After a jaw-dropping opening series against Air Force that saw him notch SEC Player of the Week honors with a .700 batting average and three home runs, all eyes were on junior designated hitter Brody Donay to see what he would do for an encore. He did not disappoint on Tuesday night.
Donay blasted yet another big fly against the Jacksonville Dolphins, as he went 2-for-4 on the night with two extra-base hits, one walk and a team-leading three runs scored. He has now gone deep in all four of Florida’s games this season.
The No. 10 Florida Gators defeated Jacksonville 10-4 at John Sessions Stadium on Tuesday night as Florida won its first road game of the 2025 season.
The Gators started the night sloppy, walking two batters, hitting another and tallying both a dropped third strike and an error in the bottom of the first. Jacksonville scratched two across in the frame without recording a hit to take the lead.
Senior right hander Billy Barlow tossed three innings in his first start as a Gator. The Clemson transfer allowed the two unearned runs on one hit and three walks while striking out four Dolphins.
Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan turned to sophomore Luke McNeillie out of the bullpen to relieve Barlow. In his second appearance of the season, McNeillie was lights out on Tuesday night. He tossed three innings of one-run ball, surrendering just one hit and one walk while striking out a career-high seven batters.
Jacksonville starting left-hander Alex Walsh stifled the Gators offensively through the first four innings. However, Florida finally got to him in the fifth. It was the second base hit of the game for JU-turned-Gator junior center fielder Justin Nadeau, which sophomore right fielder Hayden Yost followed with a walk. Senior third baseman Bobby Boser then crushed a full count, three-run bomb to dead-center, giving the Gators a 3-2 lead.
Two batters later, Donay hammered a long ball over the left-center wall to continue his dominance at the plate to start the season.
Florida continued piling on in the batter’s box as the night went on, adding one run in the sixth, three in the seventh and two more in the eighth. The Gators ended the night with 13 hits. All nine players in UF’s lineup had at least one hit, and seven drove in at least one run.
Three Gators had multiple hits: Donay, Boser and Nadeau. Nadeau, the Jacksonville transfer, impressed against his former squad, reaching base in all five of his plate appearances. He finished the night 3-for-3 with a hit by pitch and a walk. Boser also led the team in RBIs on the night, all of which came on his three-run go-ahead homer.
Freshman righty Aidan King and sophomore right-hander Alex Philpott closed out the victory for Florida after McNeillie’s stellar outing. King threw two innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits. Philpott then shut the door, using just 12 pitches in a one-two-three inning that included two punchouts. Florida’s pitchers struck out 14 on Tuesday, increasing the Gators’ strikeout tally to 61 through their first four games of the season.
The Gators (4-0) will return to Gainesville on Wednesday, as they welcome in-state foe Florida A&M (1-2). Florida has won 31 of 32 meetings against the Rattlers. UF will look to improve to 5-0 on the young season, with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. ET at Condron Family Ballpark.
Contact Hugh Green at hgreen@alligator.org. Follow him on X @HGreen_15.
Hugh is the Spring 2025 baseball beat reporter for The Alligator. He is a fourth-year journalism sports and media major. In his free time, Hugh enjoys watching all kinds of sports with his friends.
