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The Florida Gators won their thritieth game of the season with a commanding 7-0 win over Bethune-Cookman Tuesday. Led by Tyler Nesbitt and Nick Ficarrotta, Florida dominated on the mound, recording just the second shutout of the season. For the Gators, this was their fifth consecutive victory after sweeping Mississippi State last weekend.
The Wildcats did make thing interesting early on, however. BCU had bases loaded with two outs before Nesbitt retired the side. The righty returning from Tommy John surgery settled in after the first and went four innings before turning things over to Ficarrotta.
Ficarrotta tossed four innings while throwing just 34 pitches including 29 for strike. With the exception of a sharp single to short, Ficarrotta was fantastic on the mound. Blake Purnell was able to close things out by recording the final three outs of the game.
As for the offense, the Gators got on the board with a pair of runs in the first on RBI base hits by Sterlin Thompson and Jac Caglianone. Florida added another run in the second on a bases loaded walk to Thompson that forced in Mac Guscette.
A Wyatt Langford solo homer to left in the seventh made it a 4-0 advantage before the Gators added three in the eighth.
Langford finished the game 1-1 with a homer and four walks. Thompson went 2-4 with a double and an RBI while Josh Rivera added a pair of base hits as well.
Pitching Decision:
W: Tyler Nesbitt (2-3)
L: Alec Mendez (0-2)
On Deck:
Florida will travel to Columbia, Missouri to take on the Tigers. Mizzou is last in the SEC East with a 7-17 record in conference play. The Tigers are 17-6 overall at home this year.
Alright, let’s be honest, you did not see a sweep of Mississippi State coming. Especially at Dudy Noble Stadium. All the Gators did was go in and handle business and they deserve to be applauded for it.
The following are my takeaways from a really good weekend of baseball from the Florida Gators:
BT Riopelle is THAT guy
Most fans didn’t know what to expect from Riopelle, a transfer from Coastal Carolina who hit .270 but struck out 77 times last season. Additionally, Florida returned Mac Guscette, who raked during SEC play a year ago when he was on the field. Riopelle has exceeded all expectations. After a productive weekend that saw him earn SEC Co-Player of the Week, Riopelle is hitting .312 with 14 homers and 45 RBI. He’s also been the juice that has gotten this club going. He is one of the few guys that have shown significant emotion while playing this year and the team and home crowd really feeds on it.
Brandon Sproat is delivering
Unlike Riopelle, Brandon Sproat arrived on campus with massive expectations. Armed with a 100 mph fastball, he was expected to be “the guy” early and it just never clicked.
Except things changed quite a bit over the last six or so weeks. He continued his string of strong outings with a terrific effort on Friday. He tossed six innings and allowed just two runs to a team that entered the night second in homers in conference play. Sproat has learned to trust his secondary pitches but most importantly, he’s throwing strikes.
Bullpen saves the day?
Admittedly, the bullpen wasn’t perfect this weekend, in fact, they were far from it. But from where they have come from, this was a drastic and necessary improvement.
Yes, the bullpen gave up four runs (only two earned) and allowed Mississippi State to come back from a 7-0 deficit Friday, but they held down the fort and gave the Gators the chance to win the ballgame, which they did.
On Saturday and Sunday, the bullpen were the stars of the show. A trio of arms tossed five innings of one run ball Saturday while Fisher Jameson threw four innings of one-hit ball in Sunday’s sweep clinching finale.
The Spectacular Mr. Pogue
Nick Pogue’s journey back from Tommy John surgery has been well documented. It’s also been a bumpy road for the talented right hander.
Sunday, however, was easily the best outing of his season. Pogue threw five innings allowing just five hits and one run in the process. Maybe more important than that, Pogue rebounded from giving up a first inning run to shutting down a really good Bulldogs lineup and giving his team an opportunity to win.
This was exactly the effort head coach Kevin O’Sullivan needed as the Sunday starter has seen a revolving door of options since freshman Pierce Coppola went down with injury after just one start.
