Tag: Tim Walton

Gators softball beats Baylor Bears in NCAA Super Regionals opener

One more win and Florida will be in the College Softball World Series.

Florida softball took one step closer to a national championship on Friday with a win over the Baylor Bears in the Gainesville Super Regional held inside Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium, 4-2.

The win was UF’s 12th straight and seventh straight in postseason play, putting the Gators one away from reaching the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.

[autotag]Korbe Otis[/autotag] scored twice — once on a solo homer in the fifth — and [autotag]Katie Kistler[/autotag] had a two-run double in the first to stake host Florida to a lead it never relinquished in this one. [autotag]Keagan Rothrock[/autotag] made her Super Regional debut with a solid effort, giving up two earned runs on six hits and a walk while striking out five for the first complete game in her last five tries.

[autotag]Skylar Wallace[/autotag] went 1-for-2 with a walk, making her 13-for-18 in the postseason (.722) while also scoring her 86th run of the season. That run was also the 303rd of her career, making the fifth-year senior the all-time scoring leader in NCAA history.

Florida and Baylor face off for Game 2 on Saturday morning starting at 11 a.m. ET in a must-win game for the Bears. If the Gators prevail, they will punch the program’s WCWS ticket for the 12th time in history — all under Coach [autotag]Tim Walton[/autotag]. Should the Orange and Blue falter, the rubber match will be on Sunday, with the time still to be determined.

Highlights from Florida softball’s Super Regional Game 1 win over Baylor

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Florida softball earns SEC Tournament title over Missouri Tigers

The Gators proved to be the best team in the SEC this weekend at the tournament.

Florida softball earned its sixth Southeastern Conference Tournament title on Sunday with a 6-1 win over the Missouri Tigers at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn, Alabama. The tournament victory ties the Gators for the best in the league and gives head coach [autotag]Tim Walton[/autotag] the most of any skipper in SEC history.

The Orange and Blue entered the tournament as a No. 2 seed while Mizzou was a No. 5 seed coming in. The seedings played out as expected in the finals as Florida simply had too much for Missouri.

Walton’s team scored five of their six runs via the long ball, with [autotag]Skylar Wallace[/autotag] and [autotag]Mia Williams[/autotag] both going deep in this one. Right-handed pitcher Keagan Rothrock tossed her second consecutive complete-game performance to steady the Gators in the circle.

The program improved its SEC Tournament record to 40-29 after a 3-0 sweep this year. This was also Florida’s 10th SEC Tournament Championship game appearance, which ranks second most in league history behind the LSU Tigers‘ 11 appearances.

Highlights from Florida softball’s SEC Tournament Championship win

The Gators now await their placement in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship bracket during the Selection Show that will air live Sunday on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. ET.

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Legendary UF softball coach named to 2024 NFCA Hall of Fame class

One of the best to ever coach college softball is in line to get his due recognition.

Florida softball head coach [autotag]Tim Walton[/autotag] was named as a member of the 2024 National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association Hall of Fame class last week at the NFCA convention held in Louisville, Kentucky.

Walton is one of the most decorated coaches in NCAA Division I history, having spent 19 of his 22 years as a head coach with the Gators. For his career, he has put together a 1,049-287 record — good for a .785 winning percentage, ranking third among active NCAA head coaches with a minimum of 10 years of experience as head coach.

In 2022, the veteran coach eclipsed the 1,000-career win mark, making him the second-fastest NCAA Division I head coach to reach the milestone behind the legendary Arizona Wildcats coach Mike Candrea. Overall, there are just 11 currently-active DI head coaches with 1,000 career wins and only 30 coaches all-time have achieved the feat.

During his time in Gainesville, he led the Gators to back-to-back NCAA national championships in 2014 and 2015, eight Southeastern Conference regular season championships, five SEC Tournament titles, 11 trips to the Women’s College World Series and five WCWS Championship series appearances.

Additionally, he also coaches three Collegiate Women Sports Award winners, two USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year recipients, an NFCA Division I Player of the Year winner, one NFCA Freshman of the Year recipient, five SEC Pitchers of the Year and five SEC Players of the Year.

The induction ceremony will take place at the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame in Dallas, Texas on December 6, 2024.

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Ohio State football advances in 2025 Texas 5-star cornerback’s recruitment

The Buckeyes are in a good position with the elite corner #GoBucks

As many of us have seen during the last year plus, the [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] football program has been trying to turn its defensive back room.

Multiple new faces who we will see this season — and in seasons to come — are helping defensive coordinator [autotag]Jim Knowles[/autotag], and secondary coach [autotag]Tim Walton,[/autotag] make the change.

