LaPorta named to US Olympic Team

Former UF first baseman Matt LaPorta on Wednesday was among 23 players named to the 2008 United States Olympic baseball team.

LaPorta is currently playing in AA Akron in the Cleveland Indians organization. He was recently acquired by the Indians in a trade that sent 2007 American League Cy Young Award winnner CC Sabathia to Milawukee. Baseball America currently rankes LaPorta as the top prospect in Cleveland's farm system.

"It has been like a roller coaster, some good things and bad things that have gone on past couple of weeks,'' LaPorta said during a national teleconference this afternoon. "Overall, I'm very excited and thankful to have this opportunity to represent my country and play baseball for them.''

LaPorta is the first player in SEC history to receive the league's Player of the Year award twice, and was a consensus All-American. A finalist for the prestigious USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award and the Brooks Wallace Award, LaPorta completed his collegiate career third on
the SEC's all-time list with 74 home runs, a total which ranks among the top 10 in Division I history. His 206 RBI are second on UF's chart behind Wilkerson (214).

LaPorta is the second Gator to represent the US in baseball in the Olympics. Brad Wilkerson earned a gold medal in the Sydney Summer Games in 2000.

USA Baseball manager Davey Johnson said Wednesday he's unsure where LaPorta will play.

"Matt is an outfielder, but he played first base at Florida, so we'll see,'' Johnson said. "He looked awful good at first base in the futures game. Obviously we had heard a lot of good things about him. We have a number of scouts that get on conference calls and talk about players. Look at numbers and tell a guy knows the game, srike zone. He's an aggressive hitter, he's got a good idea of what he's doing when he's up there. He gives us a lot of flexibilty if we want to use him at first or in the outfield.''

UF takes Mitchell ace

Mitchell left-handed ace Patrick Schuster, who has spent the summer improving his status among pro scouts in hopes of being drafted in  2009, announced his backup plan this evening.

He has committed to the University of Florida.

Schuster, who tied a 51-year-old Pasco County single-game record when he struck out 20 Gulf batters in an April 15 road win, said he chose the Gators over Central Florida, North Carolina and Texas, among others.

"I know a lot of my friends are going there from my travel team (the Tampa Bay Raiders)," said Schuster, 5-2 with a 1.07 ERA for the Mustangs as a junior last season.

"The program's great; actually the coach (Kevin O'Sullivan) is the pitching coach so he's got a good, strong hold on what the pitching staff's going to do. Money was part of the decision and they made an offer that made money not an issue."

Schuster (6-foot-2, 170 pounds) just returned from Cary, N.C., where he threw a pair of scoreless three-inning stints last week to lead Dixie National to USA Baseball's eight-team "Tournament of Stars" championship.

He said he ultimately was asked to join the 18-under national team, but declined so he could participate in next month's East Coast Professional Baseball Showcase in Lakeland.

JOEY KNIGHT, Times staff writer

Florida's road to CWS begins in Tallahassee

The Florida baseball team is the No. 2 seed in the 2008 NCAA Baseball Tournament Tallahassee Regional, which begins play at Dick Howser Stadium on Friday.

"We are very excited for the start of Regional play," first-year head coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "Going to Tallahassee should be a good opportunity for our fans to come and support us. It will be a challenging field and we are looking forward to facing a talented Tulane team on Friday."

Florida (34-22), which is making its 24th regional appearance and its first since 2005, will play third-seeded Tulane (37-20-1) at 1 p.m. Top-seeded Florida State (48-10) will play fourth-seeded Bucknell (29-22-1) at 7 p.m.

UF is 64-49 (.566) all-time in NCAA Tournament action and has reached
the College World Series five times: 1988, 1991, 1996, 1998 and 2005.

In case you're wondering, Florida is 1-2 vs. FSU this season.

Four Gators named to All-SEC team

Second baseman Josh Adams, outfielder Matt den Dekker and pitcher Patrick Keating were all named to the first team All-SEC team, chosen by the league coaches and announced Tuesday.

In all, four Gators picked up postseason honors.

Outfielder Avery Barnes was named to the league's second team.

Adams was also recognized on the All-Freshman team, and den Dekker made the SEC's All-Defensive team.

Georgia junior shortstop Gordon Beckham is the SEC Player of the Year.

Florida (34-20) will open play in the SEC tournament against Vanderbilt (37-18) on Wednesday at 2 p.m., at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala.

Gator second baseman named to Howser Watch List

Florida freshman second baseman Josh Adams, of Jacksonville, was named Thursday to the Watch List of 50 candidates for the Dick Howser Trophy, given to the top player in college baseball.

