By Mike Brandes – OnlyGators.com Contributor

No. 1 Florida Gators softball is poised to defend its crown following a 2014 campaign that saw the team go 55-12 with that last victory resulting in the program’s first National Championship. The Gators have already come out of the gate strong, sweeping the USF Softball Classic and routing Jacksonville on Wednesday, amassing a 6-0 record while outscoring opponents 62-7

Florida was the preseason favorite to with the Southeastern Conference title, having received 11 of 13 first-place votes from the league’s coaches, after failing to win either the regular season or tournament championship a year ago.

Head coach Tim Walton, who is now 498-114 (.813) six games into his 10th season, is confident in his roster. “We’ve got a good group, as deep a group as we’ve had,” he said. Walton no doubt hopes to roll this confidence into a return trip to Oklahoma City and ultimately a second national title in as many seasons.

Continue Reading » 2015 Florida softball primer: Can the Gators repeat after the program’s first championship?

Tags: Bailey Castro, Briana Little, Championship Series, Delanie Gourley, Hannah Rogers, Jessica Damico, Katie Medina, Kayli Kvistad, Kelsey Stewart, Kirstie Merritt, Lauren Haeger, Megan Reed, National Championship, NCAA, NCAA Championship, Nicole DeWitt, softball, Stephanie Tofft, Tim Walton, Women's College World Series

For as bad as things went for the Florida Gators at times in 2014 (see the Not Top 14 for 2014), there were more than a fair share of bright spots. From breathtaking moments and game-winning plays to winning championships and setting records, the Gators had plenty to be proud of in 2014. Check out OnlyGators.com‘s Top 14 for 2014.

14 » RARE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL UPSET

Gators women’s basketball has struggled to find relevancy but there was no question Florida had its engines running on Jan. 5 when it pulled off one of the biggest victories in program history, an 83-73 upset win over No. 6 Kentucky. The win broke a six-game losing streak for UF against UK and was head coach Amanda Butler’s first win over a top-10 ranked opponent after going 0-17 previously in such games. Florida had lost 19-straight regular-season games against top 10-ranked opponents, earning its last victory to such a team in Feb. 2006.

13 » TEBOW TIME ALL THE TIME

Former Gators quarterback Tim Tebow had a life-changing 2014 after agreeing to sign a long-term broadcasting deal with ESPN. Tebow was featured on the network’s national title broadcast that season and was later assigned to the SEC Network where he served as one of three analysts for the channel’s Saturday pre-game show, SEC Nation. Tebow has drawn rave reviews throughout 2014 for his passionate opinions and consistent on-air knowledge. He also proved to be unbiased, lambasting the leadership on Florida’s offense when the team struggled during the middle of the season. One Tebow moment – a spot-on impersonation of former Gators head coach Steve Spurrier – was OnlyGators.com’s most-watched Vine with 1.3 million loops as of press time.

Tebow also closed 2014 with a brilliant on-air prediction, which you can check out below.

Continue Reading » Top 14 for 2014: Florida Gators best moments of the year

Tags: ALC, ALC Championship, All-NBA, Amanda Butler, Athlete of the Year, baseball, Billy Donovan, Billy Horschel, Capital One Cup, Casey Prather, Championship Series, Chandler Parsons, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Browns, Colorado State Rams, Dallas Mavericks, Dan Quinn, Defensive Player of the Year, Dorian Finney-Smith, Doug Nussmeier, Elite Eight, ESPN, FedExCup, field, Final Four, Florida-Georgia, Geoff Collins, golf, Hannah Rogers, Jeremy Foley, Jim McElwain, Joakim Noah, Joe Haden, Kelvin Taylor, lacrosse, Lauren Haeger, Marcus Gilbert, Marquand Manuel, Matt Jones, Maurkice Pouncey, Max Garcia, Michael Frazier, Michael McNeely, Most Outstanding Player, NBA, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, NFL, Patric Young, Percy Harvin, PGA, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Randy Shannon, Riley Cooper, Scottie Wilbekin, Seattle Seahawks, SEC, SEC Championship, SEC Network, SEC Tournament, softball, Super Bowl XLVIII, swimming, Tim Tebow, Tim Walton, track, Treon Harris, volleyball, Will Muschamp, Will Yeguete, women's basketball, Women's College World Series, World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party

Florida Gators senior right-handed pitcher Hannah Rogers capped her stellar collegiate career with the top honor awarded by the Southeastern Conference after being named the league’s 2014 Female Athlete of the Year on Tuesday.

