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Sidebar for school paper on SEC baseball Tournament.
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By MIKE MCCALL
Alligator Writer

HOOVER, Ala. – Thanks to the double elimination format of the Southeastern Conference Tournament, the UF baseball team will live to play another day despite their loss to South Carolina on Wednesday.
Unfortunately for the Gators, today’s matchup with Alabama may be the end of their season, as their hopes for a trip to the NCAA Tournament look bleak.
Teams must have a record of at least .500 to qualify for an at-large bid, and at 28-29, UF will need two wins to become eligible.
To do that, the Gators would need a win over the Crimson Tide today, and a victory over the loser of today’s matchup between second seeded Arkansas and the No. 3 Gamecocks on Friday.
That feat is certainly a tall order, but as usual UF isn’t looking ahead.
“What we really want to do is just go out and play our game,” UF first baseman Matt LaPorta said. “Right now we’ve just got to take it one game at a time.”
Today’s tilt with Alabama (31-25) presents UF with an excellent chance to get win number one, as the Gators took two out of three from the Tide earlier this month in Gainesville.
This time, however, the game might as well be in Tuscaloosa, which is just a 45-minute drive away from Regions Park in Hoover.
Due to the large expected crowd of Crimson-clad supporters, UF is treating the matchup like an away game.
“Obviously, playing here in Hoover, there’s going to be a large contingency of Alabama fans,” UF coach Pat McMahon said.
“It’s a great opportunity for our guys, but it’ll definitely be a partisan crowd for Alabama, as it ought to be.”
Junior Bryan Augenstein will be charged with quieting the rowdy ‘Tide fans, as he will make his 16th start of the year.
So far, Augenstein is 7-5 with a 5.24 ERA, and is coming off of an eight-inning outing against Tennessee in which he allowed just two runs to earn the win.
The Gators will need their ace to do well if they hope to advance.
“We’re going to need an outstanding pitching performance,” McMahon said. “It’s going to be a wonderful opportunity for Bryan Augenstein.”
If UF can win today, they will face a very difficult matchup against Arkansas or South Carolina – against whom the Gators are a combined 1-6 this season.
Even with a win on Friday, UF has no guarantee of actually making the NCAA Tournament, and series losses to Virginia Military Institute and Kent State combined with midweek defeats against Stetson and Central Florida certainly weaken their case.
All of that means nothing if the Gators can’t topple the Crimson Tide today, something they remain positive they can do.
“Alabama is a great team, they’re in the SEC and they made it to the tournament – everybody here is a great team,” LaPorta said. “I feel confident in our ballclub more than anything.”
Today’s game will get underway at 11 a.m. (EST).

 

Not a bad sidebar/advance, though this sentence is a bit clunky:
"Even with a win on Friday, UF has no guarantee of actually making the NCAA Tournament, and series losses to Virginia Military Institute and Kent State combined with midweek defeats against Stetson and Central Florida certainly weaken their case."
Chopping it after "NCAA Tournament" should do the trick.

But the main thing here is the first quote...try to find something else he or a coach said, because it pretty much defines cliche.

 

Yea I know that quote is terrible. Unfortunately, the team is full of terrible quotes and cliche answers.

 

Mike,

Martin took care of the first point I was going to make. The other thing you need to look out for is being redundant with the setup to a quote.

This time, however, the game might as well be in Tuscaloosa, which is just a 45-minute drive away from Regions Park in Hoover.
Due to the large expected crowd of Crimson-clad supporters, UF is treating the matchup like an away game.
“Obviously, playing here in Hoover, there’s going to be a large contingency of Alabama fans,” UF coach Pat McMahon said.
“It’s a great opportunity for our guys, but it’ll definitely be a partisan crowd for Alabama, as it ought to be.”

And

Junior Bryan Augenstein will be charged with quieting the rowdy ‘Tide fans, as he will make his 16th start of the year.
So far, Augenstein is 7-5 with a 5.24 ERA, and is coming off of an eight-inning outing against Tennessee in which he allowed just two runs to earn the win.
The Gators will need their ace to do well if they hope to advance.
“We’re going to need an outstanding pitching performance,” McMahon said. “It’s going to be a wonderful opportunity for Bryan Augenstein.”

Either let the quote speak for itself or leave the quote out if you can say it better yourself. It can work both ways, but since this is an advance you probably don't want to make it a quoteless story.

 

HOOVER, Ala. – Thanks to the double elimination format of the Southeastern Conference Tournament, the UF baseball team will live to play another day despite their loss to South Carolina on Wednesday.

Unfortunately for the Gators, today’s matchup with Alabama may be the end of their season, as their hopes for a trip to the NCAA Tournament look bleak.

Mike -- a common error, but a pet peeve of mine. A team is a singular term, therefore it is referenced with an "it". The UF baseball team is not a they.

The Gators are a "they."

I did this at one point early on, but it's an easy habit to break. Truth is, a former colleague who has been in the biz for almost 10 years still does it, and my sports editor -- who just hit his 40-year mark -- does it all the time. Sometimes your thoughts are ahead of your words, and the "its" and "theirs" are easy to mix up.

Good detail here, but quotes like "play our game" and "one game at a time" are a cliche' as it gets. Dig deeper for something more unique.