The award is presented by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, working in conjunction with the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce.

Adams has started 39 games at five different positions (25-2B, 5-3B, 4-CF, 4-LF, 1-RF) this season, and is hitting .354. He leads Florida in slugging percentage (.611), RBI (40), multiple-hit games (17) and doubles (17) and is tied for second on the team with six homers. Twenty-four of his 51 hits have gone for extra bases and he is 9-for-11 on the basepaths. Adams leads the team in SEC play, hitting .409, with 17 RBI, 13 runs, 10 doubles and three home runs in 18 league games.

The 2008 winner will be announced at the College World Series in Omaha on Saturday, June 14, at 11 a.m.

The Dick Howser Trophy is awarded in memory of the former Florida State University All-America shortstop and major league player and manager who died of brain cancer in 1987. It is regarded by many as college baseball's most prestigious award.

McArthur to attempt to play through injury

Former Armwood standout Brandon McArthur has been cleared to play again, two weeks after he ruptured his right ACL.

McArthur will be in the lineup and attempt to play in the Gators' weekend series at at No. 23 Kentucky. This is a pivotal series for the Gators who are in a three-way tie for second in the SEC East with South Carolina and Tennessee.

Florida is 4-5 with McArthur out of the lineup (he was hitting .314 when he was injured). He will need surgery eventually, but for now will try to play with a brace.

The Gators (24-13, 9-6 SEC) enter this weekend's series in desperate need of some wins. They have lost four of their last six SEC games and eight of 12 overall.

Florida to take on Miami this weekend

Florida will get its first big test this season when the Gators travel to Coral Gables this weekend for a three-game series against No. 8  Miami.

The series kicks off today at 7 p.m.

Although this is a heated, highly-competitive rivalry, Florida had seven straight wins over the Hurricanes between Feb. 19, 2005-Feb. 18, 2007 - the longest in a series which dates back to 1940. Florida went 2-1 in the series in Gainesville in 2005 and 2007 and won all three meetings in its most recent visit to Mark Light Field in 2006.

UM leads the series 118-92-1, including 73-34 in Coral Gables.

Tampa freshman Tommy Toledo (1-0, 3.60),  will start Sunday's finale at 1 p.m. against Hurricanes' rookie Chris Hernandez (1-0, 0.00). Toledo is coming off a five-inning stint last Sunday in which he won his collegiate debut.

Gator Baseball Opens Season Tonight

The Kevin O'Sullivan era officially begins this evening when the Gators kick off the season with a three-game series against Sienna.

During Wednesday night's basketball game, Seffner native and former Arwood standout Brandon McArthur addressed the O'Connell Center crowd asking for their support this season.

"We were picked to finish 5th in the SEC East,'' McArthur said. "Nobody believes in us. But that's because they haven't seen all the hard work we've been putting in since August.''

It's most likely because of the way the Gators' season went last year. Florida was 29-30, its first season with a losing record since 1990. It was also only the second season since 1976 (21-27) that the Gators finished with a sub .500 record.

If history is any indication, the Gators could bounce back nicely under O'Sullivan. The last two Florida teams which had losing records turned things around the following year. Jay Bergman’s 1977 team went 39-18 overall and captured its fi rst Eastern Division title since 1969 with a 14-9 SEC mark, and UF  made its fi rst trip to NCAA Regionals since 1962. Joe Arnold engineered an even more noteworthy turnaround in 1991, when he directed the Gators to a school-record 51 victories, the program’s most recent SEC Tourney crown and a berth at the NCAA College World Series.

Including McArthur, the Gators have eight area players on the team. McArthur will take over first base from All-American Matt LaPorta. McArthur played just one game last seaon after tearning the UCL (ulnar collateral ligament) in his right elbow on opening night; he later underwent season-ending surgery.

Here are the other area players on the Gator roster:

Brett Bentley, Jr./C; Jesuit

Michael Branham, Jr./RHP, Jesuit

Billy Bullock, So./RHP, Riverview

Riley Cooper, R-Fr./OF, Clearwater Central Catholic

Chris Freshcorn, F./INF, Alonso

Stephen Locke, Jr./LHP, King

Tommy Toledo, Fr./RHP, Alonso

Riley Cooper joins baseball team.

Okay, forget what I said about Riley Cooper yesterday.

I was wrong.

Apparently Cooper is going to take his fragile foot and bad ankles over to the Florida baseball team.

The school announced this afternoon that Cooper has been added to the Gator baseball roster. Cooper will be on the active roster when the Gators open the season Friday night against Sienna.

