Coming into his freshman year at UF, Canadian first baseman Brendan Lawson needed to make a big adjustment. He went hitless through his first two collegiate games, but has since turned it on in the past three. On Saturday, he went deep for the first time as a Gator with a grand slam in the third inning to blow the game open.
“It feels good to get it out of the way,” Lawson said. “Now I can just relax a bit. It was good to help the team out when it’s a close game.”
The Florida Gators took down the Dayton Flyers 11-1 in a mercy-rule-shortened eight innings at Condron Ballpark on Saturday evening. The win saw Florida secure a series victory and improve to 6-0 on the season.
Sophomore right-hander Jake Clemente got the start for Florida in his second outing of the season. He continued to mow down hitters with seven strikeouts in four innings of work. He now has 15 through his first two starts.
Although he had the strikeout pitch working, Clemente struggled with command. He issued two walks and hit two batters. Clemente eventually got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth that put an end to his night. He tossed four innings of one-hit ball.
“That’s two starts in a row of four innings,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “He just seemed a little off tonight. I don’t know if it’s mechanics or something, I thought he was cutting his fastball a little bit.”
O’Sullivan turned to junior left-handed pitcher Frank Menendez out of the bullpen. Menendez was the first lefty the Gators have used in relief so far this season and was impressive in his first outing of the year.
Menendez allowed just one baserunner in three innings of work. He struck out five on just 31 pitches, including the side in the seventh.
“I just had command of all my three pitches today,” Menendez said. “I was able to throw the changeup when I needed to and the curveball when I needed to. Wherever they were calling it, I was able to execute it.”
The Gators jumped on Dayton right-hander Peyton Malecha early, as junior left fielder Blake Cyr lined the first pitch he saw down the left-field line for a leadoff double. He came around to score the first run of the ballgame on a sacrifice fly from senior third baseman Bobby Boser. Cyr got on base four times in the game, as he went 1-for-2 with a walk and two hit-by-pitches. He scored all four times he reached base.
Florida extended its lead in the third, as the Gators loaded the bases on two walks and an error. Lawson blasted the aforementioned grand slam to right field that got Florida going offensively and made it 5-0.
UF added two more runs in the sixth on a Colby Shelton two-out double down the left field line. The junior shortstop finished 2-for-5 on the day with a pair of doubles, three RBIs and two runs scored.
“The other real big at-bat was Colby’s double with two outs, going to the left field line,” O’Sullivan said. “He had a really good swing.”
The Gators put the game to bed in the eighth as they plated four more runs. One came on Shelton’s second run-scoring double of the game, and the final two crossed the plate as sophomore designated hitter Landon Stripling hit a flare that fell in left field. The knock gave Florida the 10-run advantage it needed to end the game early.
UF will go for the series sweep against Dayton and look to improve to 7-0 on Sunday. Redshirt junior left-hander Pierce Coppola will get the ball for the Gators after a stellar first outing last Saturday in which he tossed five scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts. First pitch at Condron Ballpark is scheduled for noon 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.
