The Florida Gators have gotten off to a nightmarish start to conference play in the 2025 season. Going into Friday’s doubleheader against Ole Miss, UF was 0-7 in the SEC for the first time in program history.
The woes continued for the Gators in game one of the twin bill, as they blew a four-run lead in the final two innings. In game two, however, UF scored five runs in the ninth inning to secure its first SEC victory of the year.
The Gators (19-11, 1-8 SEC) dropped game one of the double dip against the No. 15 Rebels (21-6, 6-3 SEC) in Oxford 10-9 before taking the series finale 11-8.
Sophomore right-hander Liam Peterson started on the mound in game one for Florida. The Ole Miss lineup saw the ball well out of Peterson’s hand all day. as it tallied seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. The 6-foot-5 flamethrower was tagged for five earned runs, but struck out six and walked just one.
The first and last runs that Peterson allowed came off leadoff home runs by Ole Miss senior left fielder Mitchell Sanford. Sanford went 3-for-4 in game one with two long balls and three runs scored.
Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan replaced Peterson with redshirt sophomore righty Jake Clemente, who made just his second relief appearance of the season. Clemente was solid through his first 3 2/3 innings, giving up just two runs on three hits, with four strikeouts and one free pass.
Clemente began the bottom of the ninth on the mound with a two-run advantage, but walked back-to-back Rebels. Freshman right-hander Jackson Barberi swiftly replaced him in the frame. After walking the bases loaded, Barberi surrendered a two-run double and a sacrifice fly to give Ole Miss the walk-off victory.
The Gators jumped ahead in game one with a big second inning at the plate. Junior catcher Luke Heyman got it started, blasting a 415-foot solo homer to left field. Heyman went 3-for-5 at the dish with a pair of RBIs in game one.
UF plated two more when senior third baseman Bobby Boser lined a single to right-center field with the bases loaded. Freshman second baseman Brendan Lawson brought home the final run of the frame with a sacrifice fly.
Florida threatened to get on the board again in the sixth. UF had the bases loaded with one out when junior shortstop Colby Shelton hit a hard ground ball to first base that was thrown to second for the force out. Sophomore center fielder Hayden Yost scored from third on the play.
After the umpires reviewed the play, however, they ruled that Boser interfered as he slid into the Ole Miss shortstop, who tried to turn a double play. Yost’s tying run was wiped off the board, as the inning ended with the play.
After a game-tying RBI single from Heyman in the seventh inning, Lawson blasted a grand slam over the right-center wall to give Florida a 9-5 advantage going into the eighth. This marked Lawson’s seventh homer and second grand slam of his freshman campaign.
While the momentum seemed to be in UF’s favor after Lawson’s bomb, Florida’s pitching struggles led to its eighth-straight conference loss to begin the year.
In game two, sophomore right-hander Alex Philpott started for UF . After nine relief appearances earlier in the season, this marked Philpott’s first starting nod of 2025. He lasted four innings and gave up four earned runs on eight hits while only walking one.
O’Sullivan turned to freshman southpaw McCall Biemiller to replace Philpott in the fifth. He was impressive in his first two innings, allowing just two walks with a pair of strikeouts. However, in the seventh, Biemiller gave up a double and a walk to begin the frame before being pulled for freshman right-hander Carson Montsdeoca.
In just his third career appearance, Montsdeoca gave up a sacrifice fly and then a two-run homer to Rebels junior first baseman Will Furniss that put Ole Miss up 7-5 in the seventh. Ole Miss added one more in the eighth to add some insurance to its lead.
Just like in game one, Heyman started the scoring for Florida with a long ball. This time, it was a two-run shot in the second inning to give the Gators the lead, at the time.
Shelton added one run for Florida in the fifth on a solo home run to right-center. This marked his fourth long ball of the year and cut UF’s deficit to one. In the sixth inning, the Gators reclaimed the lead thanks to one scored run off an error on a pinch-hit double from senior outfielder Ty Evans and an RBI single by Yost.
In the eighth inning, Heyman blasted his second home run of the game to left field, accounting for his third of the day. He finished the day a combined 6-for-9 at the plate with three long balls, six RBIs and five runs scored.
Entering the ninth inning down two, Florida rattled off six straight baserunners to begin the frame, including RBIs from Shelton, Heyman and a two-run single by sophomore first baseman Landon Stripling that gave the Gators the lead. A fifth run came across on a double play for Evans.
O’Sullivan entrusted redshirt junior right-hander Billy Barlow with the save opportunity in the bottom of the ninth. He loaded the bases with two away, but escaped the inning unscathed to secure Florida’s first SEC victory of the year.
UF will next host a midweek matchup against North Florida on Tuesday. The Gators took down the Ospreys 7-6 in their previous meeting this season in Gainesville. First pitch at Condron Ballpark is set for 6:30 p.m. ET.
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.
