Gainesville cuts ribbon on Tom Petty Park after $2.6 million renovation project
THE 22.5-ACRE PARK
RECEIVED
NEW PICKLEBALL COURTS, LIGHTING, TRAILS AND FACILITIES
By Logan McBride Alligator Staff Writer
On a warm, partly cloudy June 6, Gainesville residents sang along through the Florida heat to Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down.” But it wasn’t a gameday in the Swamp stirring the song.
Roughly 100 people gathered for the ribbon cutting ceremony of the newly renovated Tom Petty Park.
The $2.6 million project was funded through Gainesville’s Wild Spaces and Public Places halfcent sales tax, which goes toward recreational improvements in the city.
The 22.5-acre park’s renovations were completed by Gainesville-based Scorpio construction, with the project separated into two phases.
The first included eight pickleball courts, a pedestrian entrance from Northeast 16th Avenue, a multi-purpose trail, a new stormwater pond and lighting improvements. The second phase was focused on bathroom renovations.
As ‘70s and ‘80s music echoed through the park, several attendees sang along to the classics of the eras. Rick Chin, a 65-year-old Gainesville resident, was among those singing along in celebration of the park’s opening.
“I’m a big fan,” Chin said. “I’m often concerned about what the city spends money on and how they tend to use it. This is one of the better investments I’ve seen them do with our money. As
SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT
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a citizen, this is the kind of thing I want to see.”
Chin was proud the city was honoring Tom Petty; with the mural on Southwest 34th Street, Tom Petty weekend at Heartwood Soundstage and, now, the recent improvements to the park renamed after Petty in 2018. He’s happy to see the musician celebrated in his hometown.
Petty is honored throughout the park with benches and fences engraved with his name.
Chin recently moved to the northeast side of Gainesville, and he said he’s already seen the park draw in the community. He believes it’ll continue to bring people to northeast Gainesville and improve business in the area, he added.
Chin also said he was happy with the pickleball courts, where games began almost immediately after the ribbon was cut. Chin has played the sport for around four years, participating in tournaments around Gainesville. Going forward, he said Tom Petty Park will be a popular playing spot for him.
“These courts are exceptional,” Chin said. “You see some of my friends playing here right now; they’re all from the west side of town. We come here often, usually every Saturday.”
The courts feature permanent nets, smooth blue surfaces and tall black fences to prevent interruptions during play.
Chin said the lighting at night is “extremely good,” too, illuminating the courts without disturbing the neighborhood.
These additions were taken into careful consideration during the renovation process,
Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward and other city leaders
pickleball courts and park renovations, Saturday, June 6,
UF presidential finalist Stuart Bell answers questions on DEI, vision for school
THE FORMER
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESIDENT ADDRESSED STUDENTS, ADMINISTRATORS AND FACULTY
By Julianna Bendeck Alligator Staff Writer
Standing before students, faculty and administrators, UF presidential finalist Stuart Bell introduced himself to the campus community in a series of forums that offered one of the first public glimpses into how he would lead the university.
Bell answered questions from students, faculty and administrators across three time slots.
Bell took to the stage with Rahul Patel, the chair of the presidential search committee. His appearance comes after a sixmonth-long search following the Florida Board of Governors’ rejection of presidential finalist Santa Ono last summer.
Ono faced criticism for his investment in diversity, equity and inclusion programs when he was president of the University of Michigan. Bell has faced similar criticism since he was announced as the sole presidential finalist.
Linda McMahon, the U.S. sec-
retary of education, is one critic of DEI. She posted on X urging UF’s next president to pursue reforms against DEI. UF responded in a May 22 post calling DEI “discriminatory by design.”
Despite these criticisms, Patel said the presidential search committee’s recommendation of Bell was unanimous.
At the forum June 3 afternoon, he said Bell is committed to academic achievement. Bell increased the population of National Merit Scholars at the University of Alabama by nearly 40%.
Incoming university students
Story description finish with comma, pg#
Alachua County Library District kicks off summer programming. Read more on pg. 6.
The Avenue: Food Afternoon becomes first Gainesville restaurant on the Michelin Guide, pg. 5 Cowboy culture
Sonaiya Brown // Alligator Staff
cut a ribbon commemorating the opening of new
2026, at Tom Petty Park in Gainesville, Fla.
No students? No problem: Campus vendors adjust for Summer slowdown
BUSINESSES DEPENDENT ON STUDENT TRAFFIC SAY SUMMER SEMESTER BRINGS FEWER CUSTOMERS BUT OFFERS NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO GROW
By Hailey Kon Alligator Staff Writer
When UF’s Spring semester ends, the crowds around campus begin to thin. The Reitz Union lunchtime rush slows, long lines disappear and familiar businesses that spend the school year serving students between classes face a different reality: quieter sidewalks and fewer customers.
From farmers markets to Fall preparations, Gainesville business owners who frequent campus say the slower months are less about stopping work and more about shifting focus.
For many vendors reliant on student traffic, Summer means adapting to the lagging activity on campus and finding alternative customer bases.
For Honey Nitro, a coffee popup stationed around campus during the school year, Summer brings fewer students but not necessarily fewer opportunities.
Suzanne Underwood co-owns Honey Nitro with her husband, Tim Underwood. Suzanne said student traffic composes the bulk of their business during Fall and Spring semesters. To compensate during Summer, the couple pivots to seasonal offerings and behindthe-scenes improvements while still maintaining a campus presence several days a week.
“There's obviously a lot less foot traffic on campus,” Suzanne said.
Honey Nitro introduced summer-oriented menu items geared toward warmer weather, including coffee and matcha floats with vanilla ice cream and refresher drinks.
The business is also using the Summer season to train its first part-time employee, add a second cart, prepare new marketing materials and build catering relationships ahead of the busier Fall semester.
“Unfortunately, we have to turn a lot of events down because we are on campus,” Suzanne said. “Normally during the school year, for even parties and things, we haven't been available in the past … It's kind of nice that we can build relationships and offer some catering.”
Summer also allows the couple to focus their business on local customers at the Haile Farmers Market, where Honey Nitro operates weekly.
For Gainesville-based Italian ice business B’z Gelati, Summer just shifts its focus from students to community-oriented events.
Brandon Grabhorn, the owner of B’z Gelati, said business on campus remains important even as the company expands throughout Gainesville.
“We love UF,” Grabhorn said. "Our goal was always to be on UF campus, however we could.”
