All Gators

Freshman Lawson Powers Gators to Victory over Dayton

The Florida Gators run-ruled Dayton for the second-straight game behind a five-RBI performance from freshman Brendan Lawson.
Kyle Lander|
Florida Gators first baseman Brendan Lawson, seen here taking an at-bat in the season-opener against Air Force, hit a grand slam in the team's win over Dayton.
Florida Gators first baseman Brendan Lawson, seen here taking an at-bat in the season-opener against Air Force, hit a grand slam in the team's win over Dayton. | Kyle Lander / Gators Illustrated.

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- The No. 10 Florida Gators baseball team took the series on Saturday versus Dayton with an 11-1 win in eight innings, giving the program its second-straight run-rule victory over the Flyers. With this win, the Gators remain undefeated on the season and improve to 6-0. 

“We got production up and down the lineup again and played I think clean baseball,” Gators' head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Overall, was a good night.”

Offensively, Florida was led by true freshman Brendan Lawson, who sparked things with a grand slam in the third inning, his first collegiate home run, and who pushed five of Florida's 11 runs across the plate.  

“Great to see Brendan get his first home run,” O’Sullivan said after the win. “His zone control is exceptional, especially for a young hitter.”

Florida’s Saturday starting pitcher Jake Clemente began his outing by striking out the side, despite having to escape some self induced damage early in the inning. The Florida bats followed this up by adding a first-inning run from a Bobby Boser sac-fly to take a 1-0 lead. 

And after this opening frame, Florida’s righty started to find his rhythm. Clemente threw up consecutive 1-2-3 innings for the Gators and kept his opponents at bay. He also tallied six strikeouts through the first three innings.   

In the bottom half of the third, the strong left-handed freshman Lawson came up to bat in a big moment for Florida in the third. Entering with the bases loaded and one out, Lawson cleared them all with a towering shot over the right-field wall to push the Gators’ lead to 5-0. 

Dayton did scare Florida in the fourth, though, after managing to load the bases with two outs. Once again, Clemente remained strong after inducing a ground ball to get out of the fourth without any runs crossing home plate.

Clemente’s final line would be four innings pitched, seven strikeouts, two walks and just one hit as lefty Frank Menendez took over in the fifth inning.

Menendez looked confident his first appearance of the season, posting back-to-back zeroes in the fifth and sixth inning. The Gators added some insurance runs as well in the sixth behind a Colby Shelton two-run double to left field. This had the Gators leading 7-0 heading into the seventh. 

“Frank was outstanding,” O’Sullivan said. 

An inning later, the O'Sullivan made another call to the bullpen to bring in righty Matthew Jenkins, ending Menendez’s 2025 debut. 

Jenkins had the honor of closing out Saturday's game, but not before surrendering a run to Dayton. The Gators weren't hurt them too much, though, as Florida would tack on four runs of their own in the eighth to run-rule the Flyers. 

Up Next

The Gators will go for its second-straight series sweep on Sunday at noon with streaming coverage SEC Network+. Pierce Coppola is expected to make his second-straight Sunday start after recording a career-high 12 strikeouts last week.

Published
Kyle Lander
KYLE LANDER

Kyle Lander is a contributing writer at Florida Gators on SI. He is also a graduate of the University of Florida with a degree in journalism. On top of his writing, Kyle is a photographer for the site as well. Outside of his work with Florida Gators on SI, he likes to hike, travel, watch movies and hang out with family and friends.

Share on XFollow _KyleLander
Home/Baseball