A 15th-round selection of the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft, Cooper was rated as the No. 161 prospect in the nation and No. 22 in the state of Florida according to Baseball America.

The 6-foot-3, 215 pound sophomore receiver played in 10 games with the Gator football team last season, including two starts. He had 182 receving yard on eight catches (22.8 per reception) to lead the Gators in yards per catch.

But Cooper has been hampered by injuries both seasons, which is why his joining the baseball team is somewhat surprising. Florida has not said what Cooper's status will be with the football team when spring practice begins March 19.

Cooper hangs out with baseball team

Riley Cooper took batting practice with the baseball team on Tuesday, but most likely won't be joining the Gator squad, at least any time soon.

Cooper, a former two-sport standout at Clearwater Central Catholic, was the No. 161 prospect in the nation for the 2006 draft, and No. 22 in the state of Florida, according to Baseball America.

Although he reportedly looked solid in batting practice, there are no plans at this time for Cooper to join the team.

First-year UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan was open to the option of evaluating Cooper and giving him a chance, but with the season-opener set for Friday, Cooper's history of injuries (foot, ankle, and most recently a broken finger at the end of the past football season), and spring football practice less than a month away, it's not really a viable option for either the team or Cooper at this time.

Gators picked to finish fifth in SEC

Firing its coach hasn't improved the Gators' image among the league coaches.

Florida is picked to finish fifth in the SEC in the preseason poll released by conference office Thursday.

Vanderbilt, the defending regular-season champion, is picked the win the conference again this season.

Under first-year head coach Kevin O'Sullivan, Florida returns four position starters and nine pitchers from last season's squad which was third in the East with a 15-15 league mark. UF tied for sixth overall and went 1-2 at the SEC Tournament to finish 29-30 overall.

Here is the breakdown of the preseason poll:

SEC East

1. Vanderbilt. 2. South Carolina. 3. Kentucky. 4. Georgia. 5. Florida. 6. Tennessee

SEC West

1. Mississippi. 2. Mississippi State. 3. Arkansas. 4. Auburn. 5. LSU. 6. Alabama.

UF practices hampered by injuries

With just nine scholarship players, Billy Donovan can't afford to lose any during practice. Which is why on Wednesday he was lamenting the situation the Gators find themselves in.

Freshman forward Alex Tyus has a bruised tailbone he suffered during a fall in practice and has not practiced in three days. Junior guard Walter Hodge has missed the past two days of practice with back spasms.

Both were expected to miss today's practice, UF coach Billy Donovan said.

"We're a little banged up,'' Donovan said. "So taking it (practice) from nine days to seven, it's probably limited us a little bit in all that I would have like to have gotten done. Practice from the players' perspective has been good, but there just hasn't been enough competition. When you've got seven (scholarship) guys, we've had to do a lot of 3-on-3- and 4-on-4.''

Figueroa to start in Cape Cod League All-Star Game

GAINESVILLE - Cole Figueroa's play this summer in the Cape Cod League has been impressive enough to earn him a starting position in the All-Star game this weekend.

The Tallahassee native will start at second base for the East squad. Figueroa leads the Harwich Mariners with a .306 batting average, has 15 walks and is tied for third in RBI (11), runs scored (11) and doubles (five).  Figueroa was a member of the SEC All-Freshman team this past season.

The All-Star game will be held Saturday, July 28, at Spillane Field in Wareham, Mass.

New Baseball Coach Hires Two Staff Members

GAINESVILLE - Kevin O'Sullivan, the Gator's new baseball coach, has added two members to his staff.

O'Sullivan hired Brad Weitzel (pronounced White-sell) and Craig Bell as the Gators' assistant coaches on
Wednesday. The two were most recently professional scouts for the Minnesota Twins and Seattle Mariners, respectively.

Weitzel and Bell will work with UF's position players, while O'Sullivan will focus his attention on the squad's pitchers.

"I am excited that Brad and Craig are joining the staff," O'Sullivan said. "They are as eager as I am to hit the ground running toward shaping our team for next season. They both bring a unique perspective
through their involvement in professional baseball and their background here in the state of Florida. They are a great fit with my vision for the program. Their experience has afforded them a tremendous amount of contacts throughout the country."

Weitzel spent 15 years as the Florida area scout for the Minnesota Twins. Eleven of his signees have reached the Major Leagues, incljding Doug Mientkiewicz (New York Yankees) and A.J. Pierzynski (Chicago White Sox). Weitzel was a coach for Minnesota's organization in the Instructional League between 1998 and 2001 and was a pitching coach for the Gulf Coast League Twins in 2000.

