Florida Gators News: Baseball and softball pick up wins, Napier hosts recruits
By Will Thomas
![Florida's infielder Cade Kurland (4) with a home run in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Miami Hurricanes, Friday, March 3, 2023, at Condron Family Baseball Park in Gainesville, Florida. The Gators beat the Hurricanes 10-4 in Game 1. [Cyndi Chambers/ Gainesville Sun] 2023Gator Baseball March 3 2023 Condron Family Ballpark Miami Hurricanes](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2Ffa84ee365881d38c41f2865650de8eda86c5f7dc431077e13787937e2b0cd73f.jpg "Florida's infielder Cade Kurland (4) with a home run in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Miami Hurricanes, Friday, March 3, 2023, at Condron Family Baseball Park in Gainesville, Florida. The Gators beat the Hurricanes 10-4 in Game 1. [Cyndi Chambers/ Gainesville Sun] 2023Gator Baseball March 3 2023 Condron Family Ballpark Miami Hurricanes")
The Florida Gators had a great day yesterday on both diamonds, picking up wins in both baseball and softball.
Softball absolutely dominated Mercer 14-3. Elizabeth Hightower picked up her eighth win of the year, going four innings while giving up five hits and three runs.
The Gators ambushed Mercer, putting up three runs in the first and five runs in both the second and third innings. Kendra Falby had four hits, Charla Echols had three hits and seven RBI, Olivia Gigante had three hits and four RBI, with Skylar Wallace and Pal Egan both knocking one in as well.
Florida baseball didn’t win as convincingly against Siena but still added a tally to the win column with a 3-2 victory in the series opener.
Kurland, Rivera, and Shelnut each knocked in a run, with Caglianone also getting two knocks. The big difference in the game was in the strikeout column, as the Gators only stuck out five times compared to Siena’s 16.
Brandon Sproat went four innings, giving up three hits and no runs, and Brandon Neely notched the save with a one-hit ninth inning.
Florida football hosting a big weekend
While baseball and softball are in season, it’s recruiting time for Gator football, and this weekend is a big one for Billy Napier and his staff.
They’re hosting multiple blue-chip recruits, including two top-5 players from the class of 2025.
5-star Gator commit Myles Graham will be in town trying to help Napier recruit as Florida continues to put together what hopes to be an elite 2024 class.
Unlike the big recruiting weekends of the past, QB commit DJ Lagway won’t be there to help sway the minds of the other guys, but Graham and the coaches will just have to be enough this weekend.
Keep up with the Florida Gators at Hail Florida Hail.