoped to use the experience to improve as a team. The Gators did advance to the College World Series but were swept right out of it with consecutive losses. Florida fell 7-3 to South Carolina in its first game before allowing an unranked Kent State team to register a 5-4 upset victory in the second game. The Gators coughed up four unearned runs, committed two errors and failed to plate runs despite having numerous opportunities to hit with runners in scoring position. With so much talent on the roster and a track record of success – the team got to the championship series just one year earlier – Florida baseball legitimately blew a great national title chance.

[Read: The Silver Lining - "Failure" is not a dirty word]

11 » FLORIDA SWEEPS FSU IN FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL, BASEBALL

For the first time in school history, the Gators swept the Seminoles in football, basketball and baseball (5-0) in a calendar year. Florida State having a historically successful baseball team has stood in the way of Florida’s ability to accomplish this feat in the past, but Gators baseball completed its first regular-season sweep of the Seminoles since 1958 by earning a 9-2 victory in Gainesville, FL, 4-1 victory in Jacksonville, FL and a 6-3 win on the road in Tallahassee, FL. Florida football bounced back from consecutive losses to FSU with a 37-26 beat down in Tallahassee, and UF basketball matched the football team’s intensity with a 72-47 rout on the road.

Continue Reading » Top 12 for 2012: On the Field Moments of the Year

Tags: Abby Wambach, ALC, ALC Championship, ALC Tournament, Austin Maddox, Azania Stewart, baseball, basketball, Brad Weitzel, Caleb Sturgis, Canada, Casey Turgeon, Christian Taylor, College World Series, Dedrick Dukes, Denver Broncos, Elite Eight, Elizabeth Beisel, field, Fightin' Gator Marching Band, FINA, Final Four, Gabi Wiegand, Gainesville Regional, Genevieve LaCaze, Gray Horn, Great Britain, Heather Mitts, Hugh Graham, Jamaica, Jeff Demps, Jonathon Crawford, Kevin O'Sullivan, lacrosse, Lauren Embree, Leonardo Seymore, Lisa Raymond, Melanie Booth, Mike Gillislee, Mike Holloway, Mike Zunino, NCAA, NCAA Championship, NCAA Indoor Championship, NCAA Outdoor Championship, NCAA Tournament, Neiron Ball, NFL, Novlene Williams-Mills, Olympics, Omar Craddock, Playoffs, Ryan Lochte, SEC, SEC Outdoor Championship, SEC Tournament, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, Tim Tebow, Tony McQuay, track, Will Claye, Will Muschamp, Women's College World Series, World Swimming Championships

For as much as the Florida Gators accomplished on the field in 2012 (check out Monday’s post), the Gator Nation was making plenty of news off of it as well. From crazy occurrences and strange decisions to receiving major awards and being involved in the biggest sports stories of the last 12 months, Florida was spread all over the sports landscape in 2012. Below are OGGOA‘s Top 12 Off the Field Stories of the Year.

12 » A WACKY YEAR, INDEED
For every major story and exciting moment that occurred in 2012, there were plenty of instances in which Gators fans could not do anything but shake their heads, furrow their brows or shrug their shoulders at something they just saw or heard. Below is a list-within-a-list of the 10 most absurd moments of the year (sorted chronologically). Don’t worry, the rest of these stories are much shorter, so keep reading.

(1) Right in the middle of spring practice on Feb. 17, with coaches raving about team chemistry and noting massive improvement from the previous year, junior safety Matt Elam tweeted out a picture that looks like junior defensive end Dominique Easley riding his scooter inside the Florida football facility and around the Gator Head the players touch before heading out to the field each week. (2) One week after playing his last game as a member of the Gators basketball team, then-senior point guard Erving Walker found himself in trouble with the law when he was charged on March 30 with two misdemeanors for allegedly stealing a taco from a street vendor and evading police in Gainesville, FL. (3) Need a lesson on how to turn off an employer? Veteran wide receiver Jabar Gaffney went off on an epic Twitter rant on April 12, sending out derogatory statements about his wife and cousin (fellow former Gators star cornerback Lito Sheppard) only to claim three hours later that his account was hacked. (4) What better way to honor your favorite player than to get your hair cut and designed to look like him? That’s what San Antonio Spurs fan Patrick Gonzalez did for forward Matt Bonner. Gonzalez’s hair cut nearly got him suspended from school on May 16, but it also got Bonner’s attention and resulted in a pair of tickets and a meeting at a playoff game. (5) After some rather mundane barbs went back-and-forth between Florida head coach Will Muschamp and Texas A&M Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin over the summer, Mayor Nancy Berry of College Station, TX decided to post a comedic video of her poking good-natured fun at the former Texas defensive coordinator on June 1.