Bell had been the Seattle Mariners' Supervising Area Scout for Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina since 2000, after serving as an Associate Professional Scout in the Sunshine State for the Cincinnati Reds from 1993-2000.

Clemson's O'Sullivan becomes baseball coach

Kevin O'Sullivan is the new Gators baseball coach. He spent nine seasons as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Clemson, where the Tigers have made nine consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and reached the College World Series three times. He is from Jupiter, Fla.

"This is an exciting day and signals a new chapter for Gator baseball," athletic director Jeremy Foley said. "What Kevin has accomplished as one of the top assistants in the nation with highly-respected recruiting skills and player development speaks for itself. He possesses the qualities in a head coach that we were looking for and is eager to hit the ground running. We are counting on Kevin to help return our program to the elite level of collegiate baseball."

LaPorta goes seventh

The Milwaukee Brewers surprised most draft experts by taking Gators first baseman Matt LaPorta with the No. 7 pick in Major League Baseball's first-year player draft Thursday in Orlando. LaPorta was considered a possible first-round pick after he hit .402 with 20 home runs and 52 RBI during his senior season.

Hurst Signs Free Agent Contract

GAINESVILLE - Former Gator David Hurst signed a contract with the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday, using an NCAA rule known as Rule IV, which allows any fifth-year senior to sign a professional contract as soon as he completes his last class in college.

Hurst will be playing for Tom Kotchman and the Class-A Orem (Utah) Owlz, a member of the Pioneer League.

This season, he led the Gators with a 3.44 earned run average and a team-high six
saves during his senior season. Over 27 appearances, he compiled a record of 2-2 in 52.1 innings, with 30 strikeouts and 15 walks.

Standard Minor League Baseball contracts are for seven years, with the player's
salary dependent upon the league he is assigned to. Hurst's contract includes a
signing bonus as well as bonus incentives dependent upon advancement to higher
levels of the minor leagues.

LaPorta named Player of the Year

Florida senior first baseman Matt LaPorta was named SEC Baseball Player of the Year for the second time in three years, while Clearwater's Brian Leclerc, a senior outfielder, was named to the first team. The Gators had three players on the All-Freshman team: outfielder Matt den Dekker, shortstop Cole Figueroa and outfielder Jonathan Pigott.

LaPorta Finalist for Dick Howser Trophy

GAINESVILLE - Senior first baseman Matt LaPorta on Thursday was named among 16 finalists for the Dick Howser Trophy, honoring the top collegiate player in the nation.

LaPorta  leads the Gators in eight different offensive categories. He is first in the SEC in batting average overall (.423) and league games (.456) and has 49 RBI and 19 homers. LaPorta's slugging percentage is .853 and he is also among the NCAA leaders with a .579 on-base percentage. He has scored 57 runs, drawn 41 walks, been hit 18 times and has 10 doubles. Florida's career leader with 73
home runs, a total that rates third all-time in the SEC, LaPorta has six multiple-HR outings in 2007.

The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), working in conjunction with the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, will choose the Dick Howser Trophy recipient based on three rounds of voting. The 2007 winner will be announced just prior to the first game of the NCAA College World Series, with a press conference slated for Friday, June 15, at 11 a.m. at the Omaha Press Club.

LaPorta Semifinalist For Golden Spikes Award

GAINESVILLE Senior Matt LaPorta is among 50 semifinalists for the 2007 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award for the nation's premier amateur baseball player.

LaPorta is among the nation's and the conference leaders in several offensive categories. He is on a 20 game hitting streak entering this weekend's series against Alabama. He leads the league in batting average (.431), slugging percentage (.854), on-base percentage (.577) and home runs.

He is hitting an SEC-best .478 with a .955 slugging percentage, .609 on-base percentage and nine home runs. He is the only person to be selected as SEC Player of the Week multiples times this season and has earned National Player of the Week recognition from both Louisville Slugger and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Baseball game time changed to accommodate celebration

GAINESVILLE - To give fans an opportunity to attend the basketball team's national championship celebration, the starting time for the baseball game between Florida and South Carolina has been changed to 7:30 p.m. at McKethan Stadium.

The national championship celebration will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

LaPorta Honored

GAINESVILLE - One day after he was chosen the SEC Player of the Week, senior Matt LaPorta on Tuesday was named the National Hitter of the Week by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

He's the first Florida player to receive the award.

