Gators Defeat FAMU in Midweek Matchup

Blake Cyr recorded six RBIs in his return, while freshman Caden McDonald shined in relief as Florida won it's second-straight game by a run-rule.

The Florida Gators have won seven of their eight midweek games this season, including wins over Jacksonville on Tuesday and Florida A&M on Wednesday. | Kyle Lander / Gators Illustrated

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- The Florida Gators on Wednesday got a scare early against Florida A&M with the Rattlers holding a 4-3 lead after the second inning. However, a five-run third inning and strong pitching from freshman Caden McDonald sparked the team to a dominant 14-4 run-rule win at Condron Ballpark.

"Certainly it helps because, obviously, you want to have your arms fresh," head coach Kevin O'Sullivan said of having back-to-back run-rule wins. "In a game like this or last night, you don't want to use (Luke) McNiellie or (Alex) Philpott. Give them some time to rest up and get ready for the weekend."

Trailing by one run, the Gators drew three-straight walks to load the bases with no outs in the third inning, and Brendan Lawson cut the lead with a sac-fly. A hit-by-pitch re-loaded the bases before Brody Donay smacked a two-run double to take the lead.

A groundout from Ty Evans followed by a wild pitch scored two more as the Gators held an 8-4 lead after the third inning despite only have two hits. An RBI single from Blake Cyr in the fourth alongside an RBI double from Colby Shelton and a two-run home run from Cyr in the sixth blew the game open for Florida.

Cyr, with a game-high six RBIs, was one of Gators with multiple runs batted-in on Tuesday, which included a two-run walk-off base hit in the seventh inning. Shelton, meanwhile, tied Cyr with a game-high three hits, all of which were doubles.

"He's a big piece," Shelton said of Cyr, who missed the last two games with a stomach bug. "He can be in many ways. Just for him to go out there and just put the ball in play. He's a great team guy."

CYR'ED OUTTA HERE.#GoGators // SECN+ pic.twitter.com/7kjAM5D0h8

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

On the mound, Matthew Jenkins only lasted 1.1 innings as the Gators' starter, giving up four runs in the second inning after Florida took a 3-0 lead in the first behind a double from Shelton, a sac-fly from Cyr and a ground-out from Lawson.

After starting the second with his third strikeout of the evening, Jenkins would give up a walk, a two-run home run, another walk, back-to-back singles and a bases-loaded walk before being replaced by McDonald with one out and the bases re-loaded.

McDonald walked his first batter faced, which gave FAMU a 4-3 lead, before recording back-to-back strikeouts to stifle any further damage. He would go on to four-straight innings of scoreless work and finished his evening with seven strikeouts against two hits in 4.2 innings pitched.

"Caden kind of grabbed ahold of the game, kind of settled things down. Threw nothing but strikes. His tempo was outstanding," O'Sullivan said. "He was really good tonight."

Freshman McCall Biemiller followed McDonald by striking out the side in the seventh in his lone inning of work.

Quick work for Caden 💨#GoGators // SECN+ pic.twitter.com/eblfOYiXh5

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

Next Up

The Gators turn its attention to a three-game series against rival Georgia, which begins on Friday at 6:30 p.m. with television coverage on SEC Network+. Sophomore righty Liam Peterson will take the mound as Florida looks to avoid an 0-2 series start in conference play.

"It'll certainly be a challenge for us. For the most part, we've been throwing the ball pretty good. So, we'll see," O'Sullivan said. "It'll be another challenge. Every weekend's the same in this league, but we've got to get going. Obviously, we had a rough weekend last weekend at Tennessee. So, we got to get back in the win column."