Tag: Florida A&M Rattlers

How to Watch: Florida baseball vs FAMU Rattlers in Gainesville Regional

Take a look at everything you need to know about Friday’s Gainesville Regional action.

Florida baseball opens up the NCAA Regionals in Gainesville, Florida, on Friday as the top-seeded team and is set to face off with the Florida A&M Rattlers in the first game of the weekend event. If you are looking to follow this afternoon’s action on the clay diamond, you have come to the right place.

The Orange and Blue earned a share of the Southeastern Conference’s regular-season title but were unable to earn the tournament crown, getting upended by the Vanderbilt Commodores in the semifinals — Vandy’s first win in five tries during the 2023 campaign. Nonetheless, Kevin O’Sullivan’s squad finished the season ranked second in the nation according to most major polls.

Take a look below at everything you need to know to follow Friday afternoon’s matchup between UF and FAMU.

Kardell Thomas announces transfer destination

Thomas has announced his next stop.

A former five-star has found a new home after entering the transfer portal.

[autotag]Kardell Thomas[/autotag], a Louisiana native who has been with LSU since 2019, will join Florida A&M.

Thomas was one of the top offensive linemen in his class but never carved out a full-time role at LSU. Injuries hampered Thomas’ development and with younger guys surpassing him on the depth chart, it was time to look elsewhere.

Thomas is from Baton Rouge and was always a fan favorite with the purple and gold. He played 197 offensive snaps for LSU with 118 of those coming in 2021, where he made two starts against Louisiana-Monroe and Texas A&M.

Thomas was one of several depth pieces on LSU’s offensive line to enter the portal, which has left the unit undermanned throughout the spring. LSU has been looking to bolster its interior offensive line depth with the transfer portal.

With a couple of years of eligibility left, Thomas has a chance for a fresh start at FAMU.

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PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida baseball’s mercy rule win over FAMU Rattlers

Get a gander at photos from Tuesday night’s mercy-rule win over FAMU.

Florida baseball brought out the bats on Tuesday night against the visiting Florida A&M Rattlers inside Condron Ballpark in Gainesville, Florida, slugging its way to a 17-7 mercy rule win in seven innings. The Gators collected 14 hits which included four doubles and three home runs while the pitching struggled a bit at times — but not badly enough to take the loss.

The second inning held most of the fireworks in this one as FAMU launched its two dingers for the game while the Gators’ three all came in the frame. Among those to go yard was Jac Caglianonewho slugged his NCAA-leading 22nd swat of the season. Yoel Tejeda Jr. got the start for the Orange and Blue, lasting four innings allowing two earned runs on three hits and two walks, giving up a pair of solo home runs while striking out one.

Take a look below at the top highlights from Tuesday night’s tangle between the Gators and Rattlers in Gainesville.

How to Watch: Florida baseball vs Florida A&M Rattlers on Tuesday

Here’s what you need to follow this evening’s college baseball action in Gainesville.

Florida baseball remains at home to host its in-state foes, the Florida A&M Rattlers, on Tuesday, April 18, for a midweek one-off matchup at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Florida, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

The Gators got off to a strong start in non-conference play before earning a series win over the Alabama Crimson Tide at home to open SEC competition. Florida then took a single midweek game from the Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee before sweeping a doubleheader over the Ole Miss Rebels on the road, following that up with two out of three at home from the Auburn Tigers.

Florida prevailed over the visiting Bethune-Cookman Wildcats at home before taking two of three on the road against the Tennessee Volunteers. Then on Tuesday, the Gators prevailed over the Seminoles again before dropping the opener to the Georgia Bulldogs on Friday, 13-11. They bounced back on Saturday, 2-1, before clinching the series on Sunday, 11-6.

PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida basketball’s win vs FAMU

Here are highlights from Wednesday night’s big win for the Gators’ men’s basketball team.

Florida basketball bounced back from a rough trip out west in the Phil Knight Legacy tournament — having gone 1-2 including a blowout loss at the hands of the West Virginia Mountaineers in the final game – with a blowout win of its own over the visiting Florida A&M Rattlers in the O’Connell Center on Wednesday night.

