Tag: Stetson Hatters

Stetson outfielder Kyle Jones commits to Florida baseball

Florida baseball has already earned a handful of commitments from the transfer portal. The latest is Stetson outfielder Kyle Jones.

As the Florida Gators baseball team arrived back in Gainesville from their magical College World Series run, the coaching staff got some good news from the transfer portal.

Former Stetson outfielder Madison [autotag]Kyle Jones[/autotag] (goes by middle name) announced his commitment to the Orange and Blue on social media. Jones slashed .355/.459/.476 as the starting centerfielder for the Hatters last year.

Jones was named the ASUN Freshman of the Year after leading Stetson in batting average, runs, doubles, stolen bases and on-base percentage. He also made the All-ASUN Third Team and was the only freshman finalist for the 2024 ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division I Gold Glove team.

Scouting Report

Most of Jones’ power is to the pull side due to his plus bat speed, but it isn’t home-run power yet. He only belted five long balls a year ago, which isn’t typical of players Florida goes after in the portal, but he has borderline elite bat-to-ball skills and a [autotag]Tyler Shelnut[/autotag]-esque frame at 6-foot-3-inches and 170 pounds. In a perfect world, he matures physically and pushes double-digit homers while maintaining a plus-contact tool.

Even if he doesn’t add the power, Jones struck out just 27 times to 33 walks last year. He’s going to get on base, and he’s not going to blow it in big opportunities.

There’s also a speed element to Jones’ game. Prep Baseball Report recorded a sub-6.6-second 60-yard dash during his high school days. He’s rangy enough to play center field and has a solid (but not elite) arm — 90 mph from the outfield. Jones made just one error last season.

That plus speed also helps on the basepaths. He’s liable to leg out doubles more often than his counterparts — 15 in 2024 — and is a threat at all times on the basepaths. Jones stole 23 bags successfully last year and was caught only five times.

Where does Jones fit in Florida’s lineup?

Everything about Jones’ profile screams starting center fielder, but it’s going to be hard to unseat [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag] from that spot, assuming a return.

Robertson could try his luck in the draft, but he spent most of the season battling for playing time before clicking in the postseason. If Robertson can reach his full potential, Jones will need to play left field for the Gators. Jones is still a better candidate to leadoff, though, because of his 8.9% strikeout rate.

One domino falling usually means trouble behind it, though. If Jones fits into the vacant spot left by Shelnut in left field, then where does incoming outfielder [autotag]Blake Cyr[/autotag] play? Miami moved him from second to left field last season.

A shift to right field for Cyr feels natural, but that’s where Ashton Wilson would slot. Of course, either Cyr or Wilson could move back to the infield, where Florida has plenty of questions left to answer — namely who the starting shortstop will be.

The pieces are still in motion, but it’s clear that [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] is reloading his team for another deep run in the College World Series.

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Fresh off ACC Tournament title, Duke baseball heads to Oklahoma as No. 2 seed in the Norman Regional

Duke earns the second seed in the Norman Regional after winning the 2024 ACC Tournament Title.

The newly minted 2024 ACC Tournament champions are headed to Norman, Oklahoma.

Following their offensive explosion against Florida State in the ACC title game, many around the Duke program thought there was a chance that the Blue Devils could sneak a late hosting bid away. Sunday night, the NCAA disproved that by now awarding Duke with a top-16 seed. On Monday, the Blue Devils discovered which regional they would participate in.

The Blue Devils will head to Norman, hoping to advance to the Super Regionals for the second consecutive year. This will be no tall task, as the hosting Oklahoma Sooners are a well-rounded ball club with offense, defense, and a deep pitching unit that features quality starters and challenging bullpen options in relief. Oklahoma dominated the Big 12, posting a 23-7 record in the conference. They also came up just short of winning the tournament title.

The Big East regular season champion, the Connecticut Huskies, are also in the region and they are no slouches. Lastly, the Blue Devils will have the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, this year’s Summit League tournament champions, to contend with.

