Latest news with #PierceCoppola
USA Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Florida baseball vs ECU Pirates in Conway Regional elimination game
Florida baseball vs ECU Pirates in Conway Regional elimination game Florida survived the first elimination game of the Conway Regional on Saturday, and now the Gators must exact revenge on ECU in a rematch of the opening round matchup UF lost. Pierce Coppola gets the ball for the most important game of Florida's season with a reasonably stocked bullpen behind him, including multi-inning closer Jake Clemente. In an ideal world, Florida only uses those two arms and receives plenty of run support to coast into the next round against Coastal Carolina. The Gators would have to beat the Chanticleers twice in a row to advance to Super Regionals, but that's putting the cart before the horse. Follow along with Gators Wire's live blog coverage below. Updates will come each half inning, or sooner if necessary. What channel is Florida vs East Carolina on today? Florida vs East Carolina will be broadcast nationally on ESPN+. Streaming options for the game include ESPN+. Florida vs East Carolina time today Date: Sunday, June 1 Sunday, June 1 Start time: Noon ET The Florida vs East Carolina game starts at noon ET from Spring Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
11-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Recapping Florida Gators baseball's weekend series win over the Texas Longhorns
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. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
02-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Florida baseball's starting pitcher Pierce Coppola appears poised to return to action
Florida baseball's starting pitcher Pierce Coppola appears poised to return to action The Florida baseball team may have gotten a big boost this weekend, as left-handed starting pitcher Pierce Coppola was removed from the SEC availability report ahead of the start of this weekend's series at the South Carolina Gamecocks. The 6-foot-8-inch southpaw originally out of Verona, New Jersey, has not thrown in a game since March 1, when he tossed 2 1/3 innings of scoreless, no-hit ball against the Miami Hurricanes. Coppola also walked two and struck out three in the no-decision effort before getting pulled a bit earlier than one would expect given his performance to that point. It turned out that the injury bug returned to haunt the redshirt junior, whose career has already been marred by physical ailments. Kevin O'Sullivan and the Gator Nation must be breathing a sigh of relief with his imminent return to the clay diamond during the home stretch of the regular season. Florida Gators listed on SEC Availability Report Meanwhile, Florida has six players listed "out" on this weekend's availability report — a few of whom are key members of the Gators' roster. Infielders Cade Kurland and Colby Shelton are on the shelf, while a whopping four left-hand pitchers are sequestered in the casualty ward: Jacob Gomberg, Niko Janssens, Frank Menendez and McCall Biemiller. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
03-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Florida baseball loses another key player for season to injury
Florida baseball loses another key player for season to injury Florida can't seem to shake the injury bug this season. First, the Gators lost starting pitcher Pierce Coppola, who still hasn't returned to action after leaving during the second week of the season. Jacksonville transfer and draft prospect no longer roams center field at Condron Family Ballpark due to a season-ending shoulder injury. Lefty specialist Frankie Menendez is also done for the year and needs Tommy John surgery. Other arms, such as redshirt sophomore Jake Clemente, Sante Fe transfer Matthew Jenkins and team ace Liam Peterson, have also battled injuries this year. The latest name to join the list is junior second baseman Cade Kurland, a critical piece of Florida's offense and infield. After multiple attempts to return from a shoulder dislocation suffered during the Miami series, Kurland is officially done for the year, according to Kevin O'Sullivan. "Yeah, (Kurland's) going to have surgery in another week or two, so he'll be out," O'Sullivan said. "It's obviously unfortunate, but I don't think he was left with any other decision to make. We'll get him back, hopefully, next year and help him with his recovery. I know he was really disappointed. He tried to do everything he could to play, even when he played against Florida State in Jacksonville. He tried everything, but it wouldn't have been fair to him to continue to play." D1Baseball recently named Kurland a top-10 second baseman at the college level, and he's draft-eligible this summer. It's possible that he's played his last game in a Florida uniform, but the program will do what it can to retain him during the offseason. Naturally, the injury will hurt his draft stock and there's potential to become a Day 1 pick with a strong senior year, so there should be plenty of optimism that Kurland will return. Kurland finishes his junior year slashing .316/.490/.605 with three home runs and 15 runs batted in. He'd upped his walk rate significantly from single digits over the past year to 19.6% through 51 plate appearances. His 10 walks equal the number of strikeouts on the season, too. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
New York Times
24-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
College baseball week in review: Time to panic at Texas A&M, Florida and Virginia?
