No. 13 Gators and No. 4 Tennessee in Spotlight for Top 15 SEC Series

Florida and Tennessee are the Southeastern Conference's series of the week as the teams will square off Saturday, Sunday and Monday at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The 13th-ranked Florida softball program heads to Knoxville, Tenn. for a top 15 Southeastern Conference series against No. 4 Tennessee this Saturday at 4 p.m., Sunday at 7 p.m. and Monday at 7 p.m. at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.

The Gators (32-11, 8-7 SEC) series against the Lady Volunteers (35-5, 12-2 SEC) will be their third consecutive ranked conference series of the year, while four of the six total series have been against ranked conference foes. UF holds the lead in the all-time series 54-31 and won the last meeting, 4-0, during the 2022 season in Gainesville.

It's the first meeting between the two programs in Knoxville since the 2017 season, where the Gators took the series 2-1.

The Orange & Blue enters the weekend after taking its latest conference series, 2-1, against then ranked No. 12 Georgia and dispatched USF, 7-3, in walk-off fashion to end an eight-game homestand. The midweek walk-off against the Bulls was capped by junior Emily Wilkie's grand slam with one out in the bottom of the 7th inning.

The Cumming, Ga. native's late inning smash was the second grand slam of her career and tied her career-highs in hits (2) and RBI (4). Earlier in the game Reagan Walsh belted her fifth home run of the season en-route to a 3-for-4 night at the plate, which tied her career-high in hits (3).

The walk-off was the Gators fourth of the season and the first since the 3-2 extra-inning win over Auburn at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium at the beginning of the month.

The Gators offense that ranks at the top or near the top of most all offensive categories will go against the Lady Vols pitching staff that ranks at the top of nearly every pitching category. The Orange & Blue bring a league-best batting average of .334 compared to Tennessee's league-best 1.20 ERA.

Skylar Wallace leads the league with an overall .471 batting average, while UT's Ashley Rogers (13-1) leads the SEC with an overall 0.75 ERA. Wallace and the Gators.

Wallace played at an elite level in the series against Georgia last weekend to help the Gators take the first two games of the series 13-4 (6 innings) and 8-7 in game two. The Woodstock, Ga. native was 6-for-7 (.857) in the series with four home runs, eight RBI, six runs scored, six walks and was 3-for-3 on stolen bases.

The trio of performances coupled with her midweek effort against UNF landed the talented shortstop her third SEC Player of the Week award in addition to being named the national Louisville Slugger/NFCA Player of the Week.

Wallace leads an offensive group that ranks sixth in the nation in scoring with 7.12 runs per game, ninth in slugging percentage (.554), third in walks (178) and second in on base percentage (.438).

Kendra Falby (.398), Reagan Walsh (.360), Charla Echols (.355), Sam Roe (.322), Kaila Pollard (.313), Avery Goelz (.311) and Pal Egan (.310) are all batting over .300 on the season.

Florida Advances to Match Play, Set for Quarterfinals vs. Ole Miss. The Gators earned the No. 3 seed in back-to-back years and face the Rebels tomorrow at 8:20 a.m.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. - The Florida men's golf team finished third in the stroke play of the SEC Championship on Friday, advancing to the match play portion over the weekend.

Florida will take on No. 6 Ole Miss in the quarterfinals tomorrow at 8:20 a.m. with the winner facing either No. 2 Texas A&M or No. 7 Missouri in the semifinals that afternoon, which will be broadcasted live on SECN+.

The Gators made match play for the second straight season since the format was added in 2017 and own a 4-3 record all-time, including a 1-0 record against the Rebels. The two faced off in the quarterfinals in 2018, where Florida won 3-2.

UF earned the No. 3 seed for the second straight season and placed 9-under with the three golfers in the top-20. Tennessee won the stroke play segment with a score of 14-under behind a final round of -8.

Paired with Alabama and stroke-play runner Texas A&M today, the Gators battled with the Tide for the No. 3 seed to the very last hole as Bama dropped to No. 5 and will face Vanderbilt in its quarterfinals match.

The west coast duo of Ricky Castillo and Matthew Kress led Florida for the second straight day. Kress started the final round with birdie-birdie as the latter was a chip-in on two (par-4, 415). After a bogey on four, he was bogey-free the rest of the way to card a 1-under 69 to finish T19. He wrapped up his postseason debut tying his career-best tournament score (210) and a new career-low in round (67).

