Florida Gators Bait & Bits: Max Garcia, Taylor Gushue, SEC Championship, and NCAA Tournament Action

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

UCLA Women’s Tennis. Florida’s women’s tennis team pulled off an improbable victory in the NCAA Tournament Round of Eight (more on that later) and will now face five-seed and third-ranked UCLA for a chance to go to the national championship. If history is an indicator of how the eight-seed Gators will perform, I like their chances to advance to the title round. The Gators and Bruins have faced off 24 times, including 13 times in the NCAA Tournament. Florida has an advantage of 8-5 in NCAA play, and 14-10 overall. Their most recent matchup was a UF sweep in the 2012 NCAA Finals in Athens, GA for the Gators sixth national title. The location of this match? Athens, GA. Matches start at 1:00 pm.

Bits

Max Garcia Named to Rimington Trophy Watch List. Transitioning from guard to center isn’t always easy, but the expectations for Max Garcia are pretty high. After starting seven games at left guard and five games at left tackle last season, Garcia will now snap the ball to Jeff Driskel instead of protecting his blindside. Now, he has been nominated for the Rimington Trophy Watch List. The Rimington Trophy is given to the most outstanding center in Division I college football. (GatorZone)

Taylor Gushue Named SEC Player of the Week. It’s surprising that the leader of Florida’s baseball team has never been named SEC Player of the Week, but that changed when catcher Taylor Gushue was rewarded with the honor Monday. ‘Shue batted .616 (8-for-13) with three doubles, a home run, four walks, and four RBI in four games against USF and Tennessee. He had back-to-back 3-for-4 days in the final two games of the regular season against Tennessee and batted .636 against the Vols. During SEC play, Gushue lead all conference hitters with a .389 average and placed second in slugging and on-base percentage (.583 and .449 respectively. He led all Gators with a .335 average, six home runs, and 46 RBI during the regular season. (GatorZone)

Gators Finish Third, Second at SEC Outdoor Championships. Despite coming into the SEC Outdoor Championships ranked number one in both men’s and women’s track & field, Florida didn’t come up with the SEC titles. They did, however, turn in strong performances as they prepare for the NCAA Championships. Five individuals took home SEC Championships, the men’s team placed third, and women’s team came in second at the event in Lexington. Ciarra Brewer took home her third straight triple jump title, Cory McGee won the 1500m and 5k, Fawn Miller added the javelin title, Marquis Dendy took the men’s triple jump, and Stipe Zunic won the shot put crown. (GatorZone)

Lacrosse’s Season Ends with Loss in NCAA Quarterfinals. The third time was the charm for the Northwestern Wildcats. In their third meeting with Florida, Northwestern finally came away with a win in the season’s most important game. The Wildcats beat the Gators 12-11 in overtime to advance to the NCAA Semifinals. It was a tough match to lose as Florida led most of the way, but Northwestern really took control in the last seven minutes of regulation and overtime. It ended up costing the Gators in the end as they just couldn’t keep the Wildcats from controlling the ball off the draw. In what was supposed to be somewhat of a rebuilding year, UF proved they were perennial powers. It should be interesting to see how the team rebounds after a tough loss and an uncertain future. The ALC will no longer be in existence next season and Florida still doesn’t have a conference to call home. (GatorZone)

Women’s Tennis Upsets Top-Ranked Host Georgia in NCAA Quarterfinals. In a tournament that usually goes chalk, Saturday provided a lot of surprises in the women’s tennis NCAA Tournament. All four top seeds lost, including the number one seed Georgia Bulldogs, who lost to Florida 3-1. The eighth-seeded Gators were down early, but managed to come back and defeat the Dawgs on their home court. The win propelled UF to the NCAA Semifinals as they look for their third title in four years. (GatorZone)

Men’s Tennis Can’t Get Past NCAA Round of 16. Florida’s men’s tennis had a good run in the NCAA Tournament, but couldn’t get past the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes. The Gators put up a good fight, however, as they only lost by one match, 4-3. UF has a young team and should use this experience to rebound next year and compete in the SEC. (GatorZone)

J.D. Tomlinson Ends NCAA Tournament Run. Men’s golfer J.D. Tomlinson had a tough weekend competing as an individual in the NCAA Championship as he finished tied for 34th with an 8-over 224. He finished 16 strokes off of the leader, Marco Iten from Austin Peay. He was the only men’s golfer to compete for Florida in the NCAA Regionals and wasn’t able to advance to the NCAA Championships. (GatorZone)

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