(6) Hours after taking home the first NCAA Outdoor Championship in program history on June 10, Gators track & field suffered a serious scare in the air when its plane suffered a cracked windshield at 37,000 feet and underwent a rough landing in Tuscaloosa, AL. The windshield shattered after the plane landed but everyone was OK. (7) How do you answer a quarterback controversy and answer questions about which signal caller is going to start the first game of the season? Start both of them! That’s what Muschamp did on Sept. 1 when sophomores Jacoby Brissett (quarterback) and Jeff Driskel (wide receiver) both came out with the starting offense on its first play from scrimmage against Bowling Green. (8) With Muschamp leading the team, he is sure to find his way on this list at least once per year. In a 13-day span, Muschamp made headlines by being himself. After Florida defeated LSU at home on Dec. 7, he decided to celebrate by crowd surfing over his own players in the locker room. Two weeks later, at halftime against South Carolina, Muschamp vented his frustration about the officiating to Brady Ackerman of the Gator Radio Network. He saw an official walking by as the teams headed to their respective locker rooms and made sure to make it known how upset he was at some of the calls in the first half. “Well, we just gotta continue to capitalize on what we’re doing and OVERCOME THE ADVERSITY ON THE FIELD!” (9) With ESPN’s College GameDay in Gainesville for the South Carolina game, having former Gators swimmer Ryan Lochte on set as the guest picker was an easy and obvious decision for the network. Never did ESPN guess that he would find difficulty in reading off the list of picks provided for him. (10) Why is Chad Johnson in Gainesville … and why is he meeting with Florida? Those were questions fans asked on Nov. 2 when it was revealed that the NFL free agent wide receiver – fresh off being embarrassed on national television when he was cut by the Miami Dolphins after being arrested for allegedly hitting his wife – had shown up in town and was taking pictures with players on the team one day before UF took on Missouri.

Continue Reading » Top 12 for 2012: Off the Field Stories of the Year

Tags: Austin Maddox, baseball, Bill McBride, Billy Donovan, Brad Wilkerson, Bradley Beal, Brandon Spikes, Brian Johnson, Capital One Cup, Chad Johnson, cheerleaders, Cheyenne Coyle, Chris Rainey, Chris Walker, Cleveland Browns, College GameDay, Daniel Pigott, Denver Broncos, Dick Howser Trophy, Dominique Easley, Draft, Dwayne Schintzius, Erin Andrews, Erving Walker, ESPN, field, FOX, Gainesville Regional, Georgetown Hoyas, Golden Spikes Award, Hall of Fame, Hudson Randall, Jabar Gaffney, Jacoby Brissett, Janoris Jenkins, Jaye Howard, Jeff Demps, Jeff Driskel, Jermaine Cunningham, Joe Haden, John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award, Kasey Fagan, Kasey Hill, Kevin Sumlin, Lito Sheppard, Lomas Brown, Matt Bonner, Matt Elam, Miami Dolphins, Mike Zunino, MLB, National Player of the Year, Navy-Marine Corps Classic, NBA, NCAA, NCAA Outdoor Championship, New England Patriots, New York Giants, New York Jets, NFL, Nolan Fontana, Pittsburgh Steelers, Preston Tucker, Ryan Lochte, Sami Fagan, San Antonio Spurs, Seattle Seahawks, SEC All-Sports, softball, St. Louis Rams, Steven Rodriguez, swimming, Texas A&M Aggies, Tim Tebow, Tim Walton, Tony Waters, track, USS Bataan, Washington Wizards, Will Hill, Will Muschamp, Women's College World Series