[autotag]Trey Bonham[/autotag] led the way with 23 points as one of six Gators to score in double digits en route to the 102-62 victory. [autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag] added 10 rebounds to 16 points to mark the only double-double notched during the game.

Take a look below at highlights from Florida’s fifth win of the 2022-23 season, coming against its in-state opponent, the FAMU Rattlers.

UNC dominates in season opener versus Florida A&M

The UNC football team opened the 2022 season with a big win over FAMU to move to 1-0 on the year.

The North Carolina Tar Heels football program opened the 2022 season 1-0 after dominating Florida A&M 56-24 Saturday night at home.

UNC’s defense got off to a sluggish start, but the offense came out on fire, leading to a record-breaking night from quarterback [autotag]Drake Maye[/autotag]. The redshirt freshman had it going for the Tar Heels early, finding tight end Kamari Morales for a 19-yard touchdown at the 5:51 mark in the first quarter.

Florida A&M answered back two minutes later on a quick drive that tied up the game.

The offensive showdown continued with Maye tossing two more touchdowns, while the Rattlers were only able to muster up a single score in that span which gave UNC a 21-14 lead.

But then the turning point happened.

Defensive back Storm Duck came up with a huge interception on the Rattlers’ next drive to set UNC up deep in FAMU territory late in the second quarter. That drive was capped off with another Maye touchdown, this time finding receiver Josh Downs with just five seconds before halftime. The Tar Heels led 28-14 at the break.

It was the first touchdown on the year for Downs after a record-setting campaign a year ago.

The second half was all Tar Heels, as the Maye show continued to a historic night. Four-star freshman Omarion Hampton also put his stamp on the game, rushing for his first touchdown to start the third and finishing with 101 yards on 14 carries in the game.  The other four-star freshman, George Pettaway, saw the end zone as well, scoring a touchdown on a 29-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Maye then capped off his night by throwing a record-breaking fifth touchdown, claiming the title for most touchdowns in a career start at UNC.

UNC now turns their attention to Week 1 as a big showdown with Appalachian State looms.

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Florida A&M coach Mike Rice, a former Rattler All-American, resigning to accept Prairie View A&M job

Mike Rice, a three-time All-American golfer at FAMU, led the Rattlers to their first MEAC title in 2021.

Florida A&M men’s golf coach Mike Rice is leaving a program where he became an All-American golfer and conference-winning head coach for another SWAC program.

The Tallahassee Democrat confirmed Monday that Rice is resigning after four seasons at FAMU to become the head coach at Prairie View A&M.

Sources told the Democrat that Rice is replacing three-time SWAC Champion and two-time conference Coach of the Year Kevin Jennings, who was hired at Central Michigan last October.

The news was first reported by website The O&G Strike Zone.

While at FAMU, Rice guided the Rattlers to win the MEAC Championship and to a NCAA Tournament berth in 2021 as a coach — both firsts for the program.

A member of 2020’s FAMU Sports Hall of Fame, Rice was a three-time National Minority All-American and was a member of 2000’s Rattler team that won the National Minority title, which is now known as the PGA Works Collegiate Championship.

Prior to becoming FAMU’s head coach, Rice served as an assistant coach since February 2013. He also was a supervisor for golf operations at the Jake Gaither golf course from 2002-2011.

An official announcement is expected this week.

Gerald Thomas III covers FAMU athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@gannett.com or on Twitter @3peatgee.

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Florida baseball completes season sweep over FAMU with blowout win

That’s twice this season that Florida has put a beating on FAMU. Now let’s see it translate into conference play this weekend.

It wasn’t the 17-0 shutout Florida managed against Florida A&M earlier in the season, but the Gators took care of the Rattlers easily on Tuesday, 13-3.

The bulk of the damage came in the third and fourth frames as the Gators plated 10 runs in those two innings alone. Both Fabian brothers went deep in the bottom of the fourth marking the first occurrence of the brothers going yard in the same inning, and Derek finished the night with a team-high three RBIs while going 2-for-3 at the plate. Jud, [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag] and [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] all finished with three hits against FAMU.

