Archive for the ‘Softball’ Category

Gators still undefeated after shutting out USF

Posted by Annamarie Elliott on February 14th, 2011   No Comment

The No. 5 Gators ended their opening-weekend with a 12-0 victory over USF. USF-hosted Wilson DeMarini Tournament at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater. The Gators (5-0) , undefeated, racked up 53 runs,14 home runs, a .394 batting clip, .478 on-base percentage and a .803 slugging percentage as a team.

UF put up four runs at the top of the first against USF (4-1). Aja Paculba, senior, scored the first run by hitting a solo homer to left center. Senior Kelsey Bruder followed with a single, making her hit streak at 14 games, just two shy of the school record 16. Bruder stealing a base and two consecutive walks for senior Megan Bush, and sophomore Brittany Schutte made the bases loaded for freshman Cheyenne Coyle, who brought in Shutte and Bruder, making the score 3-0. The Sacrifice fly by senior Tiffany DeFelice, brought in Bush to end the first inning in favor of the Orange and Blue, score being 4-0.Senior pitcher Stephanie Brombacher  went the full five innings and improved to 3-0 on the season, having nine strikeouts and just four hits to defeat the Bulls.Both Bruder and Paculba went 3-for-4 to lead the Gators in Saturday’s game.

Florida had three runs in both the second and fourth innings. Junior Michelle Moultrie was at the top of the Florida lineup in the second. A single by Moultrie and a stolen base, put the runners in scoring position. A hit-by-pitch for Megan Bush, and an intentional walk for Schutte brought up Coyle next. An error on USF’s second base player permitted both Bruder and Schutte to score for a 7-0 UF advantage.

In the fourth, a Bruder triple brought home Paculba. Schutte followed with a double to center, and Bush drew her second walk of the game as DeFelice stepped up to the plate for a hit to right center, bringing Schutte home for Florida’s 10th run of the game.The Gators finally put it away at the top of the fifth when seniors Paculba and Bruder joined up for two scores on a two-run homer by Bruder following Paculba’s double to left center. Brombacher struck out three Bulls swinging for the three outs in the bottom half of the fifth to end out the game for the Gators.

Florida will take on its next game Wednesday, when it heads to Jacksonville  with the Jacksonville University Dolphins. Game time is stated for 6 p.m.

Courtesy of:

Gatorcountry.com

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New Freshman Gator Softball player Kasey Fagan

Posted by Annamarie Elliott on February 3rd, 2011   No Comment

University of Florida head softball coach Tim Walton announced Kasey Fagan of Dunnellon, Fla., will be wearing Orange and Blue starting in the 2010-11 season.

Fagan, a 5-foot-11-inch righty who Walton called a “true utility player” because of her versatility, played for the 2009 Class 4A State Champion Dunnellon High School Tigers. The Tigers, with a 32-1 record, were the first Marion County fast-pitch softball team to ever reach the Final Four. Dunellon ended the season ranked fourth in ESPN Rise Fab 50 Poll. Fagan herself achieved many awards including the Florida Gatorade Player of the Year, the Dairy Farmers Player of the Year and the Star Banner Player and Pitcher of the Year. She was named to the Class 4A First-Team All-State team her junior season after earning second-team honors as a sophomore and third-team honors as a freshman. She also earned ESPN Rise First-Team All-America honors on the Louisville Slugger/NFCA High School All-South Regional First Team as a pitcher, in 2009. Fagan also plays for Team North Florida, a travel ball team. The team placed fifth in 2009 at the Amateur Softball Association of America Gold National Championships and won the Champions Cup in Irvine, Calif.

Fagan’s high school stats are impressive.  She batted .574 with eight home runs, 61 RBI and 53 runs scored in 34 games as a senior. In the pitching circle, Fagan posted a 26-1 record and a 0.57 ERA, recording 239 strikeouts and holding opponents to a .095 batting average in 147 innings. She ended her high school  career with a .549 batting average, 25 home runs and 227 RBI.

Fagan has maintained a 4.74 GPA, receiving nothing but ‘A’ grades throughout high school. She was the salutatorian of Dunnellon High’s Class of 2010, a member of the National Honor Society, and in the area’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter. She has also volunteered locally as a peer tutor, a Dunnellon Little League clinic instructor, and in association with her First United Methodist Church community.

Photos Courtesy of www.ocalaphotoblog.com

High School Softball National Championship 2010

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Softball Falls to Georgia, Ends World Series Hopes

Posted by Staff Writers on June 5th, 2010   No Comment

After their 2008 world series appearance against Washington, the Lady Gators fell just short of making their second straight appearance in the final series. The 3-2 defeat to the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs put an end to their season, and a bit of a disappointment to conclude the year.

