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The Florida Gators landed the commitment of one of the state’s top prospects Tuesday. 4-star edge rusher Isaiah Nixon announced his commitment just one day after de-committing from Central Florida.
The 6’4, 215 lb prospect has gathered twenty-four offers, including several from blue-blood programs such as Alabama, Georgia, and Florida State.
The Lakewood High prospect is rated a four-star prospect according to the 247Sports composite rankings. He is the nation’s No. 26 ranked edge rusher and is the No. 194 player in the 2023 recruiting cycle.
Nixon originally committed to UCF in April after an unofficial visit, but decided Florida was the right fit after his official visit to Gainesville last weekend.
Nixon is the seventh commit to Florida’s 2023 class. The class currently ranks No. 39 nationally and fifth in the SEC.
Kinsler is a local product out of Ocala’s Trinity Catholic and will be attending a camp this week at UF before traveling to Coral Gables for an official visit with Miami next week.
The 6’6, 330 lb offensive lineman has been recruited hard by both offensive line coaches, Darnell Stapleton and Rob Sale.
Kinsler holds 19 offers including Miami, Florida State, and three SEC schools. He is ranked the #964 overall prospect and the #85 OT according to the 247Sports composite.
Kinsler is the sixth player in Florida’s 2023 class. He is the third OL in the class, joining Knijeah Harris and Bryce Lovett.
The Florida men’s basketball team is set to embark on its first ever trip to Manhattan, KS in January 2023. The game will take place as part of the annual SEC-Big 12 Challenge on January 28.
The two programs have matched up twice before with each team winning one game on a neutral court. Florida topped the Wildcats in Sunrise, FL in 2010 while Kansas State claimed victory in Kansas City in 2012.
The Gators are 6-3 all-time and 2-2 on the road in the challenge. Florida defeated Oklahoma State in the 2022 SEC-Big 12 Challenge.
Florida is currently scheduled to play in the Phil Knight Legacy Invitational in late November in addition to the inaugural Jumpman Invitational just before Christmas.
The 2022-23 Gators will be guided by new head coach Todd Golden who replaced Mike White following last season.
After a solid 6.2 innings and a 5.5 hour rain delay followed by a disastrous 8th inning, Florida’s postseason came to an end in the Gainesville Regional Monday night. A four-run rally by the Sooners and relief appearance from the Sooner ace Jake Bennett resulted in a 5-4 loss to oust the Gators from the first round for the third time in as many postseasons.
Rain Delay Kills Momentum
After a historic “start” from Carsten Finnvold on Sunday, the Gators still needed another great pitching performance. And Brandon Neely gave it to them.
The freshman more than made up for his 2.1-inning outing against the Sooners on Sunday with 6.2 innings, five strikeouts and just one earned run on a home run from future Gainesville Regional Most Valuable Player Kendall Pettis. He threw 97 pitches after throwing 50 just two days prior.
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) June 6, 2022
He got run support from a moon-shot home run from fellow freshman Jac Caglianone then an error in right field on a BT Riopelle single to score Colby Halter.
Then the marathon delay came, ending Neely’s outing and giving the Sooners time to reset. Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson called it a blessing for his team.
“It happened for a purpose, I’ve been in Omaha in the National Championship game in 2009, the second game and we had a seven-to-eight-hour rain delay, and it is just what we do,” he said. “These players are really resilient. In the pitching tunnel they laid down, played games, and one time when I went in there, I thought they were wrestling.”
Late-Inning Meltdown
With Neely’s day done, Florida turned to reliever Ryan Slater to potentially get the final seven outs and seal the win.
He started with a bang, striking out Kendall Pettis looking to end the top of the 7th inning that began 5 hours prior. But it turned sour after the Gators added a run in the bottom of the frame on a sacrifice fly.
John Spikerman smacked a leadoff double off him to start the 8th. After a nice power nap during the delay, Peyton Graham lasered a 2-2 fastball left up over the plate for a two-run home run to tie the game at 3-3.