After beginning as a single food truck in 2019, B’z Gelati spent almost three years working toward a larger campus presence. Grabhorn said he started catering campus
events and operating near Library West before opening a storefront on Turlington Plaza in 2025.
During the summer months, B’z Gelati uses the slower season to book birthday parties, camps, festivals and events around Gainesville.
Grabhorn also maintains a storefront on Northwest 23rd Avenue and regularly serves customers at Albert “Ray” Massey Park on the weekends.
“It's camps, it's graduation parties, it's caterings, it's events like Fourth of July — we did the Watermelon Festival,” Grabhorn said. “That's what we do during Summer, besides our storefront.”
For newer vendors, summer break can also be used as a time to regroup.
Le Petite Beignet, a food truck managed by Michael and Michiyo Johnson, began an on-campus trial run this Spring where they consistently sold out of their beignets and coffees.
While the Spring semester proved to be continually successful for their business, the Johnsons aren’t scared of the break in customers. They plan to use the Summer semester to take a muchneeded break.
“In general, the food truck industry is pretty slow in the summer,” Michiyo said. "It's commonplace to take time off in the summer and either upgrade trucks or go on vacation.”
The pause comes as the business aims to refresh its cart, update branding and prepare for a longerterm campus commitment in the Fall.
hkon@alligator.org
Black farmers are working to change the narrative on cowboy life in North Central Florida
REPORTING AND ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA OFTEN OVERLOOK THE DWINDLING YET THRIVING CULTURE OF LOCAL BLACK AGRICULTURALISTS
By Gian Giron & Joaquin Benigno Garcia Alligator Staff & Contributing Writers
When people picture a cowboy, they often imagine popular depictions like Clint Eastwood with white skin and a grizzly beard, lassoing on horseback in classic Western films.
Images like this have shaped how generations of agriculturalists’ stories are told. In North Central Florida, Black agriculturalists continue to challenge those portrayals, preserving an often overlooked legacy. Historians say up to one in four cowboys in the American West were Black.
For generations, Black people have taken part in this culture as cowboys, ranchers and farmers. John “Ronnie” Nix, a third-generation rancher and Alachua native, has played a significant role in bringing light to the culture’s niche in North Central Florida. Nix has a career in agriculture that not only spans his farm in Rochelle, but across the state of Florida.
At the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center, Nix continues to raise awareness of his family’s agricultural history and clarify misconceptions about American farming — and the role Black farmers have played in it.
The event unfolded over two days, beginning with educational presentations that used slides and videos to explore Black agricultural history. On the second day, attendees gathered outdoors to support local vendors, enjoy regional food and watch live horseback riding demonstrations.
“I think that we’re in a stage today when modern media has portrayed the Black farmer or Black cowboy in a very minority type of way,” Nix said.
The term “cowboy” was often used to describe Black slaves who penned cows, Nix said, but white farmers eventually claimed the title and dismissed their Black counterparts from the narrative.
Read the rest online at alligator.org.
@_giron_gian_ ggiron@alligator.org
Joaquin Benigno Garcia is a contributing writer for The Alligator.
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Stuart Bell visits The Swamp to chat with students, faculty
are given national merit recognition by scoring high on the Preliminary SAT, or PSAT, in high school.
Bell also expanded access to mental health resources on-campus through the addition of therapists to various college departments, Patel added.
Members of the UF community were invited to submit questions through email ahead of the day’s forums. The email stated not all questions may be answered, and some would be consolidated to avoid similar ones.
The form closed three days ahead of the event, which took place at Emerson Hall.
Joshua Brawn, a 34-year-old forum attendee who previously worked at UF in information technology, said it felt like organizers tried to limit the number of questions asked by closing it early.
job place protections for staff who are neurodiverse?” Brawn asked.
Neurodiversity describes the range of differences in how people think, learn and process information. It includes conditions such as autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Brawn, who has autism and ADHD, said DEI helps him and other disabled Americans gain employment and achieve equal representation in the workforce.
Brawn said he disagreed with Bell’s opposition to DEI, a topic the candidate addressed at length during the student forum.
“Merit, performance and opportunities are what drive success — not ideology and certainly not identity politics,” Bell said in response to a question about his strategic plan for UF.
Bell’s remarks come as a federal judge considers a closely watched
at the University of Alabama, which he said was not an official university resource. As for whether it still existed, Bell replied that it had “surely come down.”
Attendance was sparse during the student forum, at around 15 people. The later faculty and administrator sessions drew a crowd of about 75 people each in business attire.
Leonardo Villalón, the director of the Center for Latin American Studies, said Bell had an extensive history in higher education, which Villalón said would help him improve UF.
Before serving as president of the University of Alabama for a decade, Bell was executive vice president and provost at Louisiana State University and dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Kansas.
While Villalón said the questions asked were general,he said
Gainesville, Fla.
address criticisms of higher educa tion, what brought the Texas na tive to Florida and his thoughts on
UF presidential finalist Stuart Bell speaks with Rahul Patel and Matthew Bravo at a forum at Emerson Hall, Wednesday, June 3, 2026 in
City hosts ribbon cutting after renovations
TOM PETTY, from pg. 1
said Andrew Persons, Gainesville’s city manager.
“Design can improve the way people
experience a place,” Persons said. “Every element you see around us today serves a purpose."
Persons said the pedestrian connections improve accessibility, making it safer and
easier for visitors to navigate the park while still maintaining its natural character.
The park was a unique renovation, remaining open during the construction process. Now, the city is officially
recognizing the end of the project, something Mayor Harvey Ward says he hopes impacts future generations in Gainesville.
“I hope families make memories here for decades to come,” Ward said.
@LoganDMcBride lmcbride@alligator.org
5 new officers join GPD in swearing-in ceremony
The event also welcomed a new assistant chief
By Julianna Bendeck Alligator Staff Writer
Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward had one piece of advice for the city's newest police officers: Never read comments on social media.
"Sometimes you're going to see a really great comment and say, 'Oh, I'm going to read this,'" he said. "Don't do that, because the next one will be horrible."
Ward delivered the remarks during a ceremony welcoming the Gainesville Police Department's five newest officers June 5.
Following the oath, each offi -
cer was individually recognized and received a badge pinned on by a loved one.
Officers Sydney Harper, Darian Diaz, Andrew Barajas, Christian Crespo and Elwood Leonard were sworn in Friday. Each officer had their own story from the six months of officer training preluding the ceremony.