The Buckeyes are going to be content with just making the adjustment for one season, they want it to be a reoccurring reload, and 2025 Texas cornerback, [autotag]Devin Sanchez,[/autotag] is one prospect that could help continue the changes.

The 6-foot, 2-inch, 170-pound defender dropped his top 10 list on Thursday afternoon, with Ohio State making the cut.

Sanchez has been to Columbus multiple times, so it should be no surprise that the Buckeyes graphic made this announcement. The corner is one of the best recruits in the 2025 class, ranking No. 2 at his position and 7th nationally according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

Also included in Sanchez’s top ten were Michigan, LSU, Alabama, USC, Texas, Florida State, Oregon, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech.

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Ohio State offers Georgia 2025 cornerback after a visit

The cornerback had a great time in Columbus that help land an offer #GoBucks

It has become a recent trend with [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] recruiting that they are much more willing to offer a prospect following a visit to Columbus.

That is exactly the case with Georgia 2025 cornerback [autotag]Devin Williams[/autotag], who tweeted that he received an offer from the Buckeyes following a “great visit.”

The 5-foot, 10-inch, 155-pound defender is rated the as the No. 4 best cornerback and 51st overall prospect by the 247Sports composite rankings. Williams’ offer list is extremely impressive as well, so getting him to play his college football up north will be a big-time battle for head coach [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag] and defensive backs coach [autotag]Tim Walton[/autotag].

Williams has made multiple visits this spring and if Ohio State is able to get another visit in the future, it would put them in a very good position.

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This clip from Ohio State’s spring practice gives hope for defensive back improvement

This group has to be better this fall, doesn’t it? #GoBucks

This past season the Ohio State cornerbacks did not fare well at all. The group totaled no interceptions and had plenty of costly penalties called on them as they rarely looked for the ball while it was in the air.

It seems like Buckeye defensive coordinator [autotag]Jim Knowles[/autotag] and secondary coach [autotag]Tim Walton[/autotag] are trying to fix that. In this clip shared on Twitter by Dan Hope, it looks like the group is making a much more concerted effort to look for the ball while it’s in the air.

The Ohio State secondary will have plenty of different names roaming the backend of the defense, some new (Davison Igbinosun and Ja’Had Carter) and some old ([autotag]Sonny Styles[/autotag] and [autotag]Denzel Burke[/autotag]). The hope is that this mix of new and old in the 2023 season will have much better results.

If Ohio State can figure things out on the back end of the defense and limit some of those big plays we saw the last couple of years, there could be a lot of memorable moments playing for some pretty special things this coming season.

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Ohio State trending to add elite 2024 Arizona defensive back

Great news for the Buckeyes #GoBucks

Once again, it seems like we are a reporting broken record regarding [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] secondary recruiting. But after this past season, the need to add depth to the position to combat injuries and transfers continually rears its ugly head.

The corners struggled to stay on the field, and when they played the results were so-so at best. As a group, they didn’t record an interception all season. Buckeye cornerbacks coach [autotag]Tim Walton[/autotag] needs his position room to excel and that starts with players he and head coach [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag] can recruit to campus.

Enter Arizona cornerback [autotag]Miles Lockhart[/autotag], the 5-foot, 10-inch, 185-pound player who is rated the 37th best athlete and No. 298 overall player on the 247Sports composite. Lockhart was offered a scholarship last summer and will visit on the weekend of June 16.

That information was enough for two of 247Sports recruiting experts, Blair Angulo and Bill Kurelic, to put in crystal ball picks for Lockhart to end up committing to Ohio State.

It’s not a coincidence Lockhart is wearing an Ohio State headband while hoisting his state championship trophy.

If everything plays out the way the experts think it will, expect Lockhart to end up in the 2024 Buckeyes recruiting class.

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The day after: Thoughts on Ohio State’s crushing loss to Georgia

So many thoughts but these stuck out in my mind the most. How about yours Buckeye fans? #GoBucks

If you were like me, it was hard to sleep Saturday night.

For more than three quarters of the [autotag]Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl[/autotag], it looked like [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] would face [autotag]TCU[/autotag] with a national championship on the line. Georgia had different plans. It mounted a massive comeback during the fourth quarter and sent the Buckeyes back to Columbus with a disappointing loss.

Since the game ended, many thoughts have passed through my head, some good, some bad and a great many pondering what the future for [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag] and his program will look like. Here are my thoughts the day after Ohio State’s 42-41 loss to Georgia in the College Football Playoff semifinal. (Also, happy New Year’s everyone, even if it wasn’t what many of us wanted).

