TWO BITS: baseball tops UNF, Davis to decide

1 » No. 5 Florida Gators baseball (37-12) led from the start of the game Thursday and never gave up their advantage while on the way to a 4-1 victory over the North Florida Ospreys (25-22) at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, FL. Junior left-handed pitcher Alex Panteliodis (4-1) pitched three shutout innings, striking out one and leaving the game with a 2-0 lead that earned him the victory. Six pitchers relieved him in total; senior right-handed pitcher Matt Campbell came on with two outs in the ninth to pick up his first save of the season. Junior right fielder Preston Tucker (1-3, 2 RBI, R) knocked home Gators in the first and third inning, while a two-run homer from sophomore first baseman Austin Maddox (2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R) helped Florida jump ahead 4-1 in the sixth. UF travels to Vanderbilt for a three-game weekend series beginning with Friday’s contest, set to air live on CSS at 7 p.m.

2 » Rated as the top linebacker in the country and No. 30 overall recruit available in 2012 by Rivals.com, four-star Noor Davis (The Villages, FL) is set to announce his commitment on Friday with the Gators standing as one of five schools vying for his services. Davis named a top five of Notre Dame, Florida, Stanford, Alabama and USC earlier this week and is ready to get the process over with. He talked at length about all five schools with the website’s Chris Nee and said the following about the Gators:

“The University of Florida has outstanding academic programs and great athletics. They have an awesome business school and communications department. Coach [Will] Muschamp said that I could fit in an impactful way playing the SAM linebacker spot. In the 3-4 I would be down on the line and in the 4-3 I would be back in a stack position. They feel that I can do a lot of things off the edge as a pass rusher, but also as a flat coverage guy. I can do a lot of different things that can throw an offense off. They play in the SEC which is a great conference. Florida is an outstanding school and it is very close to where I live. The place where I live is pretty big Gator Country and all of my friends and neighbors are fans. My parents and especially my little brother could be a part of my college experience.”

Qualities of the other schools that impressed him: Notre Dame (religious aspect, tradition, academics and powerful alumni), Stanford (academics, aggressive defense, playing baseball), Alabama (“an icon,” 3-4 defense, business program), USC (“powerhouse” program, aunt attended, family in the area, California).