Regionals will run from May 31 through June 3 at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman. Duke (39-18) is slated to open the regional against No. 3 seed UConn (32-23) on Friday at 8 p.m. EST. The game can be seen on ESPN+.

The winner of the double-elimination NCAA Regional will advance to a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional, which will run from June 6-8 or 7-9. The Norman Regional winner will face the winner of the Tallahassee Regional, which features Florida State, Alabama, UCF, and Stetson.

Sooners earn No. 9 national seed, host regional round of the NCAA Tournament

Oklahoma set to host regional, welcoming Duke, UConn, and Oral Roberts to Norman.

The field is set, and Skip Johnson’s Oklahoma Sooners baseball team knows exactly who it will be playing when the NCAA Tournament opens on Friday, May 31.

On Sunday afternoon, regional host sites were announced. The Sooners were chosen to host, indicating they were at least one of the top 16 seeds in the nation. On Monday, they found out who they would play this weekend.

The Sooners missed the cut as a national seed, finishing No. 9 instead of landing a projected top eight seed. If the Sooners had finished eighth, they would have been able to host a Super Regional should they advance. The loss to Oklahoma State in the Big 12 tournament championship game likely made the difference.

Oklahoma will have no easy task trying to advance, as the Sooners are set to host Duke, Oral Roberts, and the UConn Huskies.

The Duke Blue Devils are the two-seed in the region and are fresh off of winning their second ACC Tournament.

UConn is the third seed in this region and hails from the Big East. They won the Big East regular season and are in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight season.

Oklahoma’s first opponent in the tournament is Oral Roberts, the Summit League champions. Oklahoma played Oral Roberts in March and earned a seven-inning run-rule shutout, winning 10-0. Game time is set for Friday at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.

Oklahoma’s region isn’t a cakewalk, but there’s plenty of reason to believe that the Sooners can come out on top with their improved pitching, which failed them in last year’s tournament, and an offense that is much more dynamic than last year.

If the Sooners advance, they will take on the winner of the Florida State Regional, which consists of the Seminoles, Alabama, Stetson, and the Big 12’s UCF.

Oklahoma also hopes their All-Big 12 Second Team outfielder Bryce Madron can go. He sat out the entire Big 12 tournament to rest an injury he sustained in the final regular season series against Cincinnati.

Otherwise, Oklahoma will be in excellent health as it prepares to play this weekend.

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Florida women’s tennis dominates Stetson in tournament first round

The Gators shut out the Hatters to earn a matchup with the Hurricanes in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

The Florida women’s tennis team earned a first-round win over the Stetson Hatters in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday in shutout fashion. The 15th-ranked Gators put up a 4-0 victory at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex to move on to the next round.

The Orange and Blue opened up with doubles wins by Rachel Gailis and Bente Spee — who earned a 6-1 win — and Carly Briggs and Qavia Lopez who squeaked by with a 6-4 triumph to give Florida its first point. Alicia Dudeney and Malwina Rowinska made it to 5-5 but the match was ultimately abandoned before a winner was decided.

Sara Dahlstrom, Gailis and Dudeney earned the final three points in singles play, which left three other matches unfinished by the time the Gators clinched the day’s event.

“The first rounds of the NCAA Tournament are always a little tricky and I thought, Stetson gave us some problems early,” head coach Roland Thornqvist noted. “Stetson served really well to start to doubles and we had to find a way to get past their serves.

“Once our nerves settled a little bit in doubles, I thought we were really good. We also had to sort of do the same thing in singles on a couple of courts,” he continued. “They were coming after us pretty good, but the spots that we seemed to struggle in a little bit in the beginning of singles we actually really settled down at the end of the first sets and were able to manage us ourselves really well.”

The Gators next face the No. 22 Miami Hurricanes in round two. The match will will begin at noon ET on Sunday and be held at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.

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Florida baseball routs Stetson, Gators hit 7 home runs

Florida’s midweek revenge tour continued on Tuesday with a 13-3 run rule victory over Stetson that only required seven innings.

