Gator Bites for Wednesday, February 24

From time to time, OGGOA will come across a plethora of news and notes that we wish to share with our readers. In those instances, we present a special post: Gator Bites. Enjoy.

» Arguably the greatest player in the history of Florida Gators baseball, free agent Brad Wilkerson has signed a minor-league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. He was a member of the 2010 UF Hall of Fame class, a part of the 1996 and 1998 College World Series teams, a two-time All-American, three-time All-SEC selection and the 1998 Collegiate Player of the Year. Wilkerson holds career records at Florida for batting average, RBIs, slugging percentage and walks. He played for four MLB teams from 2001-08 and won a gold medal with Team USA baseball at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

There are seven more Gator Bites for you to check out…after the jump!

» No. 12/16 women’s golf earned their first tournament win of the season Tuesday by taking home the Central District Invitational. A three-round total of 286 (-2) was led by sophomore Marika Lendl and her sister, freshman Isabelle Lendl, who tied with each other for first place in the tournament.

» Gators lacrosse (2-0) played the second game of their inaugural 2010 season Tuesday, taking down the La Salle Explorers 15-5. Freshman midfielder Brittany Dashiell led Florida with four goals in inclement weather.

» Also victorious Tuesday was No. 9 Gators women’s tennis (8-2), which swept the No. 15 Florida State Seminoles 7-0. UF is now 50-1 all-time against FSU (including 31-0 at home) and holds an 84-match home winning streak, the longest in program history. The No. 3-ranked duo of senior Marrit Boonstra and freshman Allie Will easily won a doubles match 8-2 in the first position while No. 10 Will took a 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-2) victory in singles competition as well.

» More good news came for Florida women’s sports Tuesday as freshmen Ashanée Dickerson and Marissa King won SEC Gymnast of the Week and SEC Freshman Gymnast of the Week honors, respectively. This is the first time a program has swept both weekly SEC gymnastics awards.

» Gators basketball shined Tuesday night, but sophomore guard Ray Shipman continued to lose minutes as he struggled on both sides of the ball. Prior to the game, Kevin Brockway of The Gainesville Sun asked head coach Billy Donovan about Shipman. “I think sometimes when a player comes off the bench like that, sometimes you can move a lot better when you get a great lather on you,” Donovan said. “For him, he’s in a tough spot, playing three or four minutes, you come out, you sit eight or nine, you sweat, you’ve got to go in there, you’ve got to get going again.”

» Pensacola Junior College women’s basketball guard Deanna Allen, considered one of the best JuCo players in the country, has committed to play for Florida next season. Though she will be a junior after spending two seasons at PJC, Allen received offers from more than 30 colleges including the LSU Tigers and Oklahoma Sooners.

» One of the Gators newest 2010 football recruits, three-star QB/athlete Tyler Murphy (Wethersfield, CT), says his goal is to remain a single-caller at the next level. Apparently Florida’s staff is part of the reason why Murphy believes that. “The Florida coaches feel like I can play quarterback,” Murphy told the Sun. “I’m going to take time to learn and develop as a player.” He accounted for more than 1,100 yards, nine touchdowns and nine interceptions in the air but excelled on the ground with 1,213 yards rushing and 15 scores his senior season.