Nearly one year ago to the day, the Florida Gators were stunned in their season opener against the St. John’s Red Storm. The loss put UF on a lopsided trajectory for the remainder of the 2024 campaign, which saw the Gators finish the regular season at 28-26 before mustering their way into a College World Series run.
Despite its success in the postseason, UF made it clear from the get-go that it couldn’t afford another wonky start in 2025. Florida came out of the gates knowing that it had to make a statement in its opening weekend against the Air Force Falcons – and it did exactly that.
After shutting out the Falcons in game one Friday night, the Gators completed the series sweep with a pair of dominant victories over Air Force in a Saturday doubleheader. Florida sailed through the day with a 10-4 win in game two and an 11-1 (7) win in game three.
Redshirt sophomore Jake Clemente and redshirt junior Pierce Coppola spearheaded the charge for Florida with a pair of stellar outings on the mound. Both pitchers secured their respective career-highs in strikeouts (eight for Clemente, 12 for Coppola), with the latter also pitching a nearly flawless five-inning slate.
“I think we only walked one in 16 innings today,” UF head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Obviously, a step in the right direction and a marked improvement from last year.”
In addition to his record-breaking 12 Ks, Coppola finished his afternoon with a line of one hit, one walk and zero runs en route to the first regular season win of his career. Clemente, who pitched six innings earlier in the afternoon, compiled a line of three hits, zero walks and three runs.
While the Gators certainly excelled from a pitching standpoint, they were just as good (if not better) in the batter’s box. Junior catcher/designated hitter Brody Donay, who hit Florida’s first home run of the season on Friday night, knocked one out in each game on Saturday.. He finished the day with a combined 5-for-7 clip from the plate, as well as four RBIs and five runs.
UF sophomore center fielder Hayden Yost also had himself a day to remember. Just nine months after tearing his ACL in practice, Yost went a combined 6-for-8 at the plate across both Saturday games. He also stole a team-high three bases in the first game .
Clemente kept the Falcons off the board through the first two frames of game one. The right-hander sat down four batters on strikes in that span.
After a scoreless bottom of the first, UF sophomore designated hitter Landon Stripling kicked things off with a bomb into right-center field. Facing a 1-1 count, Stripling ripped a ball 392 feet into Dizney Grove to give the Gators their first lead of the afternoon.
Donay immediately followed with a hard-hit single into left field and a stolen base to put another man in scoring position for UF. Two at-bats later, Yost cracked an RBI single into right field, bringing Donay home and extending the lead to 2-0.
It took less than half an inning for the lead to evaporate entirely. Air Force sophomore first baseman Cam Anstey led off the top of the third by reaching first on a hit-by-pitch. On the next at-bat, junior second baseman T.J. Oster knocked a single through to give the Falcons a pair of runners on base.
Looking to move his teammates into scoring position, sophomore center fielder Christian Taylor hit a sacrifice bunt just a few feet past home plate. As Donay reeled in the ball, however, he overthrew UF freshman Brendan Lawson at first base, allowing Anstey to score.
Oster made it home on the following play, courtesy of a sacrifice fly from freshman third baseman Alex Adams. Capping off Air Force’s offensive breakthrough, Taylor safely crossed home plate on a fielder’s choice, giving the Falcons a 3-2 edge by the middle of the third.
Florida’s bats eventually woke up in the bottom of the fourth inning. Yost led things off by roping a one-out double into deep center field and stealing third base. Wilson followed suit by taking a pitch to the ribs to give UF runners at the corners.
In the following at-bat, Wilson and Yost pulled off some trickery on the basepaths, coming away with a double steal to score the former. With Wilson still on second base, junior shortstop Colby Shelton had a chance to break the game wide open for Florida once more – and he did.
Shelton blasted out a two-run homer over the right field fence and into the UF bullpen to put the Gators back in control. As Shelton rounded the bases and cruised through home plate, Florida had reclaimed a 5-3 lead – one that it would only add to as the game went on.
In the following inning, Stripling went right back to work at the plate, as he nailed a leadoff single down the right field line. From there, Donay hammered another moon shot (his second of the young season) off the batter’s eye to tack another two runs onto UF’s lead.
