● The Gators bounced back from a 12-2 beating on Friday night to beat the South Carolina Gamecocks 9-8 yesterday at McKethan Stadium. This was one of the best endings I have seen at a Gator baseball game in quite some time, as Cody Neer hit a walkoff three-run homer to take the win.
Brian Leclerc hit an eighth inning grand-slam homer to cut the deficit to 8-6, after the game had looked to be a second-straight blowout loss for the Orange and Blue.
After two quick outs in the ninth, Matt LaPorta and Bryson Barber both got on base via free passes (a walk and a hit by pitch), which made way for Neer's winning blast. The win gave the Gators their ninth in the last 10 contests.
● Donnie Jones has taken the head coaching job for the Marshall Thundering Herd, joining the list of former Gator assistants under Billy Donovan who have gotten head coaching gigs elsewhere -- including Anthony Grant and John Pelphrey.
Jones began his career in coaching as a graduate assistant for the Thundering Herd. Two of his seasons as an assistant in Huntington were under Donovan, who left Marshall for Florida in 1996.
Good luck to Coach Jones in his new position.
● Offensive lineman Ronnie Wilson may be done as a Gator after firing a gun recently during an off-campus altercation:
Ok. Get him out of here. Now. There is no reason to keep someone who can get that out of line on the team. Firing a gun in someone's general direction is not a minor-mistake and should bring along fierce consequences with it.
● Speaking of football (on a more positive note), the annual Orange and Blue game is less than a week away.
Go Gators!