Diaz credited his family, including his immigrant mother, for helping him reach the milestone.
His fiancee, Rachel Rickard, a 23-year-old nurse, said it was emotional to see him meet his goal.
“You really get those points in your career where you start to
lose that vision of what you're doing it for, because it's very hard,” she said. “But just remembering both of our oaths and taking care of people as time goes on.”
The incoming class of officers also included a UF alumnus who lost nearly 100 pounds before beginning his law enforcement career.
For Leonard, joining GPD was a way to give back to a city he came to love while attending UF.
“Assisting people when they're at their worst, helping people who are potentially helpless, who have nowhere else to turn to, potentially saving lives,” he said after the ceremony. “That right
there in itself is very rewarding.”
The 25-year-old political science graduate said he delayed plans for law school because he was attracted to the service-oriented nature of policing.
The ceremony also welcomed a new assistant chief.
Noel Torres joined the department after retiring from the Broward County Sheriff's Office. Torres served in a variety of leadership positions during his law enforcement career and spent 21 years in the United States Marine Corps.
Gainesville Police Chief Nelson Moya urged the new officers to remember their oaths to sup-
port, protect and defend the constitution and government.
People typically call police during some of the worst moments of their lives, Moya said. He encouraged the recruits to slow down and listen to victims instead of treating calls as boxes to check.
Moya also said officers would encounter situations most people never experience. He encouraged family members to remain involved in the officers' lives and to support their mental and emotional well-being throughout their careers.
"We are here to protect and defend those that, at times, cannot," Moya said.
jbendeck@alligator.org.
Sonaiya Brown // Alligator Staff
Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward sits on a bench at the opening of new pickleball courts and park renovations, Saturday, June 6, 2026, at Tom Petty Park in Gainesville, Fla.
MONDAY, JUNE 8, 2026
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Stained glass studio celebrates first month as brick-and-mortar business
THE GLASS ONION STUDIO HELD ITS GRAND OPENING ON MAY 1
By Mackenzie Haas Avenue Staff Writer
Tucked away on the side of Northwest 13th Street, neighboring a barber shop, nail salon and print shop, sits a studio with stained glass gleaming through sunlit windows. Inside, numerous stained-glass artworks glitter in greeting, all of various colors and designs. A stained glass snake slithers in the light as the sun begins to dip below the horizon.
The Glass Onion Studio, a stainedglass business, recently celebrated one month in a brick-and-mortar space.
The business isn’t a stranger to the Gainesville art scene. It frequently vends at festivals, art fairs and markets, like the Thornebrook Spring Arts Festival.
In 2025, the business participated in over 100 events, according to owners Shamus McGovern and JJ Mincey.
After three years in business, 28-year-old McGovern and 30-yearold Mincey decided they needed to make a permanent home for their work to shine on its own.
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In high school, McGovern took a stained-glass-making class, which kindled an immediate love for the artwork. Mincey asked McGovern in 2020 if they could make a stainedglass craft he saw online. Since then,
this “craft” has catapulted itself into a full-blown career and business run by the two of them. Gainesville has welcomed the pair with open arms, especially within the art scene. McGovern isn’t from
Gainesville, but he decided to settle here because of the blossoming, captivating community fostered within the town.
“Finding Gainesville felt like I was finding a little hole in the wall,” McGovern said. “I love it so much. It’s so unlike any other area, and our name being The Glass Onion Studio, it felt like a perfect fit for the unique, almost weirdness that businesses tend to have, so it felt like a perfect fit for us.”
The quirky name stems from the Beatles song “Glass Onion,” which talks about looking through a glass onion — a metaphor for something that seems to have a complex, layered meaning but is entirely transparent. McGovern and Mincey thought the play on the word “glass” brought an ironic and eccentric aesthetic to their company.
Now a month into their vibrant venture, Mincey has high hopes for the studio. He wants to continue reaching out to the community, attracting people to see the pair’s artwork and take the classes they teach on stained-glass creation.
“We still plan on doing [festivals],” he said. “[Last year’s vendorship] was ‘Let’s put the work into it and open a studio,’ and the hard work paid off, because here we are.”
With the new space, Mincey
and McGovern have created an educational environment for aspiring stained glass artists. They offer a variety of classes geared toward making specific pieces, understanding the aspects that go into creating a piece, and learning to cut and shape glass as desired.
Bridgette Forde, a 33-year-old case manager for dementia caregivers, has taken two group classes and a one-on-one class at The Glass Onion Studio. She met the owners through their vending at events and fell in love with their work. From there, inspiration bloomed. Since then, she’s made several pieces, including a monstera leaf and a Pokemon Cubone skull.
“As they were opening the studio, they were pre-selling classes,” she said. “So [I] did a class, did another class, really fell in love with the art — the craft — and wanted to keep going.”
The one-month anniversary of the studio space is just the beginning for The Glass Onion Studio and its owners.
As the pair continues to grow their business in Gainesville, their work manages to sparkle even brighter, making Gainesville just a little more colorful.
mhaas@alligator.org
Afternoon becomes first Gainesville restaurant featured on the Michelin Guide
THE POPULAR BRUNCH SPOT JOINED MICHELIN’S RECOMMENDED LIST LAST MONTH
By Brandy Sumner Avenue Staff Writer
Inside the small white-walled dining room of Afternoon, patrons enjoy brunch classics like scones and BLTs, as well as options like mushroom toast and crispy potatoes — all ordered from a hand-drawn menu.
Afternoon, located off Northwest 10th Avenue, was founded by Grace Glennon and Kyle Spor in 2017 and is now owned by the pair and their partner, Jason Shuster. After nearly a decade in business, their mission of providing a comforting breakfast-and-lunch restaurant holds true.
But it takes more than a cozy environment and personable service to win a spot on one of the most internationally respected restaurant guides.
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On May 28, Afternoon was welcomed to the Michelin Guide, becoming the first restaurant in Gainesville on the list.
This is the first year Michelin has branched into smaller cities in Florida. Previous inclusions to the guide were limited to larger cities like Miami, Orlando and Tampa.
“A lot of [restaurant rankings] are kind of a pay-to-play situation … but with the Michelin, it’s completely anonymous,” Glennon said.
Michelin Guide placement is awarded to restaurants based on factors like freshness, ingredient quality and culinary talent.
At Afternoon, Glennon said it’s the team that makes the brunch spot special.