Texas A&M and Florida were ranked No. 1 and No. 6, respectively, in The Athletic's preseason top 25. After two weeks of league play, the two teams are a combined 1-11 in the SEC. Florida no doubt has some issues, but its slow start can be attributed, in part, to pitching injuries and a brutal schedule that included series against Tennessee (road) and Georgia (home). Advertisement Lefty Pierce Coppola was terrific in his first three starts but has missed the last three weekends due to an injury. And Liam Peterson, the Gators' Friday night starter, did not pitch against Georgia due to 'general soreness,' according to Jacob Rudner of Baseball America. In their absence, the Gators struggled to get quality starts against the Bulldogs' potent offense. The three starters — Aidan King, Billy Barlow and Jake Clemente — combined to give up 18 hits and 15 earned runs in only nine innings. Florida, which is 18-8 overall, hosts Florida State on Tuesday and then heads to Oxford to take on Ole Miss. Texas A&M's situation appears to be far more dire. The Aggies, under first-year coach Michael Earley, are 11-12 overall and 0-6 in the league after getting swept by Alabama (home) and Vanderbilt (road). The starting pitching has been very good, but the offense — which is dealing with a few key injuries — has been anemic. A&M ranks last in the SEC in batting (.257), on-base percentage (.368) and runs scored (146) and 15th in slugging (.431). In three games against Vanderbilt, Texas A&M batters struck out 49 times. Meanwhile, former Aggies coach Jim Schlossnagle is 19-3 overall and 5-1 in the SEC in his first season at rival Texas. Texas A&M, Florida, and Kentucky were all CWS team in 2024. They're a combined 2-16 to start SEC play in 2025. 😬 To call the league a gauntlet would be an understatement. — SEC Baseball (@SECbaseball) March 23, 2025 Over in the ACC, there is another national power off to a surprisingly slow start. Virginia, ranked No. 3 in the preseason, is 12-10 overall and 3-6 in the ACC. And unlike Florida and Texas A&M, the Cavaliers can't blame the schedule. They have played home series against Boston College and Duke and a road series at Cal — three solid but unranked teams. Advertisement 'I am obviously not succeeding about getting our players ready to play every day and play tough, competitive baseball up to the Virginia baseball standards, so that is on me,' coach Brian O'Connor said after a 6-2 loss to Richmond on Wednesday. Georgia scored 40 runs in its weekend sweep over Florida and ranks first nationally with 269 runs in 26 games — one year after losing Charlie Condon, the 2024 winner of the Golden Spikes Award. Wes Johnson and his staff reloaded through the transfer portal and found a gem in Ryland Zaborowski, a senior DH who is on his third team in five seasons. The Arizona native hit .305 with 10 home runs and 45 RBIs last year at Miami (Ohio), solid numbers but hardly anything to suggest he would star in the SEC. Well, in 23 games at Georgia, Zaborowski is hitting .467 with 14 home runs and 48 RBIs and leads the nation with a 1.708 OPS. We had quite an eventful set of midweek games, with seven top 25 teams — including three of the top six — dropping a nonconference game. The headliner was ETSU handing top-ranked Tennessee its first loss of the season, 7-6 in extra innings on Tuesday. Yes, it was a huge upset, but this was no major fluke. The Buccaneers are 18-5 after taking two of three from Samford over the weekend. Elsewhere: In their first matchup as SEC rivals, Texas took two of three from LSU in Austin. All-America outfielder Max Belyeu was the star for the Longhorns on Sunday, going 2-for-4 with a home run and a triple. He is hitting .348 with five home runs and 18 RBIs. Dylan Volantis was brilliant out of the pen, throwing 3.1 innings of no-hit ball to pick up his fifth save. LSU saw its 17-game winning streak snapped on Saturday night. The Tigers host Mississippi State next weekend, while Texas visits Missouri. Georgia Tech improved to 20-4 overall and 7-2 in the ACC with a weekend sweep at Notre Dame by a combined score of 37-14. Shortstop Kyle Lodise went 4-for-5 with three home runs in Friday's 18-7 win and 3-for-5 with a home run in Saturday's 9-5 win. Lodise, a first-year transfer from Division II Augusta (Ga.) University, is hitting .371 with a team-high nine home