Gators Dominated in NCAA Regional Opener, 11-6

CONWAY, SC-- The Florida Gators' 2025 season is now on the line after a brutal loss on Friday to East Carolina, 11-6, to open NCAA Regional play.

With the loss, it's now win or go home for the Gators as the program fights for its third-straight College World Series appearance.

The Gators gave up nine runs in the first four innings as starter Liam Peterson only lasted 1 1/3 innings, giving up five hits and four runs, two of which were earned. Relievers Luke McNeillie and Blaine Rowland didn't fare much better in relief with six hits and four earned runs in a combined 2 2/3 innings.

"We didn't get off to a good start on the mound. I had to go visit the mound in the first. Had to go to the bullpen in the second. I didn't see this coming. We had been playing so well," head coach Kevin O'Sullivan said.

The Pirates, the three-seed in the region, scored two in the first off an error at the plate by Brody Donay on a squeeze bunt and a sacrifice fly out, two in the second off another sac-fly and a base hit and one more in the third off another base hit.

A pair of doubles, including one that scored two from Alex Peltier, gave ECU a 9-0 lead before the Gators finally got a run on the board off a pair of home runs from Brendan Lawson and Blake Cyr. However, the momentum floundered as ECU's Austin Irby plated two in the sixth and seventh with a home run and a single to give the Pirates an 11-2 lead.

Florida's Ty Evans slightly chipped into the lead with an RBI single in the eighth before Bobby Boser sparked a slight comeback in the ninth with a three-run home run.

Bobby blast 🚀#GoGators // ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/j8WsQdtlsy
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) May 30, 2025

The Gators will now wait to see who they'll play in the loser's bracket with host Coastal Carolina taking on four-seed Fairfield at 6 p.m.

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