“It felt so good and very affirming for all the work that we’ve put in over the years and our team has put in over the years,” she said. “The team we have right now, they’re just all so good and sweet.”
Gabe Henson, a 24-year-old sous-chef, has worked at Afternoon for four years and is excited about the new Michelin status.
“We put in a lot of hard work here, so it’s pretty good,” Henson said.
Outside of the main restaurant, Afternoon’s
Los beneficiarios del programa de Acción Diferida para los Llegados en la Infancia temen la deportación y la inestabilidad laboral debido a los retrasos en la renovación, el escaso apoyo legal y las dificultades económicas. Leer más en la página 7.
to-go window sits under a yellow awning, serving quick bites, pastries and coffee to people who don’t have time to sit down for their meal.
Paola Giusti-Rodriguez, a 45-year-old UF psychiatry assistant professor, sat outside enjoying one of Afternoon’s seasonal pastries while she waited for her coffee.
“It was the first place I ate at when I got here five years ago [when] we were interviewing for jobs at UF,” Giusti-Rodriguez said. She and her children have been coming back for brunch ever since.
The restaurant’s promise is written across its menu: “If we sell it, we make it.” Afternoon’s general manager, 37-year-old Phillip Bailey-Anderson, credits this as the restaurant’s standout feature.
Afternoon’s chefs make everything they can from scratch, from bacon cured and smoked in-house to housemade sauces.
“That’s just part of our pillars here,” Bailey-Anderson said. “Making cool stuff, trying to be as sustainable as humanly possible for a small business and trying to source as much as we can locally.”
Part of Afternoon’s effort to use quality ingredients includes sourcing produce from local Alachua County farms, like Frog Song Organics and Siembra, which grow a wide array of fruits and vegetables.
Afternoon has seen a big shift in the past few years, growing to include additions like outside seating and a separate cafe location at South Main Station.
“Even where we’re sitting used to be a patch of grass and a two-top right in front of the window,” Bailey-Anderson said. “And now it’s just constantly evolving and growing.”
Afternoon’s place in the Michelin Guide has increased its popularity, too. The restaurant has been much busier in the last week than expected for this time of year.
While Afternoon may be the first restaurant in Gainesville to be included in the guide, Anderson said he’s certain it won’t be the last.
“I think Gainesville just has a lot of delicious food — authentic and true food — that really speaks to the soul of Gainesville,” he said.
bsumner@alligator.org
Grace Sands // Alligator Staff
Shamus McGovern prepares glass for a project at The Glass Onion Studio, Wednesday, June 3, 2026 in Gainesville, Fla.
Local library roars into a book-filled summer with annual Reader Palooza
Gainesville community gathered for a summer kick-off event
By Emily Medina-Finsen Alligator Contributing Writer
The faint smell of books and the Jurassic Park theme filled the room as hundreds of Gainesville locals gathered at Tower Road Branch Library for this year’s Reader Palooza, a kick-off event for its two-month Summer at the Library event.
At 10 a.m. June 6, hundreds of people gathered to begin summer with the Alachua County Library District. This year’s theme, “Rawrrr Into Reading!” commenced the summer season with two months of programming.
Helena McNeer, the senior library manager for youth services, estimated nearly 500 attendees by 11 a.m. She emphasized the importance of gathering with one’s community for an event like Reader Palooza and getting to see what opportunities are available.
“You get to interact with so many community organizations that offer really valuable services that are so useful, especially during the summertime,” McNeer said. “It’s a chance to come together as a community and celebrate that we’re here.”
Reader Palooza featured dozens of local vendors, including
O2B Kids, Girl Scouts, the Florida Museum of Natural History, Safe Kids and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, each tabling to share information and advertise summer programs.
The event also featured an escape room, dinosaur-themed crafts, a button-making station and carnival games.
Getting kids to read is a big part of the library’s mission.
During COVID-19, the National Assessment of Educational Progress reported a significant decrease in average student achievement, particularly in reading and math.
In 2024, the NAEP reported about four in 10 students in the fourth grade read below national standards. Meanwhile, a third of eighth graders were “below basic.”
Brad McClenny, the library district’s public relations and marketing manager, said Reader Palooza has been going on for a number of years, hosting hundreds of people over the summertime.
“It’s always important for everybody to be reading all the time,” McClenny said. “Keep yourself informed and for kids in particular, you don’t want to lose
those skills.”
The annual summer reading challenge began May 23. Participants log their reading and track their minutes on Beanstack, an app where users can log reading time, track book progress, get recommendations and make reviews for the opportunity to win weekly prizes through Aug. 8.
With the sponsorship of restaurant Sushi Sake Gainesville, the district will give away three tablets at the end of the summer to a child, teen and adult who read the most, McClenny said.
ACLD is a community hub for dozens of weekly events held throughout the year. From book clubs and crafting sessions to reading with animals and a
plethora of learning opportunities, the library has much to offer its community.
McClenny said the inspiration behind Reader Palooza is to “bring the community together to remind them about reading this summer.” With children out of school, the library can serve as a learning space with free activities, entertainment and education, he said.
This summer, the library is excited to introduce a new circus performer and a Johnny Appleseed puppet show.
In line with this year’s theme, paleoartist Emily Willoughby will come to the Millhopper Library June 8 to teach librarygoers how to draw dinosaurs.
Jennifer Hall, a Gainesville resident and mother, attended with her daughter for their second year celebrating the library’s summer season.
Her daughter is an avid reader, and the library helps keep her occupied while she’s out of school, she said.
“I love anything that supports her,” Hall said, “like encouraging kids to just read and enjoy everything.”
Emily Medina-Finsen is a contributing writer for The Alligator.
Pollinator Palooza
Saturday, June 27 | 12-4 p.m. 1220 SE Veitch St, Gainesville
Take home free plants, enjoy pollinator-themed beers and meet Florida Museum scientists at this fun-for-all-ages festival!
Emily Medina-Finsen // Alligator Contributor
Attendees gather during the “Rawrrr Into Reading” event at the Tower Road Branch Library, Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Gainesville, Fla.
El Caimán
LUNES, 8 DE JUNIO DE 2026
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‘Living in limbo’: DACA recipients vulnerable to deportation after long renewal times, among other difficulties
DEFERRED ACTION FOR CHILDHOOD ARRIVALS PROGRAM RECIPIENTS WORRY ABOUT DEPORTATION AND JOB INSECURITY DUE TO DELAYS IN RENEWAL, LITTLE LEGAL SUPPORT AND ECONOMIC DIFFICULTIES
By Angelique Rodriguez & Ornella Moreno Alligator Staff Writers
Nestor Vallejos said he lives every day not knowing when his job, home and family will be taken from him.