runs. Center fielder Drew Burress, the 2024 national freshman of the year, is hitting .340 with eight home runs. The Yellow Jackets' schedule is about to toughen up considerably, starting with a home series against Clemson followed by a trip to ACC newcomer Stanford. UCLA and Oregon are both 7-2 after their first three series in the Big Ten. UCLA has played at Maryland and hosted Nebraska and Indiana. Oregon, meanwhile, has yet to leave the West Coast; the Ducks swept USC on the road and then won two of three against both Minnesota and Rutgers in Eugene. Iowa, too, is 7-2 in league play after sweeping Ohio State in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes will make one trip to the West Coast, an early May series at Washington. Advertisement Nebraska, one of the league favorites in the preseason, is 2-7 in the Big Ten after going a combined 1-5 in consecutive weekends at UCLA (0-3) and USC (1-2). The Cornhuskers stayed on the West Coast between the two series and swept Pepperdine in a two-game midweek set. On Tuesday, Nebraska caught Pepperdine with the hidden ball trick in the third inning of a 9-6 win. HIDDEN BALL TRICK. 🪄 WORKED TO PERFECTION. — Nebraska Baseball (@HuskerBaseball) March 19, 2025 Arizona took two of three at West Virginia in a key early-season Big 12 series. The Wildcats won the opener 6-4 in 16 innings, dropped the second game 11-3 and won the finale 11-4. Arizona has won 18 of its last 20 games and is tied with Kansas State atop the league standings at 5-1. Kansas State swept Utah in Manhattan to open league play and then won two of three at Baylor over the weekend. The Cats are 14-4 since starting the season with one win in their first five games. Cincinnati, which won a series at Duke on the opening weekend of the season, is 12-11 overall and 1-5 in the Big 12. Cal made some history this weekend, and it had nothing to do with its first season playing in the ACC. The Bears swept Stanford at Sunken Diamond for the first time in school history. Cal had dropped its first two ACC series — at Virginia and vs. Duke — but is now 5-4 in the league after the weekend sweep. The Cardinal had been rolling, with series wins over North Carolina and Duke to open their league slate. Freshman slugger Rintaro Sasaki, who hit three home runs last weekend against Duke, went 4-for-12 with one home run in the three games against Cal. He is hitting .337 with four home runs and 24 RBIs. HISTORIC!!!!! Cal completes first 3-game road sweep of Stanford on The Farm in recorded history. #GoBears — Cal Baseball (@CalBaseball) March 23, 2025 • UC Irvine swept UCSB on the road in a crucial early-season Big West showdown. On Friday night, the Anteaters scored three earned runs in six innings off All-America pitcher Tyler Bremner. On Saturday, they touched up Jackson Flora for five earned runs in 3.1 innings. UC Irvine is 17-5 overall and 8-1 in league play. UCSB, which lost two of three at Hawaii two weeks ago, dropped to 4-5 in the Big West. Advertisement • Virginia Tech picked up a nice series win over Louisville, winning the rubber match 11-4 on Sunday afternoon in Blacksburg. It was career win No. 600 for Hokies coach John Szefc. Tech is 16-8 overall and 4-5 in the ACC. • North Carolina's Aidan Haugh came one out shy of a seven-inning no-hitter in the Tar Heels' 10-0 win at Boston College on Sunday. His final line: one hit, no runs, one walk and 11 strikeouts in seven innings. • UTRGV was the first team to 10 conference wins. The Vaqueros are 17-5 overall and 10-2 in the Southland Conference. • Two weeks into league play, Auburn is halfway to its SEC win total from last season. The Tigers improved to 19-5 overall and 4-2 in the league by taking two of three at Kentucky. A year ago, Auburn went 8-22 in the SEC and was one of two teams that didn't qualify for the league tournament. • Clemson rallied from a 6-0 deficit to walk off Wake Forest 7-6 on Sunday, scoring the winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth. It was a painful loss for the Demon Deacons, who missed an opportunity to record a road series win against a top-10 team. • Yale freshman Jack Ohman has yet to allow an earned run in 25.1 innings of work. He has allowed 16 hits and has 30 strikeouts and seven walks. (Photo of Jace Laviolette: Brianna Paciorka / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