Peyton Graham with the 2-run 💣, to knot it up in Gainesville‼️
But Slater couldn’t close the wound there as he relinquished a walk and a single. A bunt moved both runners over. An RBI groundout made it 4-3. And a single just under the glove of Sterlin Thompson made it 5-3. Florida struggled with bullpen meltdowns at several points this season and it showed again Monday.
O’Sullivan said the walk after the home run hurt the most. He had options in Nick Ficarrotta and Fisher Jameson ready to go. But Slater was Sully’s guy. He came through in some tough spots for them several times in 2022. Jameson did eventually come on to finish out the remainder of the game.
“No one feels worse than he does,” O’Sullivan said. “No one wants to fail, he competed and sometimes the other team just beats you. But Ryan has been our guy, when you get to this part of the season, I am not going to second guess any decision we make. He saved a lot of tough games down the stretch for us. I am proud of the progress he made.”
The Sting of Defeat
Florida batters were set down four straight times against the lefty Bennett pitching on two days’ rest before the Gators saw someone reach base.
And he didn’t really stay on base. Wyatt Langford roasted a pitch into the Adirondack chairs of the Dizney Grove to pull the Gators within one. Florida certainly had a shot with the white-hot Sterlin Thompson at the plate followed by BT Riopelle. But Thompson ended up grounding out and Riopelle struck out swinging to close the book on the marathon day and Florida’s season.
All losses sting for O’Sullivan, this one isn’t any different. But he just couldn’t help but think postgame of all the players whose seasons, and college careers for some, came to an end so abruptly.
And he mentioned how many great stories were on the team. Brandon Sproat stepping up as the ace, Jud Fabian turning down money to come back, Langford’s meteoric rise and even Halter and Thompson switching position midseason or Caglianone burning a redshirt to help the team with his bat.
“That is all you can do as a coach, coach them up, help them get better, and hopefully see them connect as a group,” he said. “Then go out there and play the best they possibly can, which is what they did.”
The Gator skipper said he’ll miss how connected his team was and that the players enjoyed each other’s company. He called the 2022 squad one of the most enjoyable he’s had.
Now, they’ll take a few days off and then we’ll see exit interviews. Some guys will leave, others will stay and certainly Gator fans will hear some of the players’ names called come MLB Draft.
O’Sullivan thinks they’ve done enough this season to build a foundation for the next few years even.
“Everyone wants to win at the end of the year, we have done that,” he said. “We have also lost in Omaha and that hurts, when you lose in a Super Regional or a Regional, it hurts. But your whole program is built around culture. I think this is a big step in building that culture back and getting to where we want to be: playing for a National Championship.”
Dominated. Shoved. Dealt. All could describe how Carsten Finnvold performed in one of the best pitching performances in Gators history.
Florida Gators baseball will be playing a winner-take-all game against the Oklahoma Sooners on Monday thanks to a nine-inning relief appearance from the southpaw. The huge 7-2 win over OU Sunday night has the Gators one win from their first Super Regional since 2018.
— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) June 6, 2022
The Performance
A nine-inning relief appearance? How does that happen?
Well Timmy Manning had about as difficult a start as a pitcher could. He didn’t record an out, threw several wild pitches, hit a batter then walked two. Next thing you know the bases are loaded after the first three hitters.
Enter Finnvold.
A pitcher entering a bases loaded scenario with no outs and not giving up a run is one of the most unlikely things in baseball.
But somehow Finnvold pulled it off. Two pop ups and a fly out later, the freshman was screaming his head off and pumping his fist as Florida went back to the dugout.
“I knew this was a big game, (Oklahoma’s) a really, really talented team,” Finnvold told Sirius XM host Mike Ferrin. “It was an elimination game for us. And I knew I couldn’t let those run score early in the first inning.”
Then he turned in eight more frames.
