After an 11-0 start to their season, the Florida Gators dropped consecutive games to Miami and UCF. In need of a bounceback, UF leaned on great pitching performances and timely home runs to secure a midweek victory against an in-state rival.
The No. 7 Gators (12-2) held off the FAU Owls (10-2) for a 4-2 victory at Condron Ballpark on Wednesday night to get back on track after two straight losses.
“Overall, it was a really quality win against a really good Florida Atlantic team,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “They came in 10-1 and been playing really well.”
The bats were hot early for UF as the team scored a run in each of the first, second and fourth innings. Junior shortstop Colby Shelton got the Gators on the board first with an RBI double to left field. Sophomore center fielder Hayden Yost brought home the second run with a sacrifice fly in the second.
In the fourth, junior transfer left fielder Blake Cyr blasted an opposite-field solo shot to give Florida a three-run advantage at the time. The homer marked his second of the season. Junior catcher Brody Donay matched Cyr’s long ball with one of his own in the eighth inning for his seventh of the year.
Shelton and senior right fielder Ty Evans were the only two Gators with multiple hits on Wednesday. Evans came into the game hitting .158 in seven games. He went 2-for-3 against FAU with a pair of hard-hit balls.
“[Evans] is gonna have to be a part of this thing,” O’Sullivan said. “The thing we got to keep in mind is you can’t really worry about your start because we’re so early in the season. It was really good to see him get a couple hits tonight.”
Redshirt junior right-hander Billy Barlow was phenomenal in his third start for Florida after a tough outing in relief against Miami on Sunday. The Clemson transfer was efficient all night, using just 71 pitches to get through 5 1/3 innings. He gave up just one unearned run and struck out five while allowing four hits and one walk.
“We’ve been struggling the past couple games,” Barlow said. “So it was just great to go out there and be able to put some innings up and put some zeros up and be able to put my team in a position to win the ballgame.”
O’Sullivan turned to redshirt junior southpaw Frank Menendez to relieve Barlow. He allowed his one inherited runner to score in the sixth inning on a slow comebacker. The run went unearned after a fielding error by freshman first baseman Brendan Lawson extended the inning.
The 6-foot-1 left-hander was very effective in his 1 2/3 innings. Like Barlow, Menendez also gave up just one unearned run. He didn’t allow a hit and struck out the last three batters he faced in the seventh inning to keep Florida’s lead intact.
O’Sullivan tasked righty Alex Philpott with completing a six-out save and he did not disappoint. The sophomore struck out three straight to end the eighth and stranded the tying run on second. He fanned two more in the ninth to earn his second save of the season.
“It’s huge,” Barlow said. “I had a lot of confidence in them guys coming in. I knew we were gonna take care of business when I saw them boys come in.”
Florida will welcome the Harvard Crimson to town this weekend after its bounce-back victory on Wednesday. Harvard is 0-6 to start its season and the Gators have won all six meetings with the Crimson in program history. Game 1 of the series will be on Friday, beginning at 6:30 p.m. EST.
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.
