Weekend Look Back: Baseball And Softball Get Sweeps While Track Shines At Penn
Monday, May 2, 2011 | General
Sweeps by both the baseball and softball teams and another strong showing by track and field at the Penn Relays highlighted the Weekend Look Back.
Baseball
The baseball team stayed atop the standings in the SEC with a three-game sweep of Ole Miss, doing so in impressive fashion. The Gators opened the weekend with a 9-3 win on Friday night behind the hitting of Josh Adams and Vickash Ramjit and the pitching of Hudson Randall. Adams and Ramjit each went 4-for-5 and Randall improved to 8-1 on the year with a season-high six strikeouts.
On Saturday Brian Johnson tossed 6.2 scoreless innings and struck out nine to key an 8-1 victory. The Gators completed the sweep on Sunday as Mike Zunino went 4-4 with three doubles and four RBI and Karsten Whitson tossed six scoreless innings in a 7-2 victory.
The win capped another solid weekend for Zunino, profiled by GatorZone.com senior writer Scott Carter on Friday.
With the sweep the Gators improved to 34-10 on the year, 17-4 in SEC play. The Gators face Bethune-Cookman at McKethan Stadium on Tuesday at 7 p.m. before heading to Arkansas for a three-game set this weekend with Thursday and Saturday's games on ESPNU.
Softball
The softball team blasted its way through South Carolina this weekend, taking a three-game series and improving to 43-8 on the year and 18-7 in SEC play.
The Gators opened the weekend with a 5-0 victory as Megan Bush drove in two runs and tied the UF single-season record for RBIs. A day later Bush broke the mark and Brittany Schutte added a three-run homer to help the Gators to a 6-1 win. Florida closed out a thoroughly dominant weekend with another 6-1 win on Sunday, outscoring South Carolina 17-2 in the three-game sweep.
The Gators return home to close out the regular season. Florida State comes to Gainesville on Wednesday evening at 5 p.m., while the Gators then host Tennessee in a huge three-game set starting Friday at 4:30 p.m. Saturday's game will be on ESPN at noon and Sunday's regular season-finale will be on ESPNU at 3 p.m.
Track & Field
The track and field teams completed a strong weekend at the prestigious Penn Relays. The Gators opened with a second place finish and the second-fastest time in school history in the steeplechase from Genevieve LaCaze.
On Friday afternoon the Gators got a trio of runner-up finishes in the relays, while several throwers competed at Drake. Saturday's finale at Penn was highlighted by a win in the triple jump by Omar Craddock. The sophomore used a personal best of 54-0 feet to win the event for the second straight year.
Lacrosse
The second-ranked lacrosse team had its 14-game winning streak come to an end on Sunday, falling at Cornell, 9-6. Janine Hillier scored three times and Kitty Cullen twice, but the Gators could not overcome 15 turnovers.
The Gators now turn their attention to the ALC Tournament which takes place in Nashville this week. The Gators are the No. 1 seed and will play the winner of Vanderbilt vs. Ohio State on Friday at 3 p.m.
