Florida Gators Bait & Bits: Final Four Info, Baseball Impresses, S&D at NCAAs, FLax, T&F and Tennis

Mar 29, 2014; Memphis, TN, USA; Florida Gators guard Scottie Wilbekin addresses the media after defeating the Dayton Flyers in the finals of the south regional of the 2014 NCAA Mens Basketball Championship tournament at FedEx Forum. Florida won 62-52. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-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 Florida 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

Top-5 Ranked Baseball Teams. Florida had a great week capped off with the basketball team heading to the Final Four. While that team is led by seniors, the baseball team is one of the youngest in the SEC. They seem to be coming together at the right time, however. On Tuesday, the Gators beat top-ranked FSU in Jacksonville to take the season series from the Seminoles. And this past weekend, Florida swept the No. 4 LSU Tigers at the Mac. This coming from a team not even ranked in the top-25, despite posting a 19-9 record. For comparison, LSU has a 20-8 record and FSU is 22-5. Keep sleeping.

Bits

Basketball to Face UConn in Final Four. By now, I’m sure you know Florida’s basketball will have a chance for revenge against UConn in the Final Four. The game will start at 6:09 pm Saturday night and ticket information was just released. Florida also announced a travel package for those heading to North Texas and a more economical version for the Rowdy Reptiles. Click on the links to get more information from the University Athletic Association. (GatorZone)

Men’s Swimming & Diving Finishes 3rd at NCAA Championships. It was a great year for the swimming & diving team as they placed 3rd at the NCAA Championships, their highest finish in 23 years. Florida won two individual national titles and set seven UF-records. Marcin Cieslak owns those two national championships with wins in the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly. It’s the best finish ever for the Gators under Florida and Team USA head coach Gregg Troy. (GatorZone)

Lacrosse Stays Perfect in the ALC. Fourth-ranked Florida built up a quick lead and held off a surging No. 11 Penn State squad with a 13-9 win. The Gators improve to 12-2 on the season, including a 3-0 American Lacrosse Conference record. Shannon Gilroy and Mollie Stevens each scored four goals to provide the offense for Florida. Mary-Sean Wilcox posted the win in her first career complete game, notching five saves, tying a season-high. (GatorZone)

Track & Field Impresses at Three Separate Meets. Florida’s relay teams took the spotlight at the Texas Relays, taking the 4×1 and 4×4 events. Dedric Dukes, Hugh Graham, Jr., Arman Hall, and Antwan Wright notched a school- and American collegiate-record 38.29 in the 4×1. Dukes, Najee Glass, Graham, Jr., and Hall also posted a 3:01.26 in the 4×4, the fastest collegiate time so far this year. Florida also competed at the UNF Spring Break Invite and Raleigh Relays. (GatorZone)

Men & Women’s Tennis Sweep LSU. The fourth-ranked women’s and No. 15 men’s tennis teams put together strong efforts to beat LSU, 4-0 each. Full results for the women are here and full results in the men’s competition here. Some impressive notes: The women’s team is 190-1 all-time at home, have won 81 straight against SEC foes at Linder Stadium, and have a 129-match winning streak, the longest current streak in any women’s sport. (GatorZone)

Women’s Golf Finishes Regular Season. The No. 16 women’s golf team finished the regular season in the top-10 for the ninth straight meet. Florida finished 9th at the Bryan National Collegiate. Camilla Hedberg led the Gators with a 4-over par finish, tying her for third. (GatorZone)

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