On the mound, [autotag]Nick Pogue[/autotag] got the start and lasted three innings. It hasn’t been the easiest return from Tommy John for him, but holding the Rattlers hitless and scoreless should earn him some more playing time. [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag] pitched two innings of one-hit ball as the first man out of the pen for UF.

[autotag]Tyler Nesbitt[/autotag] and [autotag]Phillip Abner[/autotag] worked the sixth and seventh innings, respectively. FAMU finally broke through in the eighth with [autotag]Timmy Manning[/autotag] on the bump. Three runs crossed but only one was earned. [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] was the last pitcher out for the Gators and needed just 13 pitches to get through the ninth.

Winning this game isn’t going to do a ton for Florida’s confidence offensively but the pitching staff needed a relatively quiet night after the LSU and Georgia series. Up next is No. 2 Arkansas in Gainesville for an important Thursday-Friday-Saturday series and then the Gators hit the road to face Florida State and Vanderbilt the following week.

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Florida baseball mashes six home runs in blowout victory over Florida A&M

They could’ve called this one after seven if we’re being honest ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Florida baseball cruised to a seventh-straight victory on Wednesday night, 17-0 over the Florida A&M Rattlers in Gainesville.

The Gators once again exploded on offense, notching 21 hits and six home runs against FAMU pitchers. That makes it four-straight games that Florida has put up double-digit runs, and this one could’ve been called early via the 10-run rule. Coaches decided to play the game in its entirety to give the players extra reps early on, but it only resulted in the Gators piling on to an already gaudy win.

12 different Gators hit safely in the game, but it was the Fabian brothers —Jud and Deric — who combined for six hits in the ball game, including two homers from the older sibling. Jud’s two dingers were a welcome sight for Florida fans, as the 2021 second-round draft pick struggled to hit safely through the first five games of the season but has picked it up over the last five, hitting .429 during that stretch.

Colby Halter and Sterlin Thompson each extended their hitting streaks to 10 games, and Jorge de Goti recorded his first collegiate hit.

Sixth-year pitcher Garrett Milchin, whose career at Florida has been slowed down by injury, held the Rattlers hitless until the fourth inning. He turned the ball over to the bullpen after five innings of two-hit, scoreless baseball to a trio of freshmen to close things out for the Gators. Karl Hartman surrendered just one hit over two innings of work, Phillip Abner pitched a flawless eighth inning and Anthony Ursitti took the final frame.

After dropping the opening series to Liberty and struggling to put runs up in some early season games, Florida has proven that it can hit the ball against lesser teams. Miami is up next for the Gators and the level of competition should take a step up over the weekend.

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Game Preview: Florida baseball returns home to face Florida A&M Rattlers

Florida baseball returns to Florida Ballpark to face Florida A&M Rattlers on Wednesday for a second mid-week contest.

The Florida baseball team was firing on all cylinders in its 11-2 victory versus North Florida on Tuesday. Coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s pitching staff held the Ospreys to only four hits and his lineup recorded 11 runs on 13 hits, scoring in every inning after the third. The Gators will look to carry that momentum into their game Wednesday against Florida A&M at Florida Ballpark at 7 p.m. EST.

Sullivan’s hitters have answered the bell after the head coach challenged them to step up after a stunning opening-series loss to Liberty, and in their last three games, they have posted double-digit runs versus Georgia State and North Florida.

Colby Halter, BT Riopelle and Sterlin Thompson have led the charge for Florida’s offense so far and hold a batting average north of .400. Then Thompson, Halter and Wyatt Langford have clobbered the most home runs on the team. On the flip side, the Gators’ arms have done a great job in keeping runs off the board. The team boasts a 2.56 ERA through nine games.

Florida’s opponent, the Rattlers are coming off a sweep against Grambling State where they scored at least six runs in each contest but still sit at 5-3 on the young season.

The key for the Gators will be continuing their hot hitting just in case their young arms drop the ball versus Florida A&M.