Rogers becomes the seventh Florida student-athlete to earn the honor, which has been given to Gators 10 total times with Tim Tebow (2008-09), Danny Wuerffel (1996-97) and Nicole Haislett (1993-94) each doubling up. Ryan Lochte (2005), Dara Torres (1988) and Tracy Caulkins (1984) have also received the award.

The first Florida female in 20 years to be named SEC Athlete of the Year, Rogers is also the first non-swimmer to earn the honor (Haislett, Torres, Caulkins).

She compiled a 30-8 record and 1.60 ERA during the 2014 season, tossing 27 complete games in a team-high 223.1 innings. Rogers also posted a 2.7 K/BB ratio and only allowed opposing batters to hit .197.

Her dominance reached new heights in the postseason when he ran through the 2014 NCAA Tournament with a 7-0 record and 0.64 ERA.

She went 4-0 in the Women’s College World Series and earned a save in the final game of the Championship Series, earning Most Outstanding Player honors while leading the Gators to their first national title in the sport.

Tags: Athlete of the Year, Championship Series, Hannah Rogers, Most Outstanding Players, National Championship, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, SEC, softball, Women's College World Series

From time to time, OnlyGators.com will come across a plethora of news and notes that we wish to share – too much to fit into one of our truncated BITS segments. When stories like these fall through the cracks, we catch and wrap them all up with Gator Bites.

» Florida Gators redshirt sophomore guard Dillon Graham on Friday tweeted that he has “finally [been] cleared” by team doctors after missing most of the 2013-14 season following surgery to repair bone spurs in his hips. Less than a month ago, head coach Billy Donovan said he did not expect Graham to be cleared for contact until August or September. Doctors are likely allowing Graham to work out and practice in non-contact situations at this time. “He’s missed a whole entire year of development and now you’re talking about an entire summer and into the fall without it,” Donovan said on May 22. “So, when he does get back, what is he like as a player and maybe how long does it take to get him back to maybe where he was? I think that’s going to be a long process for him.”

» Florida junior jumper Marquis Dendy on Thursday captured the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Championship in men’s long jump. The outdoor long jump title in school history, Dendy’s 8.00m/26-3 championship-winning mark was his best of the season. Actually, all three of his jumps would have won the crown for Dendy, who previously won the 2013 NCAA Indoor Championship in the same event. He did not even need to take the last jump but chose to do so because he was “in the moment” and also wanted to qualify nationally in the event. He returns to the field on Saturday for the men’s triple jump, an event UF has dominated in recent years.

Continue Reading » 13 Gator Bites for Friday, June 13: Graham, Dendy, Harvin, Haslem, softball, MLB, Parsons

Tags: Aaron Hernandez, Bailey Castro, baseball, Bernie Machen, Billy Donovan, Boston Red Sox, Bradley Beal, Casey Turgeon, Chandler Parsons, Dillon Graham, Draft, Fawn Miller, field, Houston Astros, Houston Rockets, Jake McGee, Joker Phillips, Jon Horford, Justin Shafer, Karsten Whitson, Marquis Dendy, MLB, MLB Draft, NBA, NCAA, NCAA Championship, NCAA Indoor Championship, NCAA Outdoor Championship, New York Jets, Percy Harvin, Pittsburgh Pirates, Preston Tucker, Rookie of the Year, Seattle Seahawks, softball, St. Louis Cardinals, Super Bowl, Super Bowl XLVIII, Taylor Gushue, Tim Tebow, Toronto Blue Jays, track, Washington Wizards, Women's College World Series

1 » The Houston Rockets have chosen to decline the fourth-year option in forward Chandler Parsons’s rookie contract, making him a restricted free agent this summer. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who first reported the team’s decision, the Rockets have every intention of bringing Parsons back but will decline his $960,000 option in hopes of “match[ing] an offer sheet and retain[ing] Parsons on a longer-term contract.” Houston is also looking to keep its cap space this summer so it can go after another big-name free agent. If the Rockets were to otherwise pick up Parsons’s option, he would be an unrestricted free agent next summer with the ability to go to the highest-paying suitor. Speaking with league executives, Wojnarowski estimates that Parsons holds a value of $12-13 million annually. Houston selected Parsons with the No. 38 overall pick in the second round of the 2011 NBA Draft but signed him to a first round-caliber deal. He has seriously outplayed his rookie contract, averaging 16.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists in his third NBA season.