On Deck:
Florida will take on Bethune-Cookman in midweek action Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 PM from Condron Family Ballpark. The Gators will then travel to CoMo to take on the Tigers over the weekend.
After two days of double headers, Florida softball’s 2022 regular season has come to a close. Florida took on Mercer and Florida Gulf Coast at home this weekend as a final warm up for the SEC Tournament beginning on Tuesday.
No. 10 Florida went undefeated on the first night, with an 8-3 win over Mercer and an 8-0 over FGCU. The Gators were less dominant on Saturday, falling to the Eagles 3-2 before defeating Mercer 2-0 to close out the weekend.
The contrast between the two doubleheaders reflects Florida’s season: Stretches of success with signs of inconsistency at points. Ahead of the conference tournament, here’s three takeaways from the Gators’ final weekend series.
Bullpen shows reliability
In the weekend series, the Gators bullpen combined for a 2.28 ERA and allowed just 17 hits for six runs. Three came in the loss to FGCU Saturday. The Gators bullpen has been valuable all season with a 2.46 team ERA, the second best in the SEC. Florida will need to depend on its pitching group led by senior Elizabeth Hightower if it wants to achieve success in the postseason.
Batting needs to stay consistent
On the first day of doubleheaders Florida averaged 12.5 hits. Saturday, the Gators averaged five. Winning an SEC championship won’t require Florida to play at its peak of dominance in every game, but it will require some level of consistency at the plate. The Gators are seventh in the conference in on-base percentage and RBIs. This team is defense-focused, but will need to muster consistent offensive production for a chance at a conference title.
Exorcise the home field demons
Florida is in a unique situation. The conference tournament is being held in Gainesville at its home field. Most teams would rejoice in the free home advantage. However, the Gators boast an impressive 14-4 away record. Although UF’s 20-10 home record is no disaster, it’s worth noting that the Gators have been better on the road and have experienced some difficult losses at home this year. Florida needs to find a way to take advantage of the circumstances.
The SEC softball tournament begins May 10. Florida will likely be seeded sixth based on its conference record. The games will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
This year’s American Conference women’s lacrosse tournament marked the third postseason for the sport in conference history. For the third year in a row, there will only be one champion of the American Conference: the Florida Gators.
No. 8 Florida (15-4, 5-0 AAC) defeated Vanderbilt (11-6, 3-2 AAC) 18-7 on Saturday for its third-straight American Conference title. Gators star Danielle Pavinelli led the team with six goals in the win.
Both teams got out to a solid start in a competitive first period. Vandy midfielder Kayla Rieu drew first blood finding the back of the net just two minutes into the contest.
The two teams continued trading goals throughout the first quarter, and found themselves tied before sophomore attacker Maggi Hall scored to put the Gators up 4-3 at the end of the first.
Despite defeating Vanderbilt 16-8 earlier in the season, UF looked evenly matched by the Commodores early on Saturday. Vandy snuck into the conference final in overtime after erasing a three-goal deficit to second seed Temple.
Florida began to pull away in the second quarter. It added on four unanswered goals before Vanderbilt could respond with 2:17 remaining in the half. Junior midfielder responded with the second of her four goals on the afternoon to put the Gators up 9-4 entering the half.
Sarah Reznick and the Gators defense put up their best stretch entering the second half, allowing just eight shots on goal β the lowest of any quarter in the game. Reznick also recorded six saves in the second half, doubling her first half total.
UF continued to go on long scoring runs. It tripled Vanderbilt’s scoring in both of the final two quarters. Florida scored three straight goals in the final seven minutes of the game to close out its championship-winning performance.
Next, Florida will look towards the NCAA tournament beginning May 13. The Gators should expect a favorable seeding after winning their conference title and finishing ranked 8th nationally.
The NCAA tournament selection show begins Sunday, May 9 at 9 p.m. The selection show will be broadcast on ESPNU.