Playing in his third conference tournament for the program, Castillo owned a team-best finish of T8. Last year he placed T5 and T12 the year prior. He made 12 birdies in 54 holes, which ranked fourth among the field. He made a big pair on 15 (par-5, 565) and 16 (par-4, 407) to keep the Gators in the hunt for the three-seed. The senior posted his fourth career round in the 60s at the conference tournament with a 68 (-2).

With the No. 3 seed on the line on 18 green, a hole that Florida was +8 on, Fred Biondi was clutch again. He made a big par putt that stopped the Gators skid in round one as he recorded three pars on one the hardest holes at Seaside. His approach setup a two putt for par to clinch the spot over the Crimson Tide. Biondi finished tied for 28th.

Turning in another strong round of 70 (E) was last year's SEC Individual Champion, John DuBois. He didn't record a round over par in stroke play with rounds of 69-70-70. The senior climbed the leaderboard on the final day for a T16 performance.

Four of the five Gators in the lineup tomorrow appeared in match play last year and all won at least two matches, highlighted by undefeated records from Biondi and Castillo.

The match play finals are scheduled for 8 a.m. on Sunday and will air live on SEC Network with Gator Great and former UF golfer Steve Melnyk on the call.

Kathryn Nohilly Leads the Way for the Gators at the Virginia Challenge. Kathryn Nohilly and her father Tom Nohilly both now sit at third all time in school history in their respective steeplechase events.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Florida returns from their trip to Charlottesville, Virginia with six top-15 finishes. The Gators were led by Senior Kathryn Nohilly who continues to impress in the women's steeplechase. After joining the all-time Florida top-10 list in the event earlier in the outdoor season, Nohilly continued moving up the list with her performance on Friday night. The New York native finished second in the women's steeplechase invite with a time of 10:18.15. This moves her into third on the all-time women's steeplechase top-10, the same spot that her father Tom Nohilly holds on the men's all-time steeplechase list.

Lucinda Rourke also finished in the top-5 of her event, running an impressive race and placing fifth in the women's 1500m invite (4:17.92). Rourke's performance earned her a second consecutive top-5 finish in a 1500m race.

Despite Florida having less than ten runners competing at the Virginia Challenge, the Gators recorded five new outdoor or overall personal bests.

Next week the Gators will compete in both the UNF Invitational on April 28 and 29, and the LSU Invitational on April 29. These are the last regular season competitions of the 2023 outdoor season for Florida.

VIRGINIA CHALLENGE MEET Friday's Finals Recap

1500m Men- In the first event of the evening, redshirt freshman Jonathan Pitchford finished eighteenth in the men's 1500m with a time of 3:52.49.

1500m Invite Men- Both Joe Wester and Matt Mule' took part in the men's 1500m invite. Wester finished thirteenth, recording a new personal best (3:43.84). His time was just 0.12 seconds off the all time top-10 list in the men's 1500m. Matt Mule' finished twenty-sixth (3:46.71).

Women- Freshman Lucinda Rourke finished fifth in the women's 1500m invite (4:17.92). Her time was just 0.56 seconds behind Becky Greene's tenth fastest women's 1500m in school history. A week after running two new personal bests, Ashley Klingenberg finished thirteenth (4:21.98) in the 1500m invite, recording yet another personal best.

3000m Steeplechase Invite Women- Kathryn Nohilly continues her strong outdoor season after transferring to Florida from George Washington. The Golden Bridge, New York native earned silver in the women's 3000m steeplechase invite (10:18.15). Her time was a new personal best and the third fastest time in school history.

5K Men- Senior Cavan Wilson, finished twenty-second in the men's 5K (15:04.72).

5K Invite Women- In her outdoor 5K debut, Jordan Shapiro finished tenth (16:42.55).

10K Men- Ethan Geiger ran his first career 10K, finishing eleventh (30:12.51).

Tom Jones Memorial Results (All events are finals unless otherwise noted) Event Place, Gators (Time/Distance), Notes

1500m (M) 18. Jonathan Pitchford (3:52.49)

1500m Invite (M) 13. Joe Wester (3:43.84) Personal Best 26. Matt Mule' (3:46.71)

1500m Invite (W) 5. Lucinda Rourke (4:17.92) Personal Best 13. Ashley Klingenberg (4:21.98) Personal Best

3000m Steeplechase Invite (W) 2. Kathryn Nohilly (10:18.05) Personal Best, 3rd Fastest Time in School History

5K (M) 22. Cavan Wilson (15:04.72)

5K Invite (W) 10. Jordan Shapiro (16:42.55) Personal Best, Outdoor Event Debut

10K (M) 11. Ethan Geiger (30:12.51) Event Debut

No. 3 Florida Falls Short at No. 6 South Carolina. Jac Caglianone hit his 23rd home run of the season while Luke Heyman notched three hits.

