Tag: baseball

This Florida baseball player earned Co-SEC Player of the Week honors

Jud Fabian not only swung the bat well but also provided a highlight-reel catch to rob a home run on Friday, earning him this week’s award.

The fifth-ranked Florida Gators baseball team got back on the winning track in sweeping fashion this weekend taking all three games at home from the visiting Texas A&M Aggies. UF managed to win the first trio of games on its Southeastern Conference schedule thanks to some superb pitching as well as some offensive outbursts.

One of the biggest reasons for Florida’s success against TAMU was sophomore centerfielder Jud Fabian, who not only swung the bat well but also provided a highlight-reel catch to rob the Aggies of a home run on Friday, hilariously losing his shoe in the process.

For his efforts, the conference named the potential MLB first-round draft pick its Co-Player of the Week, sharing the honor with the Arkansas Razorbacks’ Casey Opitz. Here is what the press release had to say about Fabian’s accolade.

Co-Player of the Week: Jud Fabian, Florida
Florida’s Jud Fabian recorded two more home runs during Florida’s homestand against Texas A&M. He scored four runs and had four RBI to help lead the Gators to a sweep. Fabian also made a key defensive play in the series to rob the Aggies of a home run. He had three hits in the series finale.

Florida is off until this weekend when they open up a three-game series at the South Carolina Gamecocks. Friday night’s first pitch is slated for 7 p.m. EDT and all three games will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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Gators News: Three Florida teams sweep this weekend and other recaps

Three teams swept their series over the past few days, including the baseball team who took three-straight games in their SEC opener.

The Monday morning March Madness hangover is here after a heart-breaking loss for the men’s basketball team in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, but the good news is that overall the Gator Nation had a heck of a weekend in competition. Three teams swept their series over the past few days, including the baseball team who took three-straight games in the Southeastern Conference opener.

There is plenty more where that came from, so let us look at what the past weekend had to offer for Florida sports.

Make it 7 straight wins for Notre Dame baseball

Don’t look now but a certain school is sitting well-atop the ACC standings…

Make it a perfect four-for-four in terms of series wins for Notre Dame baseball this season as the Irish used a five-run sixth inning on Saturday to clinch the weekend series with Duke.

Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth, Niko Kavadas hit his third home run in as many games and seventh on the season to put Notre Dame in front, 4-2.

A few batters later it was Friday night’s hero, Ryan Cole, hitting an inside-the-park home run to stretch Notre Dame’s lead to 6-2.

John Michael Bertrand did the rest, pitching a complete game and surrendering just two runs, and mostly scattering five hits throughout.

The win was Notre Dame’s seventh in a row and puts them atop the ACC at 9-2 overall.

You can watch the Irish go for the sweep on Sunday afternoon as they wrap their home-opening series with Duke at 2 p.m. ET on ACC Network.

Florida baseball sweeps Texas A&M with Saturday win

Florida notched 13 hits on Saturday to finish off the sweep over the Aggies. The No. 5 Gators now turn their attention to South Carolina.

The Gators had already clinched a victory in their SEC-opening series with a 3-1 win over Texas A&M on Friday night. An 8-4 win in Game 3 on Saturday was just the icing on the cake.

Florida completed an excellent first weekend of conference play with a big win over the Aggies in which its bats showed up hot and starting pitcher Hunter Barco got the job done. Barco allowed nine hits during his six innings of action, but he only gave up two earned runs and struck out nine batters. He earned the win, and his record moves to 3-1 on the season.

Meanwhile, Aggies starter Johnathan Childress didn’t have a very good outing on the mound. He gave up two singles to lead off the bottom of the first, and UF scored a run of a fielding error. In the third, he walked Jacob Young and gave up a single to Nate Hickey. That allowed Kirby McMullen to break the game open with a three-run homer to clear the bases, and Florida had a 4-0 lead. Childress navigated the rest of the way through the inning, but his day was done after that.

TAMU reliever Mason Ornelas ran into trouble in the fifth, giving up two singles that allowed the Gators to add another run on a fielder’s choice. Barco didn’t have any major issues until the sixth inning when he gave up three singles (the last of which scored a run to make the game 5-1). UF got that run back at the bottom of the frame, though, as Colby Halter doubled to score a sixth run.

Barco tried for one more in the seventh, but he gave up four-straight singles to lead it off, and he was pulled after giving up a run. Franco Aleman entered with bases loaded, and a run scored on his first at-bat after a passed ball advanced all the runners. But Aleman responded well, striking out the next three batters.