After defeating East Carolina in the last regular season game of the year, Florida once again matched up against the Pirates for the American Conference semifinals. The first match was a dominating 16-4 victory for the Gators and Thursday was no different.
Florida defeated East Carolina 18-7 to advance to the final round of the AAC tournament. The Gators have yet to lose against any conference opponent this season and based on their play Saturday, that streak of dominance looks like it will be upheld through the rest of the conference postseason.
UF took less than a minute to get on the board. Redshirt junior midfielder Paisley Eagan scored Florida’s first points with 14:16 left in the first period on a solo goal. The Gators scored six unanswered goals before ECU could respond.
The Pirates defense mostly sat back and watched, never scoring back-to-back goals until late in the third period when the score was already 15-2 in favor of UF. Florida keepers Sarah Reznick and reserve Julia Hammerschlag held ECU to a .318 goal conversion rate on 22 shots. The two combined for a .500 save rate.
Florida was on the opposite end of the spectrum offensively. Freshman Emma LoPinto and defender Catherine Moriarty both notched four goals on the afternoon. Eight other Gators found the back of the net for 18 goals on just 34 shots taken.
Up next, UF will advance to the final round against the winner of the other semifinals match between Vanderbilt and Temple. The Gators defeated both teams in double-digit margins similar to their performance on Thursday.
First draw is set for Saturday with the time to be announced at a later date.
On Saturday, Danielle Pavinelli wrapped up a dominant season with her 51st goal of the season and a victory over East Carolina. The second-year attacker and former American Conference Freshman of the Year made history earlier this season becoming just the 19th Gator to score 100 career points, finishing with 79 during the 2022 regular season.
The sophomore’s individual achievement propelled UF to a perfect 5-0 conference record and an outright AAC regular season championship. Florida is ranked ninth in the country and is seeded first in the upcoming American Conference tournament.
Pavinelli has been nominated a top 25 finalist for the Tewaaraton Award for the nation’s best player and was named the AAC Attacker of the Year earlier this week.
Pavinelli knows better than anyone her success this season was no accident β and the road doesn’t end here. ChompTalk sat down with the Gators standout earlier this season to talk about her beginnings in lacrosse, play this year and the postseason ahead:
Q: When did you fall in love with lacrosse, and when did you realize you could play at a high level?
A: “I fell in love with it probably around like fifth grade was when I really started to invest my time in the sport and like work on my skill. When I was in high school, a lot of girls were committing around freshman year. My eighth and ninth grade year was a huge time for a lot of girls, because that’s when they were getting recruited. The summer going into ninth grade was when I really settled down and focused on what colleges I wanted to go do and just really tried to go to get recruited and get as much looks as I can.”
Q: Was getting recruited more of a struggle or something that came naturally as you played?
A: “I think it was a little bit of a struggle, because lacrosse was a growing sport at this time. There was so many girls trying to go to college for the sport, but I would go to a lot of recruiting camps and different clinics that would allow for coaches to look at you. So arose a little bit of a struggle because there’s so many girls. I think I had plenty of opportunities where coaches could see me play and get in touch with me.”
Q: What schools did you consider before deciding on Florida, and why Florida?
A: “Besides Florida being my number one, Duke and Ohio State were also two I was interested in. I’ve wanted to go to Florida for as long as I can remember. My sister went here and played lacrosse here, so she was a huge role model to me and seeing how much she loved the school just really inspired me to want to go here as well. I’ve always kind of known.”
Q: What was your preparation heading into this season? Did anything change that you can cite as the difference in year two?
A: “I think that coming into this year, I wanted to take on a bigger role and make more of an impact on our team and help out any way that I could. Coming in, I had a different mindset that I had to do more to help out the team. I was prepping my training before getting to college this year. Just the little things that I knew I had to do to be more of a leader this year. That mindset has really helped me in the games knowing that I have to help with goals, or assists, anything possible. That just really motivated me to play better and play harder.”
