Weekend Open Thread: Florida baseball opens SEC play

This weekend, a host of Florida Gators teams are on the road. In fact, the only home games this weekend are men’s tennis’ Friday night match and a spring competition volleyball match between Florida and Georgia Tech.

Out on the road, Florida baseball opens SEC play, Gator softball participates in a top-ten conference series, both golf teams at invitational events, UF’s women’s swimming and diving competitors compete at NCAA Championships, and Florida men’s basketball continues their NCAA Tournament run.

Below you’ll find what is happening in Gator sports this weekend, as well as how to follow along.

Friday, March 16

Men’s golf
Schenkel Invitational, All day: Coming off of a victory at the Southern Highlands Invitational, Florida hopes to keep it going by defending their Schenkel Invitational title. The Gators won this event title last year by two strokes.

Women’s swimming and diving
NCAA Championships, All day: Florida’s women are in Columbus, Ohio, for the NCAA Championships meet. Eight Gators were invited to compete in individual events this week. Competition started on Wednesday and will continue through Saturday.

Men’s tennis
Florida vs. Kentucky, 5:00 p.m.: The No. 12 Gators are back in action, playing their second match in three days. Florida hosts the No. 21 Wildcats as the two teams jump back into conference play.

Women’s tennis
Florida vs. Georgia, 5:00 p.m.: The rivalry continues as the No. 18 Gators visit the No. 8 Bulldogs in Athens. These two teams have combined to win 35 of the 38 SEC titles awarded in the sport. Last year, Georgia snapped Florida’s program-record 163 home win streak, marking only the second-ever home conference loss for the Gators.

Softball
Florida vs. Georgia, 6:00 p.m.: The No. 2 Gators have their second SEC showdown of the season, traveling to Athens to face the No. 10 Bulldogs for this weekend’s top-ten tilt. The last time that Florida dropped a conference series was against Alabama during the 2016 season.

Baseball
Florida vs. South Carolina, 7:00 p.m.: The Gators open SEC play this weekend on the road at the Gamecocks. Florida hits the field in Columbia, and opens conference play, with a 16-3 record through the first four weeks of the season.

Saturday, March 17

Men’s golf
Schenkel Invitational, All day: Florida continues competition at the event in Statesboro, Georgia. The Gators will play three rounds in three days this weekend.

Women’s swimming and diving
NCAA Championships, All day: Florida’s swimming women wrap up their week in Ohio at the national championships.

Volleyball
Florida vs. Georgia Tech, 10:00 a.m.: The Gators open their six-game spring competition slate by hosting the Ramblin’ Wreck. Later in the month, Florida will travel to Georgia Tech to take part in a six-team spring tournament.

Softball
Florida vs. Georgia, 2:00 p.m.: The Gators continue their three-game conference series with the Bulldogs. Coming into this weekend, Florida held a 38-25 all-times series advantage.

Baseball
Florida vs. South Carolina, 4:00 p.m.: Before this weekend’s series, the Gators had won 15 of their last 20 meetings with the Gamecocks, though South Carolina held a slight edge in the overall series - 45-44. Hopefully, Florida will take the lead in the overall series after this weekend of play.

Men’s basketball
Florida vs. Texas Tech, 8:40 p.m.: After a successful showing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Gators advance to face the Red Raiders in round two. With their win against St. Bonaventure, Florida improved to 43-16 all-time in NCAA Tournament games and 17-5 in its last 22 tournament appearances.

Sunday, March 18

Men’s golf
Schenkel Invitational, All day: Florida concludes play at the annual Schenkel Invitational event.

Women’s golf
Evans Derby Invitational, All day: Florida returns to action after winning last weekend’s SunTrust Gator Invitational. Sunday is day one of the three-day Evans Derby Invitational event, which is being held in Auburn, Alabama.

Women’s tennis
Florida vs. Tennessee, 12:00 p.m.: The Gators continue conference competition on the road, heading to the No. 30 Volunteers in Knoxville after spending Friday in Athens.

Baseball
Florida vs. South Carolina, 1:00 p.m.: The Gators conclude play in their SEC-opening series with the Gamecocks. Last weekend against Rhode Island, Florida’s pitching staff had their best weekend of the year allowing just two earned runs over 27.0 innings (0.67 ERA).

Men’s tennis:
Florida vs. Vanderbilt, 1:00 p.m.: The Gators return to the court but this time find themselves on the road. Florida plays their second ranked conference opponent of the weekend when they visit the No. 20 Commodores.

Lacrosse
Florida vs. Vanderbilt, 2:00 p.m.: When the Gators were last on the field, they overcame an eight digit deficit to defeat No. 10 Navy. In Sunday’s match-up, head coach Amanda O’Leary is looking to take one step closer to becoming just the fifth coach in the history of Division I women’s lacrosse to win 300 games in her career. O’Leary is currently 298-99 in 23 seasons as a head coach.

Softball
Florida vs. Georgia, 2:00 p.m.: The Gators conclude their weekend in Athens. After the game, Florida will head back to Gainesville with a ten-game home stand on deck.

And here are your schedule tables for this weekend’s events.