Vallejos has resided in America since he emigrated from Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2001 at 6 years old. Now 31, he has built a household, career and life in West Palm Beach, Florida. He is a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, an Obama-era program that provides deportation protection to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children.
While DACA does not provide a legal immigration status to its recipients, commonly referred to as Dreamers, it allows
Men’s Basketball
A look at how Florida’s returners stack up to the competition. Read more on pg. 11.
them to hold work permits, obtain Social Security numbers and live in the country. Dreamers have to renew their protection every two years.
However, as of recently, Dreamers across the country are experiencing delays in their DACA program renewals, making it possible for them to be detained and deported.
In March 2026, National Immigration Law Center confirmed cases where U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has paused processing DACA renewal requests for people who are nationals of certain countries listed in Presidential Proclamations 10949 and 10998. These countries include Haiti, Venezuela and Cuba.
Vallejos said the administration’s handling of DACA negatively affects his daily life. He lives every day in fear, he said, knowing the possibility of the program’s erasure.
“It’s like living in limbo,” he said. “You never know if tomorrow’s the day the administration will cancel the program … Everything I’ve worked for could just be taken away overnight.”
It’s possible he could be detained and deported, Vallejos said, when the U.S. is all he’s known since childhood.
And the threats haven’t just affected his personal life;
they’ve also impacted Vallejos in his career. After graduating from the University of Central Florida in 2021 with a degree in computer engineering, he worked as a software engineer. But in December 2024, when his DACA renewal didn’t come in time, he had to take an unpaid leave of absence for about a month.
It was stressful and anxiety-inducing, Vallejos said, especially as the head of his household, to not be able to provide for his parents and brother even after filing his renewal application on time.
“The worst thing is not even so much the economics,” Vallejos said. “It’s the emotional hardship that it puts you through, because you don’t know if this time they’ll approve it.”
Read the rest online at alligator.org. @angeliquesrod arodriguez@alligator.org @ornellamorenom ormoreno@alligator.org
Síganos para actualizaciones Para obtener actualizaciones de El Caimán, síganos en línea en www.alligator.org/section/spanish.
UNTIL 9 PM
Museum Nights
Thursday, June 11, 6 – 9 pm
Fabulously You
Don’t miss this vibrant night of creativity, performance and selfexpression. Catch the high-energy performance and join in the now iconic Express Yourself Runway! Multiple activities will take place including a delightfully colorful, exercise with squigglyshaped furniture parts led by Conrad Cheung, UF Assistant Professor of 3D + Extended Media.
Wine Down
Thursday, June 25, 6 – 9 pm
Join us for the UFAA Alumni Weekend! Enjoy desserts, lemonade, wine and beer from Mildred’s while listening to the folk sounds of The Wire Birds.
image: (detail) Hara Takeshi
www.alligator.org/section/opinions
UF’s DEI post tells us everything about the school’s vision for itself
On May 22, a federal official weighed in on a state university’s presidential search. That alone should raise eyebrows. But what followed tells us more about the direction of this institution than any presidential forum ever will.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in an X post UF “deserves a president who will continue to drive” reforms against DEI. Her statement was in response to Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who had raised concerns about transparency in the presidential search process.
Within hours, UF’s official X account responded.
“DEI is discriminatory by design, antithetical to the purpose of a university, and incompatible with the pursuit of truth,” the university wrote. “Dr. Stuart Bell stands with Secretary McMahon, the Board, and the people of Florida on this.”
Set aside the substance of that claim for a moment. Focus instead on what the post reveals structurally: UF’s leadership used its official platform to amplify a partisan political position on one of the most contested issues in American higher education — in the middle of a presidential search — in direct response to a federal cabinet secretary.
That’s not a policy statement. That’s a loyalty signal — and it raises two uncomfortable questions this community hasn’t been ready to ask.
To understand why this matters, you have to remember what happened last year. The Florida Board of Governors rejected Santa Ono as the next president of UF, bowing to opposition from conservatives over his past support of DEI initiatives.
It was the first time a sole finalist had been rejected — not only in Florida but nationally.
The humiliation was total. Ono had even pledged in his opening statement before the Board of Governors to end DEI, emphasizing he supported the decision to end the policy and is “here to ensure DEI never returns to the University of Flor-
ida.”
It still wasn’t enough. His past associations were a permanent mark on his record.
The lesson UF’s Board of Trustees absorbed from that debacle was blatantly obvious: Don’t bring another candidate who has to be rehabilitated on DEI. Find someone whose record is already clean — or better yet, whose record can be deployed as a credential to the people in Tallahassee and Washington, who hold the real veto power.
Enter Stuart Bell.
Until last July, Bell served for a decade as president of the University of Alabama. Under his tenure, the university surpassed 40,000 students and achieved Carnegie R1 research status.
By traditional metrics, that’s a strong résumé. But during his time at Alabama, Bell formed an advisory committee on diversity and oversaw a significant increase in enrollment among minority students between 2020 and 2024 — which is precisely what prompted the conservative backlash and McMahon’s unusual intervention when he was named the sole finalist.
What’s revealing is how UF responded.
The May 22 post wasn’t a defense of Bell’s academic record or his qualifications. It was a voucher for his ideological alignment, performed publicly for the benefit of the Board of Governors three weeks before their confirmation vote.
Bell’s selection and the administration’s willingness to publicly vouch for his politics on demand are not separable phenomena — they are the same story.
Here is where things get structurally awkward for UF’s administration.
On Dec. 4, 2025, UF’s Board of Trustees adopted an institutional neutrality policy stating UF “maintains institutional neutrality on political, social, and other issues not directly related to its mission, governance, or operations.”
The policy, which restricts UF leadership from speaking on
social and political issues, applies to emails, social media, videos, messages and websites. Under this framework, UF leadership may not discuss any polarizing political, ideological, moral or religious topics.
Whether DEI qualifies as a “polarizing” political issue is about as close to a settled question as American public life currently offers. Some critics have already argued that in condemning DEI, the university violated its own policy — including Walter Kimbrough, a former college president who now works for the United Negro College Fund.
In a May 26 X post, Kimbrough noted UF leaders are “barred from using university resources — such as official email systems, websites, and social media channels — to make proclamations on societal or political issues” like DEI.