Finnvold dazzled with his low-to-mid 80s fastball, accompanying changeup and his “slow, loopy and long” curveball. He put up career numbers in innings pitched (9) and pitches thrown (116) while punching out four and walking none. He flirted with what would’ve been a combined no-hitter for six innings.
It left his coach at a loss for words. O’Sullivan didn’t even know the right adjectives that could do the performance justice.
“I was just hoping he would limit the damage,” O’Sullivan said. “The next thing you know he goes nine complete and gives up two runs.”
Oklahoma got to him in the sixth though as they scratched across two runs.
Finnvold said they made some adjustments with Mac Guscette (who caught 18 innings Sunday) and his positioning after that. The pitches the Sooners did hit were either left up or caught too much of the plate.
The pop outs and fly balls soon turned into strikeouts as he punched out three of the next six batters through the seventh and eighth. Chants of “Car-sten Finn-vold” with the coordinated percussion of consecutive claps came from the crowd as he warmed up in the final frame.
He started out with a weak liner to Josh Rivera at shortstop. And that was pivotal because O’Sullivan said if Tanner Tredaway reached then he was going to the bullpen.
After a single, a 1-1 fastball in on the hands of Wallace Clark resulted in a ground ball for Colby Halter to start a tailor-made 5-4-3 double play to end the game and cement Finnvold’s immortality in Gator history.
O’Sullivan said one of the toughest things about his job is leaving guys off the 27-man travel roster during the season. For much of 2022, Finnvold was one of those exclusions.
Finnvold said he really grew up the last few months. He called not traveling one of the hardest things he dealt with in his baseball career. It felt “disheartening” watching his team play and know he couldn’t help them out because he wasn’t there. But now he’s had the opportunity to do it twice in pivotal spots and the young man hasn’t disappointed.
He went toe-to-toe with the No. 1 team in the country in the Tennessee Volunteers then threw an absolute gem with his team’s season on the line against OU.
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) June 6, 2022
“That just shows how much work he puts in,” center fielder Jud Fabian. “When we were traveling, on the bus and at the airport, he was out throwing in the net back on the turf field. The way he worked all year just to prepare for moments like these. It has to be said because that’s what helped him tonight. In a game where we were facing elimination and our season could be over, he pitched the game of his life and kept us in it.”
Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson said postseason baseball is a time for heroes and Finnvold was that hero for Florida on Sunday. But Johnson also thinks the Boca Raton native could have some staying power for the Gators.
“His fastball/changeup mix kept us off balance and kept us out front and got a lot of popups,” he said. That’s what guys like that do and there is a place in baseball for young men like him. That’s what is awesome about baseball, you never know what is going to happen from day to day.”
What’s Next?
Florida and Oklahoma have the trifecta on tap for 1 p.m. on Monday. Both teams have plenty of offense but the pair of squads are also out of pitching.
Johnson joked he might just pick a starter out of a cowboy hat while O’Sullivan had guys like Kris Armstrong (who hasn’t been a pitcher since 2019) and Tucker Talbott (who hasn’t pitched since high school) warming up in the pen on Sunday.
Like Johnson said, the postseason is a time for heroes. One already showed up Sunday night for Florida. Let’s see if it shines a light in the sky and another one comes to the rescue on Monday.
Florida Gators baseball suffered a 9-4 defeat at the hands of Oklahoma in Game 4 of the Gainesville Regional for their first loss of the NCAA Tournament. It’s now win or go home for them and they’ll need three wins to make super regional play.
Brandon Neely found himself in trouble early after picking up a strikeout against OU’s John Spikerman. After a single and walk, Neely fought back to strand both on a strikeout and grounder to Sterlin Thompson to end the first.
The Gators jumped out in front after a clean second from Neely. Freshman Ty Evans belted his first home run since May 19 off Sooner starter David Sandlin. Then Jac Caglianone continued his torrid stretch with a bomb off the batter’s eye for a 2-0 Gator lead.