Q: What are your goals for this year’s postseason?
“I mean, every player’s goal is to get to the national championship. We haven’t been there in a really long time. We want to get to the Final Four and get to the championship. I think we need to just keep playing as hard as we can in practice, off the field and in games, just the little things we need to keep doing to get there and win it all. I think that’s a team goal of ours in general. It’s always in the back of people’s mind, and what pushes everyone and motivates everyone every day.”
Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about the team you’ve played with this year?
A: “Overall like this team is the hardest working team I’ve ever been on. We all are working for one goal. And you can see that on and off the field. Everyone is so motivated, and I’ve never been on a team like this before. We all work for each other. There’s no selfishness, and it’s really just a fun team to play with.”
After earning his 1,000th career D1 victory against LSU, head coach Tim Walton and UF softball were handed a crushing defeat on the road versus Florida State.
No. 9 Florida (38-14, 13-11 SEC) fell to No. 3 FSU (46-5, 16-5 ACC) on Tuesday. To add to the Gators’ despair, the loss came on a walk off home run in the bottom of the seventh.
The Gators struck first, scoring on a bases-loaded groundout from 1B Avery Goelz which brought in catcher Sam Roe. FSU responded quickly with an RBI double the inning after. From there on, both teams were locked in a stalemate.
Pitcher Elizabeth Hightower held the ‘Noles to just two hits. Florida State’s Kathryn Sandercock allowed just two and earned a stunning 1.47 ERA.
After Florida failed to score in the top of the seventh, it was up to the Gators defense to hold out in the final frame for extra innings. FSU center fielder Jahni Kerr stepped up to the plate. She letting two balls pass and then took Hightower’s pitch deep for the walk off home run. Florida was sent home unhappy.
Key Performances
Sam Roe, C
3 AB, 1 H, 1 R
Avery Goelz
2 AB, 1 RBI
Pitching Decision
W: Kathryn Sandercock, FSU (25-1)
7.0 IP, 4 K, 1.47 ERA
L: Elizabeth Hightower, UF (12-7)
6.0 IP, 5 K, 2.51 ERA
On Deck
Starting Friday, the Gators host a tournament including doubleheaders against Mercer and Florida Gulf Coast on Friday and Saturday. Mercer is 15-35 and 7-11 in the SoCon. It won its previous series versus Chattanooga. FGCU is 16-31 and 9-15 in the ASun Conference.
The small weekend tournament serves as the last regular season games for Florida before the SEC tournament begins. First pitch against Mercer on Friday is scheduled for 5 p.m. The game will be streamed on SECNetwork+.
South Florida grabbed an early 1-0 lead and it looked as if the Gators would struggle to take down an in-state opponent in midweek action. However, fueled by the motivation of losing to the Bulls in regionals a year ago, the Florida offense powered the Gators to a rout of USF Tuesday.
The Gators struck early and often as they put crooked numbers on the scoreboard in each of the first four innings.
Jud Fabian started thing offensively as he smacked a two run homer in the first to put Florida ahead 2-0. Following an uneventful USF half of the second, the Gators threw up six in the home half. Mac Guscette, Fabian (grand slam), and BT Riopelle all connected for homers in the frame as the Gators started to put this one away early.
The Bulls got one back in the top of the third but the Gators struck for two more in the bottom of the frame. An RBI double from Wyatt Langford and a sacrifice fly by Sterlin Thompson put Florida on top 10-2.
After another scoreless inning from the USF offense the Gators continued to pour it on, putting another six spot on the scoreboard. Fabian connected for his third homer, a shot that landed beyound the Bulls’ bullpen in left. Through four innings, Fabian had cranked out three homers and a career high 8 RBI.
Florida added runs in the sixth (sacrifice fly by Langford) and eighth (Ty Evans’ solo homer).
On the mound, head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said they got what they expected from starter Nick Pogue before turning it over to Tyler Nesbitt. Nesbitt pitched two innings before giving way to Karl Hartman and Anthony Ursitti to close things out.
