Florida baseball rallies to beat Jacksonville on the road
Florida baseball rallies to beat Jacksonville on the road
Florida moved to 4-0 on the 2025 college baseball season with a 10-4 win at Jacksonville Tuesday night.
Things started out rough with Jacksonville taking a two-run lead in the first. Clemson transfer Billy Barlow hit the first Dolphins batter he saw and walked in a run later in the inning. A pair of errors — a passed ball and botched play at third — extended an already rough frame, but Barlow induced a double play to limit the damage.
Florida couldn't get much going offensively the first time through the order. Colby Shelton doubled to right and Justin Nadeau singled to left, but neither scored. Barlow pitched through the third, ending his day with a 0.00 ERA on one hit, three walks and hit batter. The errors saved him from a spiked ERA, but there are some obvious command issues to address.
Luke McNeillie took over in the fourth and went 1-2-3, but another run came through in the fifth on a leadoff triple and balk. Fortunately, Florida's bats picked up in the top half of the inning, scoring four runs. Bobby Boser hit a three-run homer to spark the rally, and Brody Donay hit his fourth home run in as many games after a pitching change. A trio of base knocks brought in another for the Gators in the sixth, making it 5-3.
McNeillie settled back in for the bottom of the sixth and struck out the side, ending the day with a career-high seven punchouts. A three-spot in the top of the seventh gave Florida a five-run cushion; Blake Cyr drove in the first run, and Hayden Yost knocked in the others.
Aidan King came out for the bottom of the seventh and got into some trouble after another error (Kurland). An unearned run scored, but an unassisted double play to first stopped the bleeding. Then, it was Jacksonville's turn to commit an error. Two more runs crossed in the top of the eighth for insurance, and King retired the side in order for a much cleaner frame.
Alex Philpott looked sharp in the close, striking out the first two batters and ending the game on a line out to center. He needed just 12 pitches to get through the ninth.
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