Aleman carried an 8-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth, and Texas A&M had a threat going with runners on second and third. It managed a run out of it with a sacrifice fly, but it wasn’t enough. Aleman struck out his fifth batter of the game to close out the four-run victory.

The Gators have nearly a week off now before they return to action on Friday night with SEC series No. 2 against South Carolina. The Gamecocks are off to another solid start to the season, and they rank 16th in the nation according to the D1Baseball Rankings, but have lost their last six games — including a no-hitter at the hands of Vanderbilt’s Jack Leiter.

First pitch of that game is set for 7 p.m. EDT in Nashville, Tennessee and can be watched on the SEC Network+.

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Watch: Notre Dame baseball’s walk-off homer ends home opener

Tough to have a better way to finish the home opener…

Notre Dame baseball has started the 2021 season appearing to have been shot out of a cannon as they won each of their first three series and seven of nine games overall.

Finally on Friday the 15th ranked Irish were able to start their home schedule as they welcomed Duke to town for a weekend series.

After Niko Kavadas tied the game at four with a two-run home run in the sixth inning, the Irish slugger doubled to the start of Notre Dame’s half of the 13th with the game still knotted at four.

Catcher David LaManna did his job getting Kavadas to third base with less than two outs and needing a ball to just be hit to the outfield to win it, Ryan Cole did even more as his first career home run walked off the Blue Devils.

Will Mercer started the game on the mound for Notre Dame but didn’t have his best night as he allowed three runs in 3.1 innings pitched.  Notre Dame’s bullpen picked up the rest of the squad, however, allowing just one run over the final 9.2 innings of action.

Joe Sheridan had a valiant effort in relief, going 6.1 innings and allowing just one run.

The win moves the Irish to an ACC-best 8-2 on the season and has them looking what would be their fourth-straight series win to start the year and potentially sixth-straight series win dating back to 2020 with a win either of the next two days.

Notre Dame and Duke resume action on Saturday with the first pitch set for 2 p.m. ET at Frank Eck Stadium.

Florida baseball takes weekend series over Texas A&M in pitching duel

The Gators took their SEC-opening series at home with a 3-1 win on Friday night over the Aggies. They go for the series sweep tomorrow.

After the Gators put up 13 runs in their win over Texas A&M on Thursday night, Friday’s Game 2 proved to be a much lower-scoring affair. Just four total runs were scored as both team’s starting pitchers played exceedingly well. But Florida prevailed in a 3-1 ballgame, and it secured a victory in its first SEC series of the game.

Jack Leftwich earned his fourth win of the season on the bump, tossing seven impressive innings to match Tommy Mace‘s Thursday total. He allowed just three hits and one run in that span while striking out six Aggies batters.

TAMU starter Bryce Miller had a good game in his own right, avoiding the loss in a 5.2 inning outing in which he allowed five hits but just one run. Between the two, only three hits were allowed in the first three innings.

Miller was the first to slip up, though, as he gave up an RBI single to Sterlin Thompson in the bottom of the fourth that got the Gators on the scoreboard. The Aggies managed to respond in the sixth, as Will Frizzell managed to hit one out of the park off Leftwich to tie the game, his only major mistake of the game.

Mac Guscette retook the lead for UF in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single, ending the night of reliever Chandler Jozwiak, who was credited with the loss.

The bases were loaded for his replacement, Alex Magers, and though Florida scored one run out of a double-play, he averted most of the danger. But the Gators had a 3-1 lead, and against Christian Scott, who pitched the rest of way and earned the save, Texas A&M couldn’t get anything going.

Scott allowed two hits with two strikeouts in his two innings of work, and he closed out a much-needed series win after a mediocre start to the season. The Gators will go for the series sweep of the Aggies on Saturday at 1 p.m. EDT.

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Florida baseball dominates Texas A&M in SEC opener

The Gators started conference play in impressive fashion, dominating Texas A&M with big performances in the third and fourth innings.

In the first SEC baseball contest in nearly two calendar years, Florida delivered one of its best performances of the young season in a 13-4 beatdown of Texas A&M to take the first game of the weekend series. The Gators (14-5, 1-0 SEC) scored nine runs between the third and fourth innings, and paired with an excellent game on the mound from starter Tommy Mace, the Aggies (15-5, 0-1 SEC) were out of the game from early on.

