Tag: UNF Ospreys

Florida handles UNF in final game before SEC play

Florida got off to a slow start at the plate, but the bats eventually came around and the Gators won their seventh game in a row.

The Florida Gators won their seventh game in a row Tuesday night against the North Florida Ospreys, 7-2, but it took a while for UF’s bats to come around in the final game before conference play begins on Thursday.

UNF’s starter, right-hander Clayton Boroski, was perfect through the game’s first four innings, but things unraveled in the fifth after he surrendered a leadoff walk to Florida shortstop [autotag]Josh Rivera[/autotag]. [autotag]BT Riopelle[/autotag] — who was playing first base today — singled, and right fielder [autotag]Ty Evans[/autotag] singled Rivera in.

Catcher [autotag]Rene Lastres[/autotag] tripled in the tying and go-ahead runs after a pitching change, and center fielder [autotag]Michael Robertson[/autotag] brought him in with a single.

That was enough for Florida to take a 4-2 lead, but Evans brought in two more in the sixth for some insurance. He later stole home after [autotag]Deric Fabian[/autotag] baited UNF’s catcher to throw on a delayed steal. Fabian got another start in left field with [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] still on the mend. He was hit in the groin on a foul ball Friday.

Florida wouldn’t need more than seven runs to win the game, and that’s a good thing because the offense didn’t provide much else through the final three innings of the game.

Right-hander [autotag]Tyler Nesbitt[/autotag], only pitched the first two innings of the game, but he gave up a run in the first, hit a batter and allowed three hits.[autotag]Fisher Jameson[/autotag] came in for the third but ended up giving up that second run. Fortunately, he settled down and pitched two clean innings before handing the ball over to [autotag]Nick Ficarrotta[/autotag] for another three strong innings of relief.

[autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag] threw 23 pitches two days before a big series against No. 24 Alabama, but he should be fine as a former starter that’s used to throwing more pitches.

Kevin O’Sullivan was resting his arms this week with just one game between weekend series, but it will be all hands on deck against the Crimson Tide.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1369]

[mm-video type=video id=01gvdq8eqdb03x5mg83v playlist_id=01eqbz250mdknqvm5z player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gvdq8eqdb03x5mg83v/01gvdq8eqdb03x5mg83v-ce81f56192edd4f52d0b1f3b0a471855.jpg]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Win over UNF gives Florida a slight boost in the NET rankings

Florida saw a six-spot rise in the NET after its win over UNF on Wednesday night.

It’s going to take a lot more than a 30-point win over a bad UNF team, which ranks No. 328 in the NET, to get Florida’s season back on track after its disastrous 15-point home loss to Texas Southern on Monday night. But it’s a start, and with the 85-55 victory over the Ospreys, UF is slowly working its way back up the net, rising to No. 52 from No. 58 in the latest update.

Florida’s Quadrant 1 win over Ohio State in Fort Myers, which appears likely to stay that way for a while, is doing a lot of work for the team’s resume, especially as the win against the Seminoles looks less and less impressive each week. FSU is now 5-3 on the year and ranks No. 72 in the NET, meaning that victory is going to be considered a Quadrant 2 win, at least for a while.

However, the Gators are going to be weighed down heavily by the loss to the Tigers, which is considered a Quadrant 4 loss. However, TSU ranks No. 186 in the NET by virtue of its upset over Florida, and it would just take a rise into the top 160 for that loss to count as a Quadrant 3 slipup, instead, which would help Florida quite a bit.

There isn’t much left the team can do in conference play to rise in the rankings. It plays a Quadrant 3 game against a struggling Maryland team going through a coaching change in Brooklyn on Sunday followed by Quadrant 4 matchups in Sunrise against South Florida and at home against Stony Brook to close out non-conference play.

UF will have to wait until conference play, when it opens with three Quadrant 1 matchups in the first five games, to really start to rebuild its tournament resume. The Gators will certainly have the chance to do so, as they are currently projected to play seven Quadrant 1 games in SEC play.

The league is better than it’s ever been, and Florida will certainly have its work cut out for it in conference play. But all hope is not lost, and this can definitely still be a tournament team if it can win the games it should and a few it shouldn’t down the stretch.

[listicle id=63117]

[vertical-gallery id=63131]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

3 takeaways from Florida’s big response against North Florida

Florida looked a lot better in a 30-point win over UNF, but there are still things it needs to tighten up moving forward.

The Gators had to play again on Wednesday night just 48 hours removed from what may be the worst loss in program history, a 15-point setback at home against Texas Southern on Monday night. The Gators were ineffective in almost every aspect of the game in that one.

Against the 2-8 North Florida Ospreys, however, things went differently. Florida didn’t entirely right the ship, and there are still some things it needs to tune-up before SEC play begins. But the Gators were much better this time around. They took control early and never let go, getting back in the win column with an 85-55 win.

Beating an Ospreys team that entered ranked No. 326 in the NET won’t do much to resuscitate Florida’s image, and it needs to beat Maryland on Sunday in Brooklyn to really start to get back on track. But all you can do is win the games in front of you, and that’s what UF did against UNF. Here are some things the team did better in this one and some areas it still needs to work on.