LaPorta was 7-for-13 (.538) in Florida's sweep of No. 21 Auburn, with seven RBI, three home runs, three doubles and was hit by a pitch four times. It was the first road sweep for the Gators since May 2005 over Vanderbilt.

McArthur Out For Season; LaPorta Injured

  GAINESVILLE – Florida junior infielder Brandon McArthur will undergo surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow and will miss the remainder of the season.

  The Gators will also be without the school's leading home run hitter, Matt LaPorta, who injured his left ankle Friday night in a 10-4 loss to Kent State and is out indefinitely.

  McArthur, a former Armwood standout, was the Gators’ starting third baseman, but has missed the last seven games since he played opening night on Feb. 9.

  “This is disappointing news for Brandon, his family and our team,’’ head coach Pat McMahon said. “He is a first-class young man . . . his presence both on and off the field will be missed.’’

  McArthur missed his freshman season after he was severely injured when a stranger punched him and he fell and hit his head on the pavement on Oct. 30, 2003.

  As a sophomore, McArthur participated in 46 of the Gators' 56 games, starting 25 at second base, 13 at third base and five at designated hitter. He earned Academic All-SEC honors for the second time and hit .262 with 20 RBI, 19 runs, 10 multiple-hit games and five multiple-RBI outings. He was named to the College Baseball Foundation Honor Roll for the first time in his career oafter a 6-for-14 (.429) outing against Harvard.

  During the Gators' run to the 2005 NCAA College World Series, McArthur played in 64 games and made 60 starts at third base. He batted .268 overall with 30 RBI and was the only Gator chosen to the SEC's All-Freshman squad after batting .286 in 28 league outings. McArthur also put together a team-best 15-game hitting streak in which he hit .448 (26-for-58).

 

UF Clinches Miami Series

  GAINESVILLE - A season-high crowd of more than 4,000 watched Florida defeat Miami 7-5 to clinch the series for the third consecutive season.

  Sophomore reliever Patrick Keating earned his first career victory for UF and senior David Hurst picked up his first save - including 1.2 scoreless innings.

  The Gators (4-2) have now won four consecutive games.

  "I am extremely pleased with our bullpen's performance today,'' Florida coach Pat McMahon said. "Guys are beginning to understand their role on the mound, and that is important so that we can defend well behind them. Our bullpen is something that we take a lot of pride in with their work ethic to keep us at the level of play we need to be at throughout the season. . . Miami is a terrific team and they give us a lot of competition every time we play them. One of our goals is to not
to look at yesterday or tomorrow. We just take on today, so this was a great game for our team's psyche.''

  The Gators will close out the series Sunday at 1 p.m. Billy Bullock, a freshman right-hander from Valrico (1-0) is expected to start.

 

 

LaPorta Is New Home Run King

  GAINESVILLE - Two days into the season, Matt LaPorta has worked his way into the record books.

   The senior hit his second home run in two days Sunday, becoming the all-time home run hitter in Florida history with 56. He takes over the record previously held by Brad Wilkerson. The record-setting homer came at the bottom of the seventh, on the first pitch from VMI senior reliever Ian Casher over the wall in left center field.

  LaPorta hit .583 (7-for-12) in the series against VMI.

  “I was telling myself to relax and I got a good swing to get it out of the yard,” LaPorta said. “It didn’t really hit me as I was running the bases, but when I sat down in the dugout it hit me that I had the Florida home run record. I just thought that was amazing.”

Preseason Baseball Honors

  GAINESVILLE - Senior first baseman Matt LaPorta and junior right-hander Bryan Augenstein have been named to Baseball America's Preseason All-America team.

  LaPorta made the second team while Augenstein was a third-team pick. LaPorta was the 2005 SEC Player of the Year and a consensus first-team All-American as a sophomore, when he led Division I with 26 homers and drove in 79 runs. Last season, he missed 13 games with an oblique muscle
strain and hit .259 over 43 games. Still, he led the Gators with 14 home runs and a .410 on-base percentage and rated third with 38 RBI. Over his three-year collegiate career, LaPorta has a .298 average, is one homer shy of matching Brad Wilkerson's school standard of 55 homers and is sixth on UF's career list with 154 RBI.

  A second-team All-SEC recipient in ’06, Augenstein anchored UF's pitching staff with a 9-6 record and a 3.07 earned run average and limited opponents to a .241 batting average. The right-hander had 98 strikeouts and 24 walks over 111.1 innings.

  Florida will begin practice for the upcoming season on Wednesday, and will host VMI on Feb. 9 in its season-opener at McKenthan Stadium.