Recapping Florida Gators baseball's weekend series win over the Texas Longhorns

USA Today

11-05-2025

Recapping Florida Gators baseball's weekend series win over the Texas Longhorns
Five weeks ago, the Florida Gators were one of the most disappointing teams in college baseball. Since then, the Orange and Blue have transformed into one of the hottest clubs in the country, most recently defeating No. 1 Texas in a three-game series, 8-2, 2-5, 4-1, over the weekend.
The Gators have now won five straight series in SEC play, and their conference record is 13-14. A near-complete recovery from a 1-11 start through the first four series, Kevin O'Sullivan's team is once again getting hot at the right time of the year. Florida has now firmly cemented its spot in the NCAA Tournament field and could have an outside shot at hosting.
Good pitching and timely offense were the dominant themes of the weekend against Texas. Florida opened the series with a six-run first on Friday and got strong performances from Pierce Coppola and three of four relief arms. The Gators got out in front early on Saturday, too, but a rain delay knocked Liam Peterson out of the game early and the Longhorns plated five in one inning to decide the game.
Sunday's rubber match featured a dominant performance from freshman right-hander Aidan King for Florida. The rookie went seven shutout innings and closer Jake Clemente shut the door after staying warm for most of the weekend.
Game 1: Florida 8, Texas 2
Sully changed his pitching rotation up for the weekend and threw Pierce Coppola first. He knew Coppola was only going two or three innings as he works his way back, so Billy Barlow was the middle innings plan and then he'd manage the backend of the bullpen from there. Coppola struck out three over the first two innings and navigated his way around a pair of singles and a couple of hit batters. Barlow ended up going four and allowed just one run on two hits and one walk with six strikeouts.
Barlow's long relief outing saved a few arms and allowed Jackson Barberi to struggle in the seventh. A leadoff single and one-out walk brought O'Sullivan out to make the change, and Luke McNeillie finished the inning. An error led to an unearned run in the eighth for Texas, but McNeillie was otherwise sharp, striking out three of the eight batters he faced. Christian Rodriguez finished things up, striking out three and allowing a single.
All eight of Florida's runs came in the first four innings, including a sixth-inning first. Ruger Rojas only recorded one out for the Longhorns and walked four of the eight batters he faced. Ty Evans doubled in Bobby Boser for the first run of the game, and Luke Heyman followed on a wild pitch in the next at-bat. Hayden Yost singled in Blake Cyr and Evans, and Justin Nadeau drove in Brody Donay and Yost right after Texas made the pitching change.
Texas used one of its top relievers, Max Grubbs, to get out of the first, but turned to lefty Grayson Saunier after that in an apparent game plan pivot. Florida's commanding lead wasn't enough to draw the white flag from Texas, but burning Grubbs in a game that required a big comeback to win isn't a smart way to start a series. Saunier gave up an RBI double to Nadeau in the third and an RBI single to Yost in the fourth. Florida didn't score after that, though.
Game 2: Texas 5, Florida 2
Things were going well for Florida on Saturday... until they weren't.
The Gators took another early lead after scoring twice in the second inning. An error led to an Ashton Wilson single and a Landon Stripling double that both scored runs. Meanwhile, Liam Peterson was dealing on the mound through four shutout frames. Peterson didn't have his usual strikeout stuff, but he was working quickly through the lineup and limiting baserunners. He walked the last batter he faced before the umpires called a stoppage due to lightning.
Both teams waited for two hours and six minutes before resuming the game. Peterson's night was done at just 66 pitches. Rodriguez took over for him and looked just as good as he had the night before, but he missed a spot in the sixth and gave up a monster homer to center field. Sully pulled the trigger and made a change, turning to Barberi again. Barberi gave up a homer of his own, and Sully came right back in to try Matthew Jenkins.
Jenkins got the first out of the inning, gave up a single and walked a batter before drawing O'Sullivan back out. Alex Philpott was next and finally got out of the inning, but not before a bases-clearing RBI made it 5-2. Blaine Rowland pitched the final two innings and found some success, striking out a batter over two shutout innings.
Florida's offense didn't make a peep after the rain delay. Sometimes, a long break kills the mojo a team has going and it's just hard to snap back into that mode, especially while on the road.
Game 3: Florida 4, Texas 1
Aidan King might win another SEC Freshman of the Week/Pitcher of the Week Award after going seven shutout innings in a rubber match against the No. 1 team in the nation on Sunday. The seven innings and nine strikeouts are both career-highs for the future ace of the program.
Wilson drove in the first run of the game in the second, with a ball back to the pitcher that got Cyr into home, and Cyr drove in Boser with a single up the middle in the third. Brody Donay hit a solo homer in the sixth and Heyman drove in Boser in the seventh. A little boring, but it was more than enough offense to back up King's big day. All that was left was for Jake Clemente to shut the door and claim the series.
Clemente took over in the eighth, and it turns out that putting away the top-ranked team in the country is easier said than done. He ran into trouble in both innings, walking a run in during the eighth and putting two more on in the ninth, but Clemente got through things relatively unharmed, even if it was a bit stressful.
What's next?
Florida finishes the regular season next weekend with an early three-game series against Alabama that begins on Thursday. The Gators will host the Crimson Tide and need to win two of three to finish conference play at 15-15. Florida is currently in a three-way tie for 10th place in the SEC regular season standings. Alabama has a two-game lead on Florida coming into the series.
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