There was a pitcher’s duel brewing in Knoxville, Tennessee, through the first six innings on Saturday. The No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers had other thoughts, however, as they quickly flipped the script and scored nine runs in the seventh off Florida’s bullpen to cap off an unbelievable mercy-rule finish.
The No. 7 Gators lost their second in a row against Tennessee 10-0 in seven innings, as Florida dropped its opening SEC series.
Freshman right-hander Aidan King started on Saturday for the second straight weekend, replacing injured redshirt junior lefty Pierce Coppola. After six scoreless innings against Harvard last Saturday, King was outstanding again against the Volunteers, allowing one run over six frames, with four hits and tallying six strikeouts.
Through 22 2/3 innings to begin his collegiate career, King has a 0.96 ERA and has struck out 26, as opposed to walking three.
After the Volunteers went three straight innings without a base hit against King, their bats came alive in the seventh. Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan turned to another freshman in righty Jackson Barberi to begin the frame. He faced six batters and got only one of them out. He loaded the bases on two singles and a walk before UT sophomore shortstop Dean Curley hooked a bases-clearing double down the left-field line to put the Vols up 4-0.
Barberi was pulled after walking another batter and was replaced by sophomore right-hander Matthew Jenkins. The Live Oak, Florida, native lasted just one batter, as he gave up a single and was promptly replaced by redshirt freshman Caden McDonald. The latter didn’t fare much better, giving up a hit to all three batters he faced. The final blow was a three-run home run by Tennessee junior right fielder Reese Chapman.
While Florida’s bullpen let the game get out of hand, the Gators’ bats didn’t provide much support either. UF totaled just five hits, as it was stifled by a phenomenal showing from Vols junior right-hander Marcus Phillips. He tossed a complete-game shutout, striking out seven.
Junior shortstop Colby Shelton was the only Florida batter with multiple hits, as he went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles. His first-inning knock extended his ongoing on-base streak to 20 games, as he’s reached safely in every UF contest this season.
After his single in the first, Shelton was thrown out trying to score from second on a hard-hit single by junior left fielder Blake Cyr. That ended up being the only real chance Florida had to score all game.
The Gators’ baserunning also proved to be an issue, as they were caught stealing twice. The first was Shelton in the fourth inning, while the second came in the seventh as junior designated hitter Brody Donay was gunned down to end the frame. With these mistakes on the basepaths combined with struggles at the plate, Phillips faced just 24 batters — three over the seven-inning minimum.
With Saturday’s loss, Florida dropped its first weekend series of the season in its opening SEC set. The Gators will try to bounce back from their first shutout loss of the year and avoid being swept on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 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.