State Rep. Daryl Campbell, D-Fort Lauderdale, who sits on the Florida House Higher Education Budget Subcommittee, sent a 21-question letter to UF’s assistant vice president for government relations, arguing the university “appears to be violating its own neutrality policy.”
Silence, apparently, is UF’s answer. A university communications representative said there was no additional statement or comment about the post.
The neutrality policy contains one carve-out worth noting: Only the UF president, in consultation with the Board of Trustees chair, has the power to make statements on social issues.
Read the rest online at alligator.org/section/opinions.
@BySashaMorel smorel@alligator.org
What happens when celebrity supersedes competition
The NBA has a blatant culture problem staring it directly in the face, and NBA commissioner Adam Silver refuses to acknowledge it.
As a casual fan, the difference between watching college basketball and the NBA in 2026 feels like night and day.
At the time of writing this, the NBA Finals have just gotten underway, and the experience finally feels like championship basketball. But for almost the entire playoffs, it has been nothing but embarrassing clip after embarrassing clip.
Between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander jumping into defenders for foul calls, the Cleveland Cavaliers “quitting” in the middle of an elimination game and players flopping all over the court like fish out of water, the NBA’s level of passion for its championship tournament simply does not compare to any other sport, including its collegiate counterpart.
The “player empowerment” era has contributed to a sense of entitlement that makes the sport almost unwatchable. Players today make so much money that they don’t feel the need to put everything on the line day in and day out. In the regular season, players take games off for “load management” because the
games simply don’t mean enough to them.
To solve this, the NBA installed the NBA Cup, a mid-season tournament with a financial incentive for the winners.
But what good is a financial incentive when players already have all the money in the world?
The NBA Cup is as meaningless to fans as it is to players. It doesn’t have the same championship feel as the traditional NBA Finals.
Aside from the lack of passion on the court, the apathy from team decision-makers is just as alarming.
Far too many executives have accepted losing as a “cost of doing business,” but when everyone starts trying to lose, the race to the bottom becomes just as competitive as the race to the top. There lies the tanking problem that Silver keeps trying — and failing — to address.
Back in February, the NBA fined the Utah Jazz $500,000 for “conduct detrimental to the league” after the team chose to bench its best players for the entire fourth quarter across two straight games. ESPN NBA Insider Bobby Marks criticized the fines, comparing them to a luxury tax team owners have no problem paying if it gives them a competitive advantage.
Commissioner Silver and the NBA routinely
adjust the rules of the draft lottery to combat tanking, and the latest installment is by far the most egregious. Teams who finish in the bottom three will now be punished with worse odds at the number one pick. While this is meant to discourage tanking teams from finishing last, the teams that are actually bad without tanking are the only ones being punished. This change comes after the 2026 lottery, where the Washington Wizards became the first team with the best odds to actually win the top pick since the system was last changed in 2019.
The previous system didn’t stop teams from tanking, and this new one likely won’t, either. That’s because tanking is a culture issue — not a systemic one. Like the flopping and carelessness of the players, it’s a problem that needs to be solved from the inside out. Players and executives simply have to care about winning and integrity; they should respect the sanctity of the game enough that the thought of manipulating it is repulsive. But that’s unfortunately not the case in the modern NBA.
The NBA can learn from the college game, where culture problems are far less of an issue. Players always have something to play for; there are enough games in a season for each to have meaning — and most important-
The views expressed here are not necessarily
Brayden Schultz opinions@alligator.org
ly, everyone cares. College basketball teams don’t play more than 40 games in the regular season. Teams play two to three games per week, which keeps players healthy and fresh, and the season is filled with exciting matchups and rivalry games — both in- and out-of-conference — that make the players and fans willing to try harder.
When Florida plays Florida State, it matters whether it’s the first game of the season or the last. The NBA hasn’t had a rivalry like that since the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers faced off in four straight finals from 2015 to 2018.
At the end of the day, fans will care if the players care. The players shouldn’t have to be forced to care, but that’s the world we live in.
The awkward staring contest won’t end until the NBA acknowledges the real problem: the erosion of a competitive culture that once made the league great.
@schultzbrayden9 bschultz@alligator.org
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1. TELEVISION: Who is the long-time host of the reality show "Survivor"?
2. MOVIES: What is the song playing when the lead characters dance the twist in "Pulp Fiction"?
3. U.S. STATES: The first president, George Washington, was born in which colony that would later become a state?
4. GEOGRAPHY: Which South American country controls Easter Island?
5. MYTHOLOGY: To which mythological character is the Parthenon dedicated?
6. LITERATURE: Which war is the background for Anthony Doerr's novel "All the Light We Cannot See"?
7. MATH: What is the sum of the first five prime numbers?
8. INVENTORS: Which inventor developed more than 300 products from peanuts?
9. MUSIC: Who won Album of the Year at the 2026 Grammys?
10. HISTORY: In what year did U.S. women earn the right to open credit cards in their own names? © 2025 King Features Synd., Inc.
Trivia Test Sports
Quiz
1. On Jan. 1, 2006, which New England Patriots player made the first successful drop kick in the NFL since 1941 when he scored an extra point in the final game of his career?
2. What NBA team defeated the Soviet Union national basketball team 127-100 in the final of the 1987 McDonald's Open tournament?
3. In September 1964, which National League team was in first place by 5 1/2 games, but went on a losing skid (including 10 straight losses) and ended up tied for second?
4. What award, first presented by the National Association of Sports Officials in 1988, honors an individual or organization that has made significant contributions to the betterment of officiating?
5. What two players shared the United States Lawn Tennis Association's men's singles No. 1 ranking in 1973?
6. What Major League Baseball pitcher was also a medical student who twice (in 1976 and 1978) went into the stands to give aid to a fan suffering from a heart attack?
7. Name the two in-state college football rivals who played to a 0-0 tie in a rainy, turnover-plagued game in November 1983 known as the "Toilet Bowl."
Doug Flutie.
The Milwaukee Bucks.
The Philadelphia Phillies ("Phold of '64").
The Gold Whistle Award.
Stan Smith and Jimmy Connors.
The University of Oregon Ducks
The Greek goddess Athena.
George Washington Carver.
Bad Bunny.
