Donay Rakes, Middle-Inning Bats Dominate as Florida Takes Series at Mississippi State

Brody Donay hit three home runs as the Florida Gators took two of its three matchups against Mississippi State.

Brody Donay seen here in the season-opening series against Air Force, led the way at the plate for the Florida Gators in its series win over Mississippi State | Kyle Lander / Gators Illustrated

STARKVILLE, Miss.-- The Florida Gators kept the good times rolling this past weekend on the diamond with a 2-1 series win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs to improve to 6-12 in the conference. 

The Gators took Games One and Two of the series to improve their win streak to seven games before dropping the finale to the Bulldogs on Sunday. 

Middle-inning success in the first two games paved the way for Florida

In the series opener on Friday, the Gators saw themselves trailing 3-2 heading into the sixth. However, a seven-run frame, capped off by a three-run home run by Luke Heyman, catapulted them out in front 9-3.

THREE-RUN LUKE NUKE! 💣#GoGators // SECN pic.twitter.com/uKmAt1rUob

— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) April 19, 2025

Florida never looked back, scoring an additional four runs over the next two, including a two-run home run from Brody Donay for his second home run of the night, to run-rule Mississippi State, 13-3, in eight innings. 

In Saturday’s contest, Mississippi State was leading 6-3 to begin the seventh but fumbled the lead to Florida after the top half of the inning. The Gators produced a six-run inning this time to capture a 9-6 advantage, sparked by a pair of two-run doubles from Blake Cyr and Brendan Lawson.

Respect the Law, son 🚔#GoGators // ESPN pic.twitter.com/BPZqZpmBGb

— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) April 20, 2025

The Bulldogs did fight back in this one, scoring two runs in the seventh as well, but the Gators added two insurance runs in the ninth to kill off the game and win 11-8. 

Unfortunately for the Gators, they couldn’t complete the sweep over the Bulldogs, dropping the series finale 14-8. 

They did push for their third comeback victory on the weekend, though. Despite trailing by as many as five runs, the Gators only trailed by one run after the top half of eighth after home runs from Ashton Wilson and Justin Nadeau, but this time the Bulldogs shut the door.

TOR-NADEAU!!! 🌪️

Gators within one!#GoGators // ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/tuJImHgOyp

— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) April 20, 2025

In the bottom half, Mississippi State tacked on five runs to put the game well out of reach for the visitors, which led to a 14-8 loss for Florida. 

Standouts From the Weekend

Donay was arguably Florida’s most dangerous hitter this weekend. Donay finished the series hitting .533 (8-for-15), launching three home runs, and driving in five runs. It’s important that Donay keeps the bat hot at the plate over the next few weeks if the Gators want to make a run at the postseason, especially after his previous struggles at the plate against SEC opponents. 

Helping out Donay in the hitting department was Colby Shelton, who hit .385 (5-for-13) against the Bulldogs. Florida’s shortstop had one homer to his name, three RBIs and a double over the weekend. 

One last hitter who swung his bat well, once again, was Lawson. The versatile freshman infielder hit .429 (6-for-14) and legged out a triple, three doubles and drove in three runs against Mississippi State. He had multiple hits in every game in the series.  

Florida's best starter on the mound this weekend, to no surprise, was Liam Peterson. The Gators' ace did what head coach Kevin O'Sullivan has asked for repeatedly by going six innings on Friday. While it wasn’t a perfect start by any means, he kept his opponents at bay, allowing just three runs and striking out six. 

An Important Week Ahead

Having won seven of their last eight games, the Gators are scorching hot right now. They’ll have a chance to extend this dominant run beginning on Tuesday against Georgia Southern at 6 p.m. 

Following this contest, Florida will then welcome Arkansas into town for a three-game series against the Razorbacks. Game One of this series will take place on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and will be streamed via SEC Network+.