Florida came to swing it Tuesday night against Stetson and walked out of Condron Family Ballpark early following a 13-3 rout of the Hatters.

The Gators hit seven home runs in as many innings, satisfying the run rule with a walk-off single from Jac Caglianone to score Michael Robertson.

Caglianone hit two of the homers, making up for his broken streak in the series finale against Vanderbilt. The left-handed slugger has hit 13 home runs in 14 games and is now just one back of the national lead (Charlie Condon, 26, Georgia).

Robertson also homered, his first of the year, along with Brody Donay (7), Ty Evans (10), Luke Heyman (9) and Cade Kurland (8). Both Caglianone and Robertson finished the night with three hits — Cags was walked to reach base a fourth time. Six Gators finished with two or more hits. Only Colby Shelton failed to reach base.

Most of the damage came in the second. Seven runs scored on six hits, including three home runs. In fact, every run of the night for Florida crossed on a home run.

Cade Fisher got the start for Florida. He looked fine through and then gave up three straight singles to start the third, bringing in Ryan Slater with the bases loaded. The junior right-hander limited the damage to just one run crossing, keeping Stetson out of the game.

Slater worked through a double in the fourth but left with two outs in the fifth after an unearned run crossed. Frank Menendez came in for the left-on-lefty matchup against Landon Moran. Menedez came up with the strikeout and pitched a clean sixth aside from an infield error to open the frame.

Menendez is another freshman arm that is starting to settle in as the season continues. He only recorded four outs through his first five appearances, but he’s been a much different pitcher lately. Through his last three appearances (Jacksonville, Vanderbilt and Stetson), Menedez has allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out six.

A leadoff single brought in Luke McNeillie in the seventh, which ended up being the final inning thanks to four runs in the bottom of the frame.

Florida’s midweek woes seem to be fading, but a big series with Arkansas looms this weekend. The Gators have lost three conference series in a row and are at risk of entering the playoffs as a low seed.

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Where are the Stetson Hatters located… and are they named after the hat?

Or, how a land grant institution took its nickname from a popular piece of menswear.

The Stetson Hatters bring one of the most unusual mascot names in college sports to the NCAA men’s tournament. In a field with Peacocks, Zips, Lopes and, uh, Beach, that’s an accomplishment.

And, yes, they’re named after the guy who created the Stetson hat. John B. Stetson was not only the master of the Boss of the Plains style chapeau, but also a major benefactor to the university and a founding trustee from back when it was DeLand Academy.

DeLand, Florida, uncoincidentally, happens to be where Stetson University is located — a city of 37,000 in central Florida, roughly 41 miles north of Orlando.

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Florida puts together second-straight blowout win, takes down Stetson by 38

Back-to-back big wins and Alex Klatsky appearances have spirits up in Gainesville, but a major test against UConn looms on the schedule.

Florida basketball has been rolling over its past two games and the Gators certainly look prepared for UConn after taking down the Stetson Hatters, 89-51.

It’s the second-straight game that Florida has won by just about 40 points and a major confidence boost for a team that struggled on the road at the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament over Thanksgiving. Ironically, Florida has played some of its best basketball of the season without its starting point guard, [autotag]Kyle Lofton[/autotag]. [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] did rejoin the team in this one, but Lofton remains on the bench as he deals with an injury.

In place of Lofton, [autotag]Trey Bonham[/autotag] and [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag] have stepped up big time. Reeves put together another solid performance on Sunday, but Bonham was a bit off from the field. No matter, though. Florida’s offense was firing on all cylinders against a weaker opponent and ran away with things in the second half.

UF’s defense also looks a bit better, but that could be a product of the opposition’s skill level rather than an improvement from the team. It’s hard to gauge whether Florida is playing well enough to take down UConn on Wednesday, but it’s hard to argue against back-to-back blowout wins.

PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida basketball’s big win over Stetson Hatters

Here are highlights from Florida’s second-straight victory on the college parquet.

Florida basketball made scored its second consecutive victory on Sunday afternoon in the O’Connell Center against the visiting Stetson Hatters, 89-51, to push the Gators’ record to 6-3 early on in the 2022-23 season.

[autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] led all scorers with 14 points while four others also finished with double digits. [autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag] led all players on the glass with eight rebounds and [autotag]Myreon Jones[/autotag]’ five assists were also a game-high. Florida shot 61.3% from the field overall including a 53.8% effort from beyond the arc while sinking 78.6% of its free throws.

Take a look below at some of the best photos from Florida’s romp over its in-state foes, the Stetson Hatters, in Gainesville on Sunday.

Florida baseball survives offensive shootout versus Stetson Hatters

Florida baseball outscored the Stetson Hatters in an offensive shootout 10-8 on Tuesday.

Florida baseball outlasted the Stetson Hatters in an offensive shootout on Tuesday at Florida Ballpark, prevailing 10-8. The Gators with their win versus Stetson moves 23-14 on the season.

The Hatters struck first in the first and third innings, using two singles and a wild pitch from Florida starting pitcher Karl Hartman to push across their first run. In the third, they got the two leadoff batters on base and then designated hitter Brandon Hylton hit a three-run shot to right field to give Stetson a 4-0 lead.

Florida responded in the bottom half, however. Second baseman [autotag]Colby Halter[/autotag] started the inning off doubling down the left-field line, then advancing to third when center fielder [autotag]Jud Fabian[/autotag] flew out to center field before right fielder [autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] singled to right to get the Gators on the board. Designated hitter [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] then drove Thompson in on an RBI single.

The Hatters scored one more run in the top of the fourth, but the Gators answered by plating five runs. They used a solo shot, an RBI single and a three-run blast to take the 7-5 lead.

Florida tacked on three more insurance runs in the late innings while Stetson scored two in the top of the seventh and one more in the ninth to get to the final score of 10-8.

Shortstop [autotag]Joshua Rivera[/autotag], left fielder [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] and Fabian all homered in the offensive outburst. Thompson led all Florida bats, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs.

Fabian’s bomb Tuesday was the 48th of his career, helping him pass Gator great [autotag]Mike Zunino[/autotag] for fifth on Florida’s all-time home run list.

Florida’s bullpen struggled to consistently put down Stetson’s lineup. It allowed seven runs on 10 hits while giving up four free passes.

The Gators’ next game is a weekend showdown with No. 1 Tennessee who leads the country with 87 dingers. The first pitch is scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. EDT at Florida Ballpark.

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Game Preview: Gators looking to sweep season series against Stetson

Stetson has played spoiler before to the Gators, but Florida needs this midweek win to get the mind right before hosting No. 1 Tennessee over the weekend.

Florida baseball managed to narrowly avoid a sweep at the hands of the Vanderbilt Commodores with a 10-inning win on Sunday, and the Gators have one more game against Stetson on Tuesday to prepare for No. 1 Tennessee over the coming weekend.

Last time out against the Hatters, Florida cruised to an 8-1 victory. That game came after an opening series loss to Liberty and led to an early seven-game winning streak for UF. The Gators could use another momentum boost after getting off to a rocky start against SEC opponents.

[autotag]Sterlin Thompson[/autotag] led the offense with three RBIs on three hits, including a solo home run, and redshirt freshman [autotag]Tucker Talbot[/autotag]t had a four-hit night in one of his few appearances of the year. [autotag]Timmy Manning[/autotag] got a short one-inning start to regain some confidence after a weekend loss. Tuesday’s starter,[autotag] Karl Hartman[/autotag], was the first arm out of the bullpen followed by [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag], who ended up taking home the win after 60 pitches and 4 2/3 innings. [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] and [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] finished things off.

Kevin O’Sullivan probably won’t be playing his backups too much in this one as the Gators find themselves in need of a pick me up during the toughest part of their schedule. Each weekend seems to end in heartbreak only to have some hope restored by a solid midweek win. There’s no game between the Tennessee and Kentucky series, so this is Florida’s last dress rehearsal for that stretch.

A win here is expected, but it’s a crucial game for the Gators.