© 2025 King
MONDAY, JUNE 8, 2026
www.alligator.org/section/sports
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Chasing the Gators: How opponents upgraded their rosters
FLORIDA RETAINED 10 PLAYERS FROM LAST SEASON AND BROUGHT IN FOUR
By Jeffrey Serber Sports Writer
After retaining 10 players from last season’s team — including projected 2026 NBA draft picks Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu — Florida has cemented itself as an early contender to win the national championship heading into the 2026-27 season.
As a result, FanDuel Sportsbook has the Gators as favorites, with 6-1 odds to win the national title.
Florida has found success retaining many key pieces to its 2025-26 team that secured the program’s first regular-season Southeastern Conference title since 2014, and many programs across the country have followed suit.
Here are four teams the Gators will face in the 2026-27 season that have had successful offseasons and pose a threat to UF’s quest for a fourth national championship:
Tennessee
After exiting the 2026 NCAA Tournament in the Elite Eight to would-be champions Michigan, head coach Rick Barnes and Tennessee saw many key players leave, such as 2025-26 All-SEC First Team member Ja’Kobi Gillespie and conference All-Freshman Team member Nate Ament.
As a result, the Volunteers brought in 11 players, including seven from the transfer portal, five of whom are projected to start accord-
TENNIS
ing to CBS Sports’ John Rothstein’s Rothstein 45.
Juke Harris, who transferred from Wake Forest, finished his sophomore campaign averaging 21.4 points and 6.5 rebounds on 44.4 minutes per game for the Demon Deacons, leading to the guard receiving second team AllACC honors and being named the conference’s most improved player. He finished the season first in the conference in total minutes and second in total points, free throws made and freethrow attempts.
"Juke can take over a game and impose his will at any time,” Barnes said in a press release on May 4. “He is a versatile player who can handle the ball in transition and has the length to make an impact defensively.”
Harris will be joined in the backcourt by Virginia Commonwealth transfer Terrence Hill Jr., California transfer Dai Dai Ames and Notre Dame transfer Jalen Haralson.
To add size, the Volunteers brought in big men Miles Rubin and Christian Fermin. Entering his senior year after three seasons with Loyola Chicago, Rubin played over 100 games for the Ramblers. Last season, he averaged 11.3 points and 7.1 boards per game. Rubin was voted to the Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Teams in two straight seasons.
"Miles is an ideal fit in our defensive scheme as a sensational rim protector who can also defend one-on-one in the post and guard on the perimeter,” Barnes said in a press release on April 13.
While the SEC schedule has yet to be announced, these teams will play at least once in conference play and potentially in the conference tournament. Last season, Florida won its
sole meeting against Tennessee 91-67 on Jan. 10 in Gainesville, fueled by Boogie Fland’s 23 points. Overall, Tennessee leads the series 8162.
Texas
Following an underdog run at the 2026 NCAA Tournament, going from the First Four to the Sweet 16, head coach Sean Miller looks to build on his first season in Austin. While he lost key players like reigning SEC Newcomer of the Year Dailyn Swain and Jordan Pop, Miller and the Longhorns reloaded during the offseason, looking to wreak havoc once again.
The Longhorns brought in 10 players during the offseason, including Texas Christian transfer David Punch.
A junior forward from Harker Heights, Texas, Punch finished his second season with the Horned Frogs, starting all 34 games and averaging a team-leading 14.1 points in addition to 6.8 rebounds per outing. Against Florida in the Rady Children’s Invitational on Nov. 27, he recorded 19 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals en route to TCU’s 84-80 upset win.
“I looked at Punch as an inside-outside guy, who could play the four,” Miller said May 28. “He’s really good at driving the ball, and in a pinch, would be big and physical enough to play the five.”
Away from the transfer portal, Texas assembled a strong first-year class, highlighted by five-star prospect Austin Goosby and consensus four-star Bo Ogden.
The Longhorns retained one of their more impactful players last season in center Matas Vokietaitis, who finished the 2025-26 season
with 15.6 points and 7.1 rebounds across the 36 games he started. Against Florida on Feb. 25, he scored 12 points and played a key role in getting Haugh and Condon into foul trouble.
“Matas is much more agile and mobile than he appears,” Miller said May 28. “As he got more experienced, what you saw is a higher ceiling than what probably anyone expected.”
As is the case with Tennessee, the conference schedule has yet to be released, but the Gators expect to face the Longhorns at least once during the 2026-27 season and possibly in the conference tournament.
Overall, the Gators lead the series 5-4, including two straight wins since Texas joined the SEC in 2024-25.
Houston
For the first time in program history, Florida will take part in the Players Era 8 Tournament in Las Vegas, competing against some of the strongest programs in college basketball to kick off nonconference action.
Houston is one of eight programs in the tournament and would face Florida Nov. 18 if the two take down their first-round opponents: Notre Dame for Florida and Rutgers for Houston. This matchup would not only be the first time the two met since the 2025 national championship game, but also a contest among two teams that have reloaded for the 2026-27 season after failing to reach the Final Four.
Read the rest online at alligator.org/section/sports.
@JeffreySerber Jserber@alligator.org
How Florida's improvement in doubles propelled its comeback season
THE GATORS ENDED THE SEASON WITH A 14-11 DOUBLES RECORD
By Sofia Alamo Sports Writer
Opening the 2026 campaign, Florida women’s tennis carried one undeniable power under its belt: the mastery of doubles. Clinching the doubles point in five consecutive matches to kick off the season, the Gators had a newfound strength pushing them forward.
However, that strong point suddenly shrank when conference play began, and the Gators shouldered the responsibility of rebuilding confidence in the home stretch of the season.
Performances
One doubles team found its rhythm off the bat. Riding a five-game winning streak since the season opener, Brooke Black and Valery Gynina were the driving force behind Florida’s doubles success. The freshman-junior
duo communicated in Russian on the court, building a unique bond that translated to victories.
“I think it gives us a lot of confidence,” Black said Feb. 13 after the pair earned its fourth straight win against Troy. “We’ve only gotten better with every match.”
But that rapid improvement came to a halt. The SEC opener against then-No. 13 Auburn marked the first match where the Gators didn't see it through in doubles.
Florida’s then-No. 23 pair of Xinyi Nong and Nikola Daubnerova fell to Auburn's Ava Esposito and DJ Bennett in a 6-3 contest. The duo of India Houghton and Lucie Pawlak soon followed, ultimately taking a 6-3 loss to the Tigers’ Ekaterina Khairutdinova and Ashton Bower.
