It had been 329 days since the Florida baseball team last won an SEC series. That came in the final regular season series of 2024 before the Gators went on an incredible postseason run, ending in a College World Series appearance.
The drought ended in a Saturday doubleheader, as the Gators shut out Missouri in game one and won in walk-off fashion in game two to sweep the weekend.
Florida (24-14, 4-11 SEC) took both games of the double dip against Missouri (12-23, 0-15) at Condron Ballpark, as the Gators won 5-0 in game one and 3-2 in the series finale to finish off the sweep.
Freshman right-hander Aidan King got the start for Florida in game one and was lights out. He tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits with just one walk. He struck out seven batters, one shy of tying his career high. He was around the zone all day, throwing just 79 pitches in the outing — with 50 of them being strikes.
“Pretty much everything [was working],” King said. “Just going out there, attacking hitters, trusting the defense behind me, just getting quick outs. I knew if I just attacked the zone, they would either strike out or put the ball in play, it just made it really easy for me to get swings.”
After a one-two-three first inning, King faced some trouble in the second. He surrendered back-to-back singles before throwing a wild pitch, putting two men in scoring position with one out. He escaped the jam with a lineout and a popout.
King breezed through the rest of his outing, not allowing more than one baserunner to reach in any of his final four innings. He left with two outs in the sixth inning after issuing his first walk of the day. With the impressive performance, the freshman is now 4-1 on the season with a 2.68 ERA.
UF head coach Kevin O’Sullivan turned to redshirt sophomore righty Jake Clemente to finish out the game. He secured a groundout to end the sixth before notching two strikeouts in the seventh inning to close out the victory, earning his second save of the season.
“If we’re gonna use Jake at the end, obviously that was a perfect opportunity for him to do his job,” O’Sullivan said. “He was really good tonight, so hopefully, that’s going to stabilize our ‘pen a little bit more.”
The Gators put the leadoff man on in each of the first three innings of game one. They made it count on the third try, as junior right fielder Ashton Wilson led off with a base hit. Later in the frame, junior shortstop Colby Shelton lined an RBI single to right field that plated Wilson for the first run of the ballgame.
Florida scored another in the ensuing inning as junior left fielder Blake Cyr was hit by a pitch. Junior designated hitter Brody Donay then lined an RBI triple to left field that got past the sliding outfielder and rolled to the wall, allowing Cyr to score from first. This snapped a 0-9 stretch for Donay at the plate and extended UF’s lead to 2-0 at the time.
UF added some insurance in the bottom of the sixth. After two walks and a fielder’s choice, junior second baseman Justin Nadeau split the right-center gap with an RBI double. Boser followed with a liner through the left side of the infield for a two-run single, opening up a 5-0 Florida lead. He went 3-for-4 at the plate in game one, extending his hitting streak to double digits with his second multi-hit performance in a row since moving to the leadoff spot in the lineup.
“You don’t know what’s gonna happen when you make changes like that,” O’Sullivan said. “But certainly he’s proved that he can handle that spot. He was really good in the first game.”
The three insurance runs in the inning were plenty for the Gators, as they cruised to their first SEC series victory of the year.
Sophomore right-hander Luke McNeillie started on the mound for Florida in the series finale. This was his first starting nod of the season, and he went four innings, allowing just two hits and one earned run. He also struck out five batters, including two in his final frame.
After tossing a one-two-three first inning, McNeillie gave up a leadoff homer to Missouri senior center fielder Pierre Seals in the second. The righty settled in nicely after that, giving up just one hit without a run the rest of his outing.
“His command was okay early on,” O’Sullivan said. “I thought as the game went on, it got better. His first start of the year, he only gave up one over four, so he was good.”
He was replaced by sophomore righty Alex Philpott to begin the fifth inning. Philpott gave up a walk and a single to the first two men he faced but escaped the jam. He was helped by Heyman behind the plate, who gunned down the lead runner in a double-steal attempt.
Philpott was rudely greeted in the sixth inning, allowing a 420-foot leadoff homer to Missouri senior right fielder Cayden Nicoletto that hit off the scoreboard in right field and tied the game back up at 2-2. He bounced back well after the bomb, setting down the next six batters he faced including three strikeouts. This earned him his first victory of the year.
UF’s bats were quiet in the early goings of game two. The Gators had just one hit through the first three innings. However, their fortunes turned around in the fourth inning. Freshman first baseman Brendan Lawson led off the inning with a four-pitch walk, and two batters later, Cyr blasted a two-run home run into the bullpen in left field to give Florida a 2-1 lead at the time. This marked Cyr’s sixth long ball of the year.
Florida had another run-scoring opportunity in the fifth inning, but didn’t capitalize. Missouri senior right-hander Xavier Lovett issued two straight free passes to Nadeau and Boser before throwing an errant pickoff attempt into center field. This put two in scoring position with one out. Shelton and Lawson had two straight groundouts after that, though, as the Gators went down scoreless.
The Gators got it going from the jump in the seventh inning. Wilson was hit by the first pitch of the frame and Nadeau followed with a double to right-center. Two batters later, Shelton was intentionally walked by Missouri to load the bases for Lawson. He delivered with a walk-off RBI single to right field that sent Florida fans home happy.
“I want to be in that spot every time,” Lawson said. “I was just more excited for the opportunity. His sinker was working pretty well for him, so just trying to capitalize on the mistake.”
Riding a four-game winning streak, Florida will close out its nine-game homestand on Tuesday against Stetson. The Gators won the only previous meeting between the two teams this season, a 6-1 victory in DeLand on Feb. 25. First pitch at Condron Ballpark is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.
“It’s a lot of confidence for us,” King said. “Knowing that we are capable of winning games. It’s just putting the pieces together and finishing the games that we need to.”
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.
