Never in the history of Florida’s baseball program have the Gators gotten off to as poor of a start to conference play as 2025. After starting 0-8 against SEC opponents, UF took one game against Ole Miss before returning to its rough showings.
The struggles continued for the Gators this weekend, as UF was swept for the third time in four conference series this year. This includes two SEC sweeps at home, which marks the first time it’s happened since 2004.
Florida (20-14, 1-11 SEC) fell to No. 23 Vanderbilt (24-8, 7-5 SEC) at Condron Ballpark 11-3, as the Gators were swept by the Commodores in Gainesville for the first time ever.
“To say or use the word disappointment would be a huge understatement,” UF head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Been here a long time. I have never been a part of something like this. For some reason, this group is just not responding at all to any type of adversity.”
Sophomore right-hander Alex Philpott started on the mound for the Gators. He threw the ball relatively well through the first three innings. After a double play allowed him to escape the first frame unharmed, he hit the first batter he faced in the second. Later in the inning, Vanderbilt senior shortstop Jonathan Vastine lined a single to left field that plated the first run of the ballgame.
In the fourth inning, Philpott surrendered a single, walk and hit-by-pitch to begin the frame. O’Sullivan took him out for redshirt freshman righty Caden McDonald with the bases already loaded and nobody out. McDonald allowed all three inherited runners to score, one on an infield single and two on back-to-back sacrifice flies.
With those three runs in the fourth inning, Philpott finished the day having allowed four earned runs on four hits, two walks and two HBPs. He also struck out a pair of Vandy batters.
After allowing Philpott’s runs to score in the fourth, McDonald was lights out the rest of his outing. He shut down the side in order in the fifth and sixth innings before being replaced in the seventh. McDonald tossed three scoreless frames as well, giving up just one hit with two strikeouts while using just 36 pitches.
“He threw strikes, threw the ball across the plate,” O’Sullivan said. “Came in in a difficult situation, obviously. He was one of the bright spots.”
Freshman left-hander McCall Biemiller began the seventh inning on the mound. He didn’t last long, as he gave up a leadoff single and walked the following batter before O’Sullivan went back to the bullpen. Redshirt sophomore righty Jake Clemente followed, allowing a bunt single to load the bases. He bounced back, inducing a double play that allowed only one run to score for Vanderbilt.
After the double play, O’Sullivan brought in redshirt junior right-hander Billy Barlow to close out the inning. He balked in a run from third, the second tally of the frame, then gave up a single and a walk, but finished the inning after that.
In the following inning, Barlow surrendered three straight base hits that loaded the bases with no outs. Incredibly, he escaped the jam without allowing a run, as he secured two straight groundouts and a popout.
The Commodores tacked on five more in the ninth. Vanderbilt junior first baseman sent a solo shot that soared into the Florida bullpen in right field. Then, after an RBI single from sophomore catcher Colin Barczi, freshman left fielder Rustan Rigdon blasted his first home run of the year, a three-run shot that blew the doors open and extended Vanderbilt’s lead to eight.
Vanderbilt sophomore right-hander Brennan Seiber did his job as the Commodores’ starter, holding Florida scoreless through the first two innings. He was replaced to begin the third, and the Gators responded quickly. Sophomore center fielder Hayden Yost led off the frame with a single before stealing second. He scored two batters later on a single from senior third baseman Bobby Boser.
Boser wasn’t done there. He led off the fifth inning with a solo homer into the Dizney Grove in left-center field for his team-leading 11th bomb of the year. He finished the day 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs. Junior shortstop Colby Shelton followed with a long ball of his own as the Gators went back-to-back to begin the frame. Shelton’s sixth homer of the season cut Florida’s deficit to one at the time.
UF could not score any more after the two-run fifth, despite loading the bases in the seventh inning. The Gators stranded 11 runners on base in total after doing the same on Saturday. Timely hitting, especially with two outs, was a big difference in the ballgame again. Florida was 4-for-29 with runners in scoring position and 0-for-5 with the bases loaded this weekend.
“It’s really hard to watch,” O’Sullivan said. “We got the bases loaded a couple more times today, didn’t deliver. Obviously, it was not good. Not good at all.”
The Gators will welcome No. 4 Florida State to town on Tuesday in a rubber match for the season series. UF and FSU have split the two games between the schools this year, with Florida winning in Tallahassee and losing in Jacksonville. First pitch is set for 7 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.