Gynina and Black saw their win streak narrowly survive, as their match against Auburn was cut short at 5-4. But their struggle to close out the victory uncovered an earlyseason weakness: unforced errors.
The Gators were safe for the next two matches, starting with a doubles win against
Bethune-Cookman. Facing an opponent with only two doubles teams, Florida was automatically awarded the second doubles point upon winning the first match.
In their next doubles showing against Arkansas, the Gators regained momentum against a conference opponent. Gynina and Black dominated Arkansas’ Jimena Gomez Alonso and Brooke Schafer in a 6-2 decision. Florida’s Houghton and Pawlak met a similar fate, edging Arkansas’ Arina Babenko and Panagiotidou 6-4 to secure the doubles point.
The Gators’ next match against then-No. 11 Oklahoma uncovered a pattern the team followed several times throughout the season: winning the match despite losing the doubles point.
Then-No. 23 Nong and Daubnerova faced the No. 1 doubles team in the nation, ultimately falling 6-4 to Gloriana Nahum and Roisin Gilheany. In their first loss of the 2026 season, Gynina and Black couldn't close out the match against then-No. 44 Edda Mamedova and Evialina Laskevich, losing 6-4.
Despite the disappointment in doubles,
Florida went on to claim a close 4-3 victory over the Sooners. For the first time all season, the Gators proved they didn't need the initial advantage to find success in singles.
“We lost the doubles point, and we still came back to win,” head coach Per Nilsson said post-match. “That's hard to do against a really good team.”
Just as quickly as they recovered, the Gators fell the next weekend facing their highest-ranked opponent yet. They lost the doubles point to then-No. 4 LSU and were ultimately swept 4-0.
As competition got tougher, Florida’s doubles roster struggled to keep up with top opponents. The Gators had trouble communicating and staying on the same page as their partners.
Read the rest online at alligator.org/section/sports. @alamosofiaa salamo@alligator.org
www.alligator.org/section/sports.
BASEBALL
Pitching woes sink Gators' super regional hopes
FLORIDA'S OFFENSE DELIVERED, BUT A STRUGGLING PITCHING STAFF COULDN’T HOLD UP ITS END OF THE BARGAIN
By Colton Veres Sports Writer
At the start of Will Palmer’s tenureFor two days, everything seemed to be falling into place for Florida.
The Gators survived a late scare against Rider May 29 thanks to a walk-off home run from sophomore shortstop Brendan Lawson. The next day, they overwhelmed in-state rival Miami with a 22-run offensive explosion. With a 2-0 record in the Gainesville Regional, Florida sat a win away from hosting a super regional. Then the pitching staff unraveled.
The warning signs had been there from the beginning. While Florida escaped its opener against Rider with an 8-7 victory, the game exposed issues that would eventually end the Gators' season.
Junior right-hander Russell Sandefer provided one of the few bright spots on the mound all weekend, throwing 5.2 scoreless innings. But with Florida leading 4-0 in the eighth inning, the bullpen surrendered the advantage. Sophomore reliever Jackson Barberi allowed a game-tying grand slam to senior outfielder Anthony Paskell before redshirt freshman closer Joshua Whritenour gave up a two-run homer to junior catcher Nick Shuhet.
The Gators eventually recovered behind home runs from redshirt sophomore two-way player Caden McDonald and senior second baseman Cade Kurland, before Lawson delivered the walk-off blast. Even with the win, however, the cracks began to show.
Those concerns resurfaced May 30 against Miami.
Florida's offense turned in one of the most explosive performances in program history, scoring 22 runs and launching a program-record five home runs in the eighth inning alone. The offensive fireworks masked another diffi-
cult day on the mound.
SEC Pitcher of the Year Aidan King lasted only three innings and allowed six runs, a rare outing of struggle for the sophomore. The staff ultimately surrendered 10 runs, but the offense provided more than enough support in the 2210 victory.
Despite their lackluster pitching, the Gators were still exactly where every regional host hopes to be: undefeated and one win away from advancing.
Troy had other plans.
After eliminating Miami May 31, the Trojans returned later that day to face Florida and immediately put pressure on junior starter Liam Peterson. Coming off dominant outings
against LSU and Alabama in which he threw a total of 12 innings, allowed two runs and struck out 19 batters, Peterson entered with momentum on his side.
It disappeared quickly.
Sophomore catcher Jimmy Janicki launched a first-inning home run to give Troy an early lead before adding another homer in the third inning. The Trojans blasted three home runs in the first three innings and built a 6-2 advantage.
Florida's offense repeatedly attempted to claw its way back. Lawson and McDonald each homered to cut into the deficit, but the game slipped away in the sixth inning.
Peterson allowed the first two runners to
reach before being replaced by graduate lefthander Ernesto Lugo-Canchola. The struggles continued as Canchola surrendered two hits and another run before redshirt freshman Schuyler Sandford entered. Sandford recorded an out but also walked in a run, hit a batter to force another home and allowed an RBI single.
By the time redshirt senior Billy Barlow finally escaped the inning, Troy had exploded for five more runs, highlighted by a grand slam off the bat of Gainesville Regional MVP Jabe Boroff.
Florida mounted another late rally behind Kurland's opposite-field grand slam and a tworun homer from McDonald, but the deficit proved too large in a 16-11 loss.
The defeat forced a winner-take-all rematch June 1 with a super regional berth on the line.
In place of a rested starter, Florida turned to sophomore Cooper Walls as an opener. The experiment got off to a rough start when Janicki drove in another first-inning run.
McDonald then stabilized the game, shutting Troy down through the fifth inning while allowing only two baserunners. But once again, the sixth inning proved disastrous. Sandefer, pitching on short rest after starting May 29’s opener, entered and walked three consecutive batters to load the bases. LugoCanchola followed and allowed three straight hits that brought home five runs.
Boroff delivered another crushing blow in the eighth with a three-run homer that pushed Troy's lead to 10-2 and effectively ended Florida's season.
Albeit in game four, the offensive production never disappeared for the Gators. Through four regional games, Florida logged 44 hits and scored 43 runs.
The problem was its pitching staff, which surrendered 49 hits and 43 runs.
What began as a promising march toward a super regional ended with a pitching staff unable to find answers at the season's most important moment.
@colton_veres cveres@alligator.org
Bayden Armstrong // Alligator Staff
Florida right-handed pitcher Liam Peterson (12) pitches during an NCAA college baseball game against Auburn Friday, April 17, 2026 at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Fla.