With the season over, the Gators will lose one of their greatest players of all-time – Francesca Enea. She was named to many First and Second teams in her career, including the following:

  • Easton First-Team All-American in 2008 and 2009
  • Women’s College World Series All-Tournament Team in 2008
  • SEC All-Freshman Team in 2007
  • Point of Light Award winner in 2009

Enea’s absence will be greatly missed, but the Gators will rely on the bat of Brittany Schutte, who will most likely take Enea’s batting spot in the order. Besides Enea, the Gators will also lose their starting third baseman, Corrie Brooks. Although never a star player while at Florida, Brooks managed to play hard every game and contribute in various ways throughout her career. She was named to Southeastern Conference All-Tournament Team in 2009, her greatest individual honor while playing for Florida.

Gators Sports Nation congratulates the Lady Gators on a terrific season, in which they went 51-9 (20-4) and won one game in the World Series against Missouri. We would also like to congratulate the graduating seniors, Enea and Brooks, both played outstanding in their Gator careers.

(Photo: Jim Burgess/ESPN.com)

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Gators defeat Arizona State, advances to 3rd straight World series

Posted by admin on May 31st, 2010   No Comment

The lady Gators softball team defeated Arizona State 5-2 on Sunday and they will now be playing in the Women’s College World Series for the third straight year.

Junior Kelsey Bruder took a big part of the Gators (48-8) victory, going 2-for-2 with two home runs and three RBIs. Over the five games played in the tournament, she contributed to the team going 10-for-15 with four home runs and 10 RBIs.

Stephanie Brombacher pitched a complete game, allowing seven hits and two runs with only one earned and two strikeouts. She also received her fifth NCAA tournament victory. Brombacher is placed on the Gators career win list with 76 and as well as listed in third place for strikeouts at 541.

Florida took care of the Sun Devils (44-17) in two straight games in the best of three series, defeating their pitcher Megan Elliot who has a record of 12-3. The Gators belted three home runs off of Elliot which adds up to 105 on the season, a SEC record.

“What a great weekend,” UF head coach Tim Walton said. “To get to the College World Series the first time with a good team, to get there the second time with an even better team, and then to get there a third time, that’s when you build a program.”

The lady Gators will play fifth ranked UCLA in the first game of the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla., on Thursday, June 3 starting at 3:30 p.m. The game will be shown live on ESPN.

Photo courtesy of GatorZone.com

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Softball: Florida VS Jacksonville Preview

Posted by admin on February 17th, 2010   No Comment

The lady Gators (3-1) softball team is set to host Jacksonville (4-0) today at 5:00 pm for their home season-opener which is also the first of nine home games that are ready to square off.

The Gators finished off 3-1 at the USF Wilson-DeMarini Tournament that was held in Clearwater. Their only loss in the tournament was to the No. 9 Georgia Tech Yellow jackets. Florida’s junior ace pitcher Stephanie Brombacher is already off to a 2-1 start, and also 42-1 in her career at the University of Florida. Brombacher received her first loss during last week.

Senior outfielder Francesca Enea has already hit three out and has collected 10 RBI’s as well which is a team high, while leading right behind with two home runs is freshman util. player Brittany Schutte.

Information on todays game:

Time: 5:00 pm

Where: Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium

Price: Free

Radio: 104.9 FM

(Information gathered by Larry Savage/gatorsports.com)

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Q&A with Stacey Nelson

Posted by Staff Writers on February 10th, 2010   No Comment

Stacey Nelson graduated in December and has been busy since with the 2009 season and was asked to play for U.S National Team for the second year in a row. Nelson also plans to continue her career playing professionally in Japan this year.

Stacey received a degree in philosophy and plans to attend law school after playing a year in Japan. Nelson prefers to work with children and wants to work with international humanitarian law.

Nelson will be playing for the Honda Motorcars team and live in Tochigi outside of Tokyo.

GSN was lucky enough to catch up with the former Gator star.

1. What was it like attending the University of Florida, and playing for such a prestigious program?

The greatest experience of my life. It was an honor to wear the UF uniform but I never really understood it until I was in my later years. I didn’t understand the tradition and pride behind UF; I didn’t understand how so many people could love a university so much; I didn’t understand the “Gator Nation”; but, now I do.

2. The College World Series had to have been a great moment in your life, and your performance was outstanding. But was there anything else you, or the team could have done to capture the World Series trophy over Washington?

I am not someone who obsesses over things and unlike many athletes, I normally deal with losing pretty well. But that loss still haunts me and I still wonder all the time what more I could have done. Even though I am supposed to move on and accept the loss, it is still a long process and I cant get over coming up short for my team.

3. You are pitching for the United States women’s softball team, how would you compare the atmosphere and pressure to that of pitching for the Gators?