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) June 4, 2022
But the Sooners came right back with a rally of their own in the next half inning. Peyton Graham’s 18th bomb of the year with Kendall Pettis on tied the game at 2-2. Then Blake Robertson found the barrel and deposited his fifth of the year into the Gator bullpen.
“We had scored two runs in the second,” Kevin O’Sullivan said. “We had the momentum and then walked the nine hitter on four straight. It kind of spiraled out of control at that point.”
Neely’s day quickly ended after a walk to Tanner Tredaway. He suffered the loss while lasting just 2.1 innings.
Fisher Jameson came in and finished off the inning but not before the Sooners extended the lead. A wild pitch from Jameson with the bases loaded allowed a run to score.
It was controversial run as Sooner batter Jackson Nicklaus seemingly blocked Guscette from getting to the ball after it skipped away. The Gator had to shove the Sooner second baseman out of his way just to reach it. But Tredaway was plated before any play was made.
According to Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan, the umpires told him Nickalus was clear of interference because his inaction wasn’t deemed intentional. Obviously, he and the Gator faithful disagreed as he argued the call while fans hurled boos at the umpires along with Nicklaus for each of his at-bats.
Another wild pitch in the next inning made it 5-2 Oklahoma. Kendall Pettis singled and stole second. A balk moved him to third. Then the wild pitch from Jameson brought him home as he narrowly beat out Guscette’s tag.
The Gator bats went quiet for multiple innings though. At one point the Gator lineup mustered two baserunners on a Thompson single and Fabian walk.
There was a little life shown as Florida got back a run on a sacrifice fly from Evans to pull it within three. But Fabian flew out to center to end the rally. David Sandlin really settled down after his rocky second for OU. He finished with three earned runs allowed over six innings with six strikeouts.
It was his first start allowing multiple home runs since May 7. But it was his fourth straight with at least six punchouts.
He knew if he didn’t walk people, those big blasts wouldn’t matter as much. Sandlin allowed just one walk in his start.
And Oklahoma responded in the seventh with Jimmy Crooks’s second home run of the day to push the lead out to 8-3.
O’Sullivan said every time it seemed the Gators grabbed momentum the Sooners responded in prompt manner. Mac Guscette added Florida’s final run with a home run in the seventh and Oklahoma responded with a run in the eighth to keep the margin as comfortable as possible.
Now the Gators are one loss away from their postseason ending at the regional round for the third time in as many tournaments. Florida was bounced in the Lubbock Regional in 2019 and went 0-2 and barbecue in Gainesville in 2021.
O’Sullivan’s going with his best available arm to start in the rematch with the Central Michigan Chippewas: Nick Pogue. That would leave potentially bullpen games the remainder of the regional if they come out winners starting Sunday.
“You can’t save anybody at this point, you lose a game and you’re done,” O’Sullivan said.
Both he and catcher BT Riopelle echoed it’s a big moment but their backs were against the wall in Hoover and Florida made the championship round. Gators will need lightning in a bottle again if they want to make it out of the first round.
The Florida Gators moved one step closer to their goal of a third national title with a 7-1 defeat of Oregon State to open the 2022 Women’s College World Series.
Florida earned the win to remain in the winner’s bracket behind a gutsy performance from relief pitcher Natalie Lugo, who entered with bases loaded and no outs and didn’t surrender a run.
Oregon State got on the scoreboard first as a one out double by X Jin came around to score on a single two batters later.
As stated previously, the Beavers missed a huge opportunity to add to their lead in the second when they loaded the bases without recording an out. Head coach Tim Walton made the move to Natalie Lugo out of the bullpen. Lugo somehow escaped the jam unscathed and Florida gained the momentum heading to the bottom half of the frame.
Back to Back singles by Reagan Walsh and Cheyenne Lindsey put Florida in scoring position. With two down, Avery Goelz reached on a ball badly misplayed at first base and two runs scored to put the Gators on top, 2-1.