Columbia, S.C. – No. 3 Florida fell to No. 6 South Carolina, 5-2, in game two at Founders Park on Friday night.

Jac Caglianone put the Gators (31-9, 11-6 SEC) on top in the first, launching a mammoth home run to right field on the first pitch he saw to open a 1-0 lead. The big fly marked Caglianone's nation-leading 23rd blast of the campaign.

Similarly to game one, the Gamecocks (33-6, 12-4 SEC) had an answer in the bottom of the frame. After a Braylen Wimmer walk, Cole Messina popped a two-run shot to left field to give South Carolina a 2-1 edge.

In the second, South Carolina extended its advantage to 5-1 on a two-out, three-run home run to left field by Ethan Petry.

Florida starter Hurston Waldrep settled in after the second homer, striking out the sider in order in the third and working a clean fourth. The Gators took advantage, drawing within three in the top of the fifth. Michael Robertson drew a leadoff walk, advanced on a Wyatt Langford single and came in to score on a wild pitch to make it 5-2.

Waldrep kept rolling into the bottom of the fifth, setting down Carolina in order to reach 10-straight batters retired. The right-hander ran into some trouble in the sixth, but stranded a pair by striking out three-straight Gamecocks to raise his total to 10 on the night.

Clete Hartzog relieved Waldrep in the seventh and worked a scoreless inning to hold the score. Blake Purnell took over in the eighth and stranded the bases loaded to send the matchup into the ninth, but the Gators stranded a lone baserunner in the final frame as the game ended in a 5-2 tally.

Waldrep (6-2) dropped his second decision of the campaign after allowing five earned runs across six frames. He was charged with six hits and three walks while striking out 10.

Gamecocks starter Jack Mahoney (4-1) earned the win after going five innings with two earned runs allowed on five hits and three walks. He fanned three.

NOTABLES

* The loss snapped a 13-series win streak dating back to last season for Florida.

* Caglianone hit his nation-leading 23rd home run.

* Waldrep struck out double-digit batters for the fourth time this season.

* Friday marked his ninth-straight start with at least seven strikeouts.

* He has struck out six or more in every outing this season.

* In the third, Waldrep struck out the side for the sixth time this season including his fourth in the month of April alone.

* Josh Rivera's team-leading 12-game hitting streak was snapped.

* Florida has struck out 424 batters in 343 innings – translating to 11.2 per nine innings.

* The Gators have 422 hits through 40 games (10.6 hits/game).

* Florida fell to 51-53 all-time against South Carolina including 18-30 in Columbia.

* The Gators are 16-10 vs. the Gamecocks under Kevin O'Sullivan including 10-12 on the road.

FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O'SULLIVAN On the result…

"Yeah, just start with the pitching. They had a plan to jump Hurston's fastball and they did a good job with that. A two run homer, or three-run homer, I think there. He settled in and did a really nice job. Kept it together, threw four scoreless and gave us a chance. We had an opportunity there in the fourth to score with a runner on third and less than two outs, got the popup. Next inning, BT grounded into the double play. You don't get many opportunities (like that). Their pitchers throw strikes. They did a good job when they needed to in key situations in the game. I think we left nine on base. At the end of the day, last night was the bullpen. Tonight, offensively, we had some opportunities. We just got beat. It was a good baseball game. We just got beat."

On Waldrep's outing…

"I think he was trying to get to his off speed, he just had a little trouble commanding it. Once he started landing his curveball and started getting his split going, he did a real nice job for us."

On the offense and bouncing back tomorrow…

"There's not much you can say. The bottom line is they pitched really good. They don't give you a whole lot, so when you have your opportunities to score runs with a runner on third and less than two outs, you gotta cash in. Not to say that would have made a difference in the game, because they did make big pitches when they needed to. We're just going to have to come out tomorrow, put it all together and come out of here with a win."

UP NEXT

Florida and South Carolina meet in the series finale on Saturday afternoon with coverage on SEC Network+ at 2 p.m. Left-hander Jac Caglianone will take the ball for the Orange & Blue.

(Special to 1st & Ten Florida by Florida Athletics)

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