Following Donay’s homer, Florida managed to load the bases with a pair of walks and a single from Yost. Shelton subsequently drove in a run via a sacrifice fly, while senior third baseman Bobby Boser capped off the inning with an RBI single into shallow center field. By the time the dust settled, the Gators were hanging on to a comfortable 9-3 lead after five innings of action.
Meanwhile, Clemente continued to keep the Falcons at bay on the mound. Following his turbulent third inning, the right-hander pitched three consecutive 1-2-3 innings, sitting down the next nine Air Force batters he faced. Clemente also tallied three strikeouts in this span to finish with eight total on the day.
Air Force did manage to get a run back, courtesy of a solo shot from Garrish in the top of the eighth, but it proved to be too little, too late. Sophomore right-hander Luke McNeillie pitched the final three innings for Florida and came away with the save, finishing with a line of three hits, zero walks, one run and six strikeouts.
In the series finale later that afternoon,Coppola came out firing on all cylinders. The 6-foot-8 lefty fanned 10 batters through the first four innings while allowing zero hits and one walk in that span. His 10 strikeouts also set a new career-high, marking a triumphant return to the bump for Coppola after a pair of injury-riddled seasons and a bumpy comeback campaign in 2024.
“Last year was a little rough, just going straight from my rehab programs right back into games,” Coppola said. “It’s hard to not be around for two years and learn to compete. Once I figured that out again, hopefully I can just continue to keep going.”
Meanwhile, the Gators took their time finding a rhythm in the batter’s box in this one. It wasn’t until the fourth inning that Donay served as the spark plug for Florida’s offense. Facing a 2-2 count, Donay blasted out his third home run in just as many games, sending a ball teetering over the left-center wall to put Florida back on the board.
Later in the frame, Lawson tallied an infield single before stealing second and advancing to third on a ground out. He eventually crossed home plate on a passed ball to give the Gators a 2-0 lead by the end of the inning.
Air Force immediately responded in the top of the fifth inning, as sophomore left fielder Luke Elmore nearly hammered a ball over the left field wall before settling at third base for a triple. Three at-bats later, however, Coppola stopped him right in his tracks, swiftly scooping up a sacrifice bunt and connecting with Donay at the plate to tag Elmore out.
From there, Coppola caught the final batter of the frame looking on strikes, prompting a roaring celebration as he returned to the dugout. His performance on the mound had lit the flame for his squad to this point in the game, but Florida’s bats would up the ante in the bottom of the frame.
The offensive onslaught started with a walk from junior catcher Luke Heyman and a single from junior shortstop Cade Kurland. With a pair of runners already on base, Donay came through with yet another RBI knock, this time ripping a ball down the middle to score Heyman and give Florida men on second and third.
After Lawson walked to load the bases, junior outfielders Blake Cyr and Justin Nadeau knocked in back-to-back singles to drive in a combined three runs. Yost followed suit with a two-RBI double to bring Cyr and Nadeau home as well. On the very next at-bat, Boser belted a double of his own into left-center field to score Yost.
“We just had the mentality of ‘We’re here, we have to finish it,’” Yost said. “Game three, we were all tired, but we [had to] find a way to score some runs here and finish the job.”
In just half an inning, Florida’s lead had gone from 2-0 to 9-0. Air Force responded in the top of the sixth with an Adams RBI double, but the Gators got their run right back – and then some – in the bottom of the frame.
With two outs and the bases empty, the Falcons opted to walk Donay, prompting boos from the Condron Ballpark home crowd. Coming in right behind Donay, Lawson hammered a near-home run into deep center field and against the outfield wall. Lawson pulled into second base with ease, while Donay safely made it home.
Two at-bats later, Lawson safely made it home himself on a double down the line from Nadeau. The latter’s RBI knock not only scored Florida’s 11th run of the game, but also crossed the threshold UF needed to trigger a run-rule win.
Sophomore right-hander Matthew Jenkins formally closed the evening out in the top of the seventh. Jenkins snagged a ground out before striking out back-to-back batters to clinch the win (and the series sweep) for Florida.
Up next for the Gators is a midweek road contest against the Jacksonville Dolphins. First pitch in that game is set for Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Contact Jack Meyer at jmeyer@alligator.org. Follow him on X @jackmeyerUF.
Jack Meyer is a fourth-year journalism major and the Sports Editor for The Alligator. In his free time, he enjoys reviewing music, spending time with friends, playing video games and going to the gym.