On Deck:
Florida will travel to Mississippi State to face the Bulldogs in a crucial series this weekend. MSU is 25-20 and 9-12 in conference play. Friday’s first pitch is scheduled for 8:00 PM ET.
Florida head coach Tim Walton picked up his 1,000 career win β becoming the second fastest in Division I history to reach that milestone β Sunday in Baton Rouge as the Gators prevailed 2-1 over LSU.
The Gators suffered a series-opening, run-rule loss Friday but rebounded with back-to-back victories on Saturday and Sunday to take the series.
The Gators improve to 38-13 overall, 14-3 on the road, and 13-11 in conference play β fifth in the SEC. LSU, on the other hand, drops to 32-19 overall and 11-10 in conference action β ninth in the SEC.
Game 1
Final (R/H/E)
#9 Florida: 1 / 2 / 0
#19 LSU: 9 / 17 / 2
Pitching Decision
Win: Kilponen (17-4)
Loss: Hightower (12-6)
Individual Stats
Sr. RHP Hightower: 3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
So. LHP Pittman: 2.2 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Jr. 2B Wallace: 0-2, BB
Sr. RF Lindsey: 0-3
Sr. 3B Echols: 1-1, 2 BB
Fr. DP Walsh: 0-3, 2 K
So. C Wilkie: 0-3
So. CF Kistler: 1-3
Jr. SS Longley: 0-2
So. 1B A. Goelz: 0-2
Fr. LF Falby: 0-2, K
Game 2
Final (R/H/E)
#9 Florida: 6 / 12 / 0
#19 LSU: 1 / 2 / 4
Pitching Decision
Win: Delbrey (12-2)
Loss: Wickersham (2-5)
Individual Stats
Fr. RHP Delbrey: 6 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
Jr. LHP Trlicek: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Jr. 2B Wallace: 2-4, 2 RBI
Sr. RF Lindsey: 2-4, 2 R, RBI, HR (3), K
Sr. 3B Echols: 1-4
Fr. SS Walsh: 1-4, R, K
Fr. C Roe: 1-4
So. LF Kistler: 3-4, R, 2 RBI, K
Fr. DP Decker: 0-1, R, BB
So. 1B A. Goelz: 1-4, R
Fr. CF Falby: 1-3
Game 3
Final (R/H/E)
#9 Florida: 2 / 6 / 0
#19 LSU: 1 / 6 / 0
Pitching Decision
Win: Lugo (9-4)
Loss: Kilponen (17-5)
Individual Stats
Sr. RHP Hightower: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Jr. LHP Trlicek: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Sr. RHP Lugo: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Jr. 2B Wallace: 0-1, 3 BB, HBP, SB (42)
Sr. RF Lindsey: 1-5, R, RBI, , HR (4) 4 K
Sr. 3B Echols: 0-4, BB
Fr. SS Walsh: 1-4, BB
Fr. C Roe: 0-4, K
So. CF Kistler: 1-3, R, BB, K
Fr. DP Decker: 2-2, BB
So. 1B A. Goelz: 1-3
Fr. LF Falby: 0-3, RBI
Rivalry Showdown on Deck
Florida will head to Tallahassee Wednesday to take on No. 4 Florida State. The Gators will look to even the season series after they lost in extra innings last month in Gainesville. Wednesday’s first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the rivalry matchup will air on ESPNU.
Day two of the NFL Draft has come and gone. After cornerback Kaiir Elam was selected in the first round, the Gators did have one player selected in the third round. DL Zachary Carter was selected with the 95th overall pick by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Carter is a 6’4, 285 lb defensive lineman that proved his versatility by playing both inside as a tackle and outside as an end while at Florida.
Carter played in 39 games over four years at UF. He recorded 102 tackles, 26 for loss, and 17 sacks. He also forced two fumbles and returned one for a touchdown in 2020.
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