In the fourth inning, Goelz came through again. This time with one out, the first baseman singled up the middle to score two more.
Charla Echols added a solo home run in the fifth to put the Gators in command at 5-1.
Florida extended the lead to 7-1 on back to back RBI singles by Cali Decker and Goelz.
Goelz finished the game 2-3 with 3 RBI but the story was Lugo. The super-senior threw the final six innings of the ballgame allowing one hit and striking out six without walking a hitter.
Key Performances:
Lugo: 6 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K
Lindsey: 3-3, 3 R
Kistler: 2-3, 2 R
Goelz: 2-3, 3 RBI
Pitching Decision:
W: Natalie Lugo (12-5)
L: Haendigies (13-7)
On Deck:
Florida advances in the winner’s bracket and will face the winner of tonight’s Oklahoma State – Arizona game. The game will take place Saturday at 7:00 PM ET.
The Florida Gators found out Sunday evening that they did enough in last week’s SEC Tournament to earn a national top-16 seed and host NCAA regionals in Gainesville.
Monday afternoon, the Gators learned they had been selected as the No. 13 seed in this week’s NCAA Tournament.
Florida will be joined by Central Michigan, Liberty, and Oklahoma in the Gainesville Regional.
The Gators faced Liberty to open the season and dropped the series despite winning the opener.
The Gainesville Regional will pair with the Blacksburg Regional as Virginia Tech was selected as the No. 3 seed overall. The Hokies are joined by Gonzaga, Columbia, and Wright State.
The Florida Gators are headed back to Oklahoma City for the first time since 2019. Despite dropping the first game of the super-regional series against Virginia Tech, the Gators pounded the Hokies Saturday and Sunday to continue their season.
The Hokies hasn’t lost back to back games all year, until it mattered most.
Florida turned to freshman Lexie Delbrey to start the elimination game, but her life was made much easier by an offense that was relentless.
Kendra Falby got things going right away as her speed forced an errant throw on a routine grounder to short and allowed her to advance to second. Hannah Adams’ groundout moved Falby to third a batter later.
Just when it looked like Virginia Tech would get out of the jam unscathed, a pop up into shallow left by Charla Echols fell in fair territory after a collision by two defenders and allowed Falby to score.
The Gators followed by adding three runs in the second inning, all coming with two out. Avery Goelz doubled down the right field line to score Katie Kistler. Falby followed with a hit to second that was mishandled and allowed Goelz to score. Finally, a Skylar Wallace single through the three-four hole scored Falby and gave Florida a commanding 4-0 lead.
The Gators followed the big second inning with an even bigger third as they put a six-spot on the scoreboard and put the game in run-rule territory.
After loading the bases with no outs, Sam Roe and Goelz each hit sacrifice flys to stretch the advantage to 6-0. Wallace and Echols followed with back to back two-RBI singles.
Virginia Tech had momentum in the bottom of the third as Delbrey began to miss spots. She walked two hitters and got behind 2-0 before being pulled for Natalie Lugo. Lugo induced a flyout and a strikeout to end the jam.
A pair of singles to leadoff the top of the fourth led to Goelz’s RBI single to center to make it 11-0.
Wallace crushed a solo homer to the opposite field in the top of the fifth to make it a 12-0 game.
Florida celebrated yet another berth into the College World Series, where they will open against Oregon State at a time to be determined.
Key Performances:
Wallace: 3-4, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R
Goelz: 2-2, 2B, 3 RBI, R
Kistler: 2-2, BB, 3 R
Falby: 2-4, RBI, 3 R
Echols: 2-4, 2 RBI
Lindsey: 2-3, R
Pitching Decision:
W: Natalie Lugo (11-5)
L: Keely Rochard (26-4)
On Deck:
Florida advances to the women’s college world series in Oklahoma City. They will open the world series with a matchup against Oregon State.
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