The first several innings looked like they were setting up a defensive showdown. Mace and TAMU starter Dustin Saenz each allowed one hit in the first and pitched cleanly through the second. Saenz lost control quickly in the third, though, giving up back-to-back singles followed by a walk to lead off the inning. With the bases loaded, two more singles from Nate Hickey and Kirby McMullen brought three runs home to give the Gators the early advantage.

Texas A&M got one back on a home run in the fourth, but a two-run homer from Colby Halter at the bottom of the inning started a big scoring spree. UF added runs on a wild pitch, sac-fly and two singles in the inning, as the Aggies needed three pitchers to end the threat, but not before the Gators took a 9-1 lead.

Mace didn’t face any more issues until the sixth inning, when TAMU mounted a small rally. Florida’s defense, which ranks last in the conference in fielding percentage, made several mistakes. After an error and a wild pitch, the Aggies scored on a double. A single and sac-fly later in the inning added two more runs as Texas A&M cut the Gators’ lead to five, though only one of the three runs Mace allowed in the inning were earned.

Luckily, Florida got some insurance at the bottom of the sixth. Jacob Young hit an RBI single, and Jud Fabian crushed a home run to right-center. Mace was pulled following the seventh inning after allowing six hits and two earned runs while tying his career-high in strikeouts with 11.

Ryan Cabarcas pitched cleanly through the eighth for Florida, and Brandon Sproat put it away in the ninth after giving up a pair of singles to lead off the inning.

The Gators will be back in action on Friday night when they try to take the series against the Aggies. First pitch for that game is set for 6:30 p.m. EDT.

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Gators baseball preview: Florida hosts Texas A&M for SEC opening weekend

Here’s a look at the starting pitchers lined up for Tuesday night’s game between UF and TAMU along with the projected starting lineup.

The fifth-ranked Florida Gators baseball team (13-5) returns to the diamond Thursday to kick off their 2021 Southeastern Conference campaign against the Texas A&M Aggies (15-4) for a three-game set in the comforting confines of Florida Ballpark. After losing a midweek matchup with the Florida State Seminoles, UF will be looking to get back on the winning track.

The Aggies enter the weekend riding an 11-game winning streak dating back to March 2. They struggled to open the season, losing three of their first four including a three-game series loss to the Xavier Musketeers on opening weekend. They have lost only one game since then — a 6-1 home loss in a one-off game against the Auburn Tigers on Feb. 28.

Historically, Texas A&M has been the better team in this young rivalry, having won 12 games while losing seven to Florida since their first meeting in 1992. TAMU dominated the series early and UF has been playing catch-up ever since. The two teams have split their last four matchups.

Here is a look below at the starting pitchers lined up for Tuesday night’s game along with the projected starting lineup. Scroll down further for interesting excerpts from the media guide.

Gators baseball preview: Florida hosts Texas A&M for SEC opening weekend

Here’s a look at the starting pitchers lined up for Tuesday night’s game between UF and TAMU along with the projected starting lineup.

The fifth-ranked Florida Gators baseball team (13-5) returns to the diamond Thursday to kick off their 2021 Southeastern Conference campaign against the Texas A&M Aggies (15-4) for a three-game set in the comforting confines of Florida Ballpark. After losing a midweek matchup with the Florida State Seminoles, UF will be looking to get back on the winning track.

The Aggies enter the weekend riding an 11-game winning streak dating back to March 2. They struggled to open the season, losing three of their first four including a three-game series loss to the Xavier Musketeers on opening weekend. They have lost only one game since then — a 6-1 home loss in a one-off game against the Auburn Tigers on Feb. 28.

Historically, Texas A&M has been the better team in this young rivalry, having won 12 games while losing seven to Florida since their first meeting in 1992. TAMU dominated the series early and UF has been playing catch-up ever since. The two teams have split their last four matchups.

Here is a look below at the starting pitchers lined up for Tuesday night’s game along with the projected starting lineup. Scroll down further for interesting excerpts from the media guide.

Gators News: Midweek Florida sports update includes swim team’s NCAA Championships

Today we have a few sports to get you up to speed on, with softball, baseball, men’s tennis and women’s swimming and diving on the mind. 

Welcome to a humpday edition of Gators News and today we have a few sports to get you up to speed on, with softball, baseball, men’s tennis and women’s swimming and diving on the mind. While neither team in action yesterday emerged victoriously, a new day brings new hope and new games to play. So let us take a look at what is on tap on this wonderful Wednesday.