2 » Florida Gators softball fans can welcome home the 2014 NCAA National Champions on Wednesday. The school will open Pressly Softball Stadium at 5 p.m. with a championship celebration expected to begin 30-90 minutes later. The event, which will include highlights and live interviews, can also be viewed live here.

Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Parsons, softball, Pouncey, Boynton

Tags: Brooklyn Nets, Championship Series, Chandler Parsons, Draft, Galil Gilboa, Houston Rockets, Israel, Kenny Boynton, Los Angeles Lakers, Maurkice Pouncey, Miami Dolphins, Mike Pouncey, National Championship, NBA, NCAA, NCAA Championship, NCAA Tournament, NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers, Pressly Softball Stadium, softball, Women's College World Series

Florida Gators softball won the 2014 NCAA Championship on Tuesday, capturing the sport’s national title for the first time in program history.

Gators athletes and coaches, both former and current, expressed their excitement throughout the evening and eventually celebrated Florida’s unprecedented accomplishment late into the night at the Women’s College World Series.

A long-time feature here on OnlyGators.com, we have combed Twitter to compile the most complete list of tweets for you to peruse. Here are the top 100.

I wanna puke, cry n jump for joy all at the same time. Too many emotions for me to handle. #needthis #beatbama #natty

— Kelsey Bruder (@KelseyBruder2) June 4, 2014

Let's gators women softball will take it all listen get with it if you ain't a gator you are #gatorbait

— Dominique Easley (@DominiqueEasley) June 4, 2014

Let's go Gators !!! #WCWS #BeatBama

— Max G (@MGarcia_76) June 4, 2014

WOOOO STEPH!!!!! #Homerun

— Max G (@MGarcia_76) June 4, 2014

Continue Reading » Twitter reacts to Florida Gators softball winning the 2014 NCAA National Championship

Tags: Championship Series, National Championship, NCAA, NCAA Championship, NCAA Tournament, softball, Women's College World Series

Senior right-handed pitcher Hannah Rogers did not start Tuesday night’s game for the Florida Gators, but her steady hand and tremendous command closed out the final two innings of the Women’s College World Series Championship Series, helping Florida softball (55-12) earn the first National Championship in program history on the back of a 6-3 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide (53-13).

The Gators swept the Crimson Tide in the best-of-three series with Rogers earning a 5-0 shutout win on Monday and finding her well-deserved place on the mound in the final exciting moments on Tuesday.

It was the first time in three WCWS Championship Series appearances that Florida won a single game (0-4 combined in 2009, 2011) yet the Gators were dominant at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Florida outscored its opponents 81-10 in the 2014 NCAA Tournament with eight shutouts and six run-rule victories.

Rogers went 7-0 with a save in eight total appearances, giving up just four earned runs in 44 innings pitched while shutting out her adversaries in 42 of those frames. She was named 2014 WCWS Most Outstanding Player after the game.

Nevertheless, it was junior RHP Lauren Haeger received the call and subsequently got off to a rough start in the circle for UF, giving up back-to-back singles to open the game before a sacrifice fly advanced both base runners.

Continue Reading » History is made: Florida Gators softball wins program’s first National Championship

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, Aubree Munro, Briana Little, Championship Series, Delanie Gourley, Katie Medina, Kelsey Stewart, Kirsti Merritt, Lauren Haeger, Most Outstanding Player, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, softball, Stephanie Tofft, Taylor Schwarz, Women's College World Series

Florida Gators softball is one game away from capturing the first national title in program history after defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide 5-0 in game one of the best-of-three 2014 Women’s College World Series Championship Series.

A number of former and current Gators were exuberant while watching Florida softball on Monday night, so OnlyGators.com captured all of the emotion on social media and presents it in this recap.

Gator softball just giving y'all a preview of what this fall gon be like..!

— Matthew Elam (@ElamVsElo) June 3, 2014

Home run! #Gators

— David Nelson (@DavidNelson86) June 3, 2014

Y'all watching the gator softball game or nah? #nationalchampionship #wcws #GatorSoftball #GatorNation

— Ahmad Black (@ahmadblack35) June 3, 2014

Continue Reading » Twitter reacts to Florida Gators softball winning game one of WCWS Championship Series

Tags: Championship Series, Hannah Rogers, softball, Women's College World Series