Gators Baseball Overcomes Slow Start, Throttle Jacksonville

The Florida Gators fell behind early but settled in to take down the Dolphins and stay undefeated

The Gators bats came alive as the game progressed | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

Jacksonville, Fla. – Despite a lethargic beginning from the No. 10 Florida Gators on Tuesday night, they leave John Sessions Stadium with a 10-4 win over the Jacksonville Dolphins. The Gators move to 4-0 on the season now. 

Gators Brody Donay continued his hot start in the contest, ending 2-for-4 with a double and a home run. In addition to Donay, Bobby Boser and Justin Nadeau had solid Tuesday nights. Boser was 2-for-6 with a homer and three RBI while Nadeau finished 3-for-3 with one RBI against his old team. 

Florida’s pitching was solid outside the first three innings. After their starter was pulled, the Gators’ bullpen allowed just two runs over six innings and struck out 11 batters. The best out of the pen on Tuesday was Luke McNeillie, who finished with a career-high seven strikeouts in three innings, allowing one run.

Rough start, Strong Finish for Gators

It was an ugly start Tuesday for Clemson transfer Billy Barlow in his first appearance as a Gator. He beaned the leadoff hitter on his first pitch of the game. He rebounded briefly with an out the following batter, but things further unraveled from there. 

After a dropped third strike from catcher Luke Heyman put a runner on first and third, the righty walked the next two he faced to give the Dolphins a 1-0 lead. This mistake was compounded by an error by third baseman Bobby Boser. Boser had what could’ve been an inning-ending double play, but bobbled the ball and dropped it to give the host a 2-0 advantage. 

Barlow eventually settled in and threw two scoreless innings. McNeillie replaced him in the fourth and made quick work in his first inning out of the pen. 

The Gators took a 3-2 lead behind a three-run shot to center field by Boser in the fifth inning. 

Donay added on the same inning with his fourth home run of the year to extend the Gators lead to 4-2. 

Dolphins’ center fielder Jaden Bastian legged out a triple to begin the inning. McNeillie got called for a balk that let him cross home plate for free, setting the score at 4-3. 

A stretch of mistakes from Jacksonville gave Florida that run right back. Following an error from third baseman Cade Hentz that put runners on the corners, first baseman Josh Steidl hesitated too long on a Nadeau dribbler that allowed him to reach first and bring a runner home. The Gators went up 5-3.

Over the next two innings, the Gators added five runs with Blake Cyr, Brendan Lawson and Luke Heyman each driving in one and Yost bringing in two. Jacksonville managed one wrap-up scoring. 

Florida returns to action Wednesday against Florida A&M. First pitch for this game is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Condron Family Ballpark.