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Brutal weekend on the diamond as Gators get swept at home in baseball, softball

It was the first time Florida has been swept at home in baseball in nine years.

There are weekends that you always want to remember, moments taken with mental snapshots that make you smile.

Maybe it was your wedding or the day your boss got canned or Florida 52, FSU 20.

Those kinds of days.

Sunday was not one of them for the teams that use bats and balls this time of the year.

On one side of Hull Road, Florida finished off one changing of the guard. On the other side, an hour later, they were part of another one.

This was supposed to be a big weekend for both the baseball and softball teams with a pair of top 10 teams coming to town. Instead, it was a clean sweep in the worst way.

Arkansas finished off the Gators softball team first — a 2-0 win against a team the Razorbacks had lost 30 straight against when the game started Friday night.

Then, it was baseball, a brutal home loss to allow Tennessee the sweep of a series where it was Florida that needed to make some noise.

Six games.

Six losses.

It was the first time Florida has been swept at home in baseball in nine years. That sent me scurrying through the records to see if both programs had been swept at home on the same weekend.

I know that it hasn’t happened since [autotag]Tim Walton[/autotag] and [autotag]Kevin O’Sullivan[/autotag] showed up in Gainesville, but I didn’t go all the way back to the really old days because I needed to submit this in time for publication.

The point is that two programs had opportunities this weekend – softball to get back into the picture as a national seed and baseball to get back into the mix as a host for the first round of regionals.

Instead, both of those things are in jeopardy and any chances of winning the SEC are gone.

Meanwhile, Arkansas showed why it will win the SEC for the second straight year (shared with Florida last year), which is amazing considering this was a one-win team in the conference not long ago.

Meanwhile, baseball is in terrible trouble when it comes to simply making the NCAA Tournament.

“We’re finding a way to do the wrong things at the wrong times,” said O’Sullivan, the frustration showing on his face. “I’m at the point where there isn’t much to say.”

Florida lost the first game because it gave up seven runs in one inning. The Gators lost the softball opener when they gave up nine runs in two innings.

Baseball lost the series because it had 11 hits in three games. And that was almost enough to salvage a game Sunday because of [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag]’s performance, going seven innings and taking a no-no into the seventh.

But closer [autotag]Blake Purnell[/autotag] gave up three runs in the ninth to allow the game to be tied and lost it on a two-run homer in the 11th by Christian Moore, who also had the game-tying hit.

Florida is now 23-17 and 6-12 in the league.

Tennessee, now 17-1 in the SEC, is going to win the conference easily. Another torch gets passed from what was a dominant program to the new dominant program.

“We’ve been No. 1 for a long time around here,” O’Sullivan said. “I don’t see anybody we are inferior to.

“But the game is a bit unforgiving.”

The baseball team still has four weekends to try to right the ship with a young team. UF probably needs to win seven of the 12 conference games to make a regional.

The schedule eases up after what has been a rough three weeks in a row.

The softball team has a trip to LSU before it plays host to the SEC Tournament. But winning in Gainesville hasn’t been that difficult for visiting ball teams.

Combined, baseball and softball are 7-15 in SEC games at home.

AT HOME.

That’s not the way it usually works around here.

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New Ohio State football assistants, Walton, Eliano’s, salaries unveiled

We now know what new assitants Perry Eliano and Tim Walton will be making at Ohio State. #GoBucks

Hopefully, your head isn’t still spinning from all the staff changes Ryan Day has been working on since the end of the regular season. In fact, you might want to excuse the “pardon the dust” signs around the football offices as they go through ‘Extreme Make Over: College Football Staff Edition’ over at the Woody.

All the changes have been well-chronicled, but not the salaries everyone will be making. However, that too is beginning to trickle out. And, thanks to the terms sheet obtained by Eleven Warriors, we now know what new assistants Tim Walton and Perry Eliano will be making per year (subscription may be required). Walton, the new secondary coach, will make a cool $700,000/year, while Eliano, who agreed to become the safeties coach, will make $450,000 annually.

Those figures might pale in comparison to some of the other dollar signs we’ve seen thrown around the program for assistants lately, but remember that these aren’t your big-time positions within a staff. What they are, is a foot in the door of one of the biggest college football machines out there, and a chance to further one’s career.

There are also bonuses and such that are pretty standard for all assistant coaches at Ohio State, but that’s boilerplate stuff for the program. In both cases, the assistants are making more in Columbus than in their previous stops.

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