Bait & Bits: Softball Sweeps, Another Perfect 10, Track at Four Events, and Florida-Kentucky

Mandatory Credit: ©Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to Bait & Bits, a series on Hail Florida Hail that will feature one “bait” about an opposing school and some bits about the Gators. Have any links that you want on Bait & Bits? Tweet it at us @HailFloridaHail or @BrettKaplan13 or email it to us at BrettKaplanHFH@gmail.com

Bait

Florida at Kentucky. ESPN’s College Gameday will be on location in Lexington all day today, marking the Gators sixth appearance on the college basketball version of Gameday, fifth against the Wildcats. Florida is 4-0 against Kentucky when Gameday is there, and 1-0 at Rupp Arena.

Bits

Softball Sweeps Doubleheader. Hannah Rogers picked up her 100th win at UF as top-ranked Florida (8-0) swept Seattle and Hawaii in the first two games of the Easton Desert Classic in Las Vegas. In game one, the Gators used two home runs, including an inside-the-park homer by Kelsey Stewart, to beat the Seattle Redhawks 8-1. In game two, Florida continued to show their power, crushing four home runs in an 11-1 (5 innings) mercy-rule win versus the Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine (4-3). Rogers pitched a good game in picking up her 100th career win, giving up only one hit in 4 innings pitched. The only hit happened to be a home run by Leisha Li‘ili‘i. For a full recap with boxscore, head over to GatorZone.

Hunter Hits Another Pefect 10. It’s safe to say the defending national champion and top-ranked Florida gymnastics team is really good. Kytra Hunter hit her third perfect 10.0 on the season, her first on the vault, and the fifth 10.0 this season for the Gators. It also marks the fourth straight meet a member of the Gators gymnastics team has scored 10.0. No. 1 Florida (6-0, 4-0 SEC) beat the 11th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks (3-4, 1-4 SEC) with a score of 197.525 to 196.025. Here’s a video recap of the meet (h/t GatorZone):

Track & Field Busy with Four Simultaneous Meets. Florida’s track & field teams are split coast-to-coast competing in four different competitions. Two got underway yesterday with Mark Parrish breaking a school-record in the 5000m at the Husky Classic. Parrish recorded a run of 13:43.15, breaking a 20-year old record by Mike Mykytok by over 16 seconds. Parrish finished fifth in the event. The Gators also competed at the Iowa State Classic, posting mixed results. Today, Florida will compete in the Texas A&M Invite (College Station, TX), the Millrose Games (New York, NY), as well as the Husky Classic (Seattle, WA), and Iowa State Classic (Ames, IA).

Gators Athletics Have a Busy Day. It’s a huge day for Florida sports, with six teams participating in nine events. Track and field and men’s golf will be competing all day with track competing at the aforementioned four events and golf hosting the SunTrust Gator Invitational at the Mark Bostic Golf Course. Softball has a doubleheader again today, starting at noon against Ohio State and then at 2:15 versus Cal State Northridge in the Easton Desert Classic in Las Vegas. Lacrosse faces off against High Point in the Donald R. Dizney Stadium on UF Campus and baseball hosts game two of their weekend series against the Maryland Terrapins at 4 pm. Finally, in what ESPN is dubbing SEC basketball’s game of the year, Florida and Kentucky tip-off in Rupp Arena at 9 pm.

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