Pitching for the US team is definitely different than pitching for UF. There are just small little differences that make a big difference when you’ve been playing the game for so long. Also, playing for different coaches, not to mention more coaches, playing with new girls, along with some new rules, takes some getting used to. The only bad part about the USA team though is that we have to wear shorts when we play that are not very flattering at all!

4. You have a handful of awards in your college career, but what was your greatest achievement while at the University of Florida?

I will never forget getting my first Academic All-American award my junior year. Coach Walton knew how much it meant to me so he called me to the front of our bus to announce it to the team and I couldn’t hide my grin. It really meant a lot.

5. And how would you sum up everything at Florida?

Again, the greatest experience of my life. To sum it up: one time a man told me, “Thank you for being a Gator.” I immediately put my hand on his shoulder and told him, “Please, NEVER thank me for being a Gator. I am the one who is forever greatful for that opportunity.”–Im serious about this stuff!

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Official: Major Wright Declares for NFL Draft

Posted by admin on January 12th, 2010   No Comment

Florida junior safety Major Wright (Miramar, Fla .) announced his intention to declare for the 2010 NFL Draft and forego his final year of eligibility.

“I enjoyed my time in Gainesville, they were some of the best years of my life,” Wright said. “Beyond winning championships, I will take with me some great memories of personal friendships from my teammates and lessons learned from the coaching staff. I will always be a Gator and look forward to watching them play from the sidelines in the future.”

“Major will be missed in our secondary and by his teammates,” said head coach Urban Meyer. “He was a physical player who had a presence on the football field and was someone our players looked up to and gravitated to. They enjoyed being around him both on and off the field. We wish him the best of luck.”

In his three years at UF, Wright was part of two SEC Eastern Division-winning teams, including the 2008 National and SEC Champions. He finished his collegiate career with 165 tackles, 10 passes defended, eight interceptions, four forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in 41 games played.

This past season, the 6-foot-0, 204-pound defender tied for second on the Gators with three interceptions and registered 32 tackles, 28 of which were solo. In his final appearance for the Orange and Blue, Wright notched four tackles and broke up a pass in UF’s 51-24 victory over Cincinnati in the 2010 Allstate Sugar Bowl. He made a key pick in the fourth quarter at Mississippi State at the one-yard line and totaled a season-high eight tackles in the SEC Championship Game.

As a sophomore, Wright started all 14 contests, tied for second on the team with four interceptions and was third with 66 total tackles. He earned honorable mention All-Sophomore recognition from College Football News. In the BCS National Championship Game against Oklahoma, Wright collected nine tackles and also picked off a pass at the goal line from Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Sam Bradford that prevented the Sooners from scoring at the end of the first half. In the Homecoming win over Kentucky, he returned a blocked field goal 37 yards to set up a touchdown.

Wright started seven games in his freshman campaign, when he was named to the Coaches’ Freshman All-SEC team and as a Second-Team Freshman All-American by Rivals.com. In addition, he earned first-team All-American honors from CollegeFootballNews.com, was a Freshman All-American Honorable Mention from Sporting News and was selected to the SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll. Wright ranked third on the team and first among freshmen in total tackles with 67, the fifth-highest total by any freshman in the SEC. He led the team and tied for first in the SEC in forced fumbles with four on the season, including one in back-to-back games versus Ole Miss and Auburn. No other SEC freshman was in the top 10 in that category and the four forced fumbles were the most by a Florida player since Guss Scott had five in 2003 and the most by any Florida freshman since the statistic began being kept in 1982.


-UF-



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UF Ranked No. 2 Party School For 2009

Posted by admin on July 31st, 2009   No Comment

Well Gator Nation… You might want to put down all that beer. The University Of Florida was last years No. 1 party school in the country and what I am shocked about is that they were outvoted by Penn State for 2009, so they finished up as No. 2.

The Princeton Review survey of 122,000 students shows that the new 2009 party school belongs to Penn State which I do not agree with at all. Last visit I made around the Penn State area, I hardly saw any bars or anything around, it looked just like an old boring country placed. Evidently I missed the spots where they have all the fun at. Who knows. But what I do know is that there is no better place to party than <a href=”http://www.gainesvilleflorida.com” title=”Gainesville Florida, Alachua County, Florida Gators”>Gainesville Florida</a>. It’s one of the craziest places ever. This is also Penn States first first place finish in history. Here are the results for the top 20 party schools.

1. Penn State University, State College, Pa.

2. University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.

3. University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss.

4. University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.

5. Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

6. West Virginia University, Morgantown, W.Va.

7. University of Texas, Austin, Texas

8. University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.

9. Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla.

10. University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, Calif.

11. University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.

12. University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa

13. Union College, Schenectady, N.Y.

14. Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind.

15. DePauw University, Greencastle, Ind.

16. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn.

17. Sewanee: The University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn.

18. University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N.D.

19. Tulane University, New Orleans, La.

20. Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz.

Top Party Schools

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