The aspirations of a deep postseason run for the Florida Gators came to a sudden halt. The Gators were eliminated from the NCAA Conway Regional by the East Carolina Pirates.
The Gators (39-22) ran out of their late-season magic on Sunday, as the Pirates (35-26) took home a dominant 11-4 victory behind a five-run third inning.
Florida’s pitching miscues proved too much to overcome. Junior left-hander Pierce Coppola started on the mound and his struggles were apparent early. In just two innings, he surrendered three runs and walked three batters. Overall, only 26 of his 58 pitches were strikes.
Junior righty Billy Barlow took his place in the third inning but didn’t fare much better. His short stint culminated in three surrendered runs. He was relieved for sophomore righty Jake Clemente in the same inning.
Clemente did his best to limit the damage. He recorded three strikeouts and six fly outs over four innings, but surrendered four hits and three runs. He was relieved to start the seventh frame by sophomore righty Luke McNeillie.
McNeillie faced four batters before freshman right-hander Blaine Rowland took his place to close the seventh. Rowland faced two batters before being replaced by sophomore righty Alex Philpott to start the eighth frame. He surrendered two runs in his sole inning on the mound.
East Carolina scored first in the second frame. With the bases loaded, freshman infielder Braden Burress singled to right field, scoring freshman infielder Austin Irby. Then, a wild pitch from Coppola allowed freshman outfielder Alex Peltier to reach home and claim an early 2-0 lead.
However, Florida responded in the third inning. After a double to left center field from junior infielder Justin Nadeau, sophomore infielder Landon Stripling singled, scoring Nadeau to make it a 2-1 ballgame.
However, UF’s momentum was short lived, as the Pirates tacked on five runs in the third frame. With the bases loaded, Irby singled to right center field, scoring senior outfielder Ryley Johnson. Then, Peltier hit a double, sending sophomore infielder Colby Wallace home.
Irby then scored off of a Burress single to left field. To end the run, junior outfielder Jack Herring singled to left field, scoring Peltier and sophomore catcher Walker Barron to extend the lead to six runs.
The Pirates scored again in the fourth frame, as Irby homered to left field to make it a 8-1 advantage.
Florida got back on the board with three runs in the sixth inning. A fielding error from second base allowed Nadeau and senior infielder Bobby Boser to score. Then, junior catcher Brody Donay grounded out into a double play, scoring freshman infielder Brendan Lawson to make it an 8-4 game.
However, the Pirates brought the gap back to five runs when aLawson committed a fielding error and allowed Johnson to score for the second time. ECU scored again in the bottom of the eighth for insurance, as Barron singled to center field, scoring Peltier.
Then, Burress doubled to left field, scoring Barron to make it a seven-run game.
East Carolina freshman righty Lance Williams got the job done on the mound and finished with five strikeouts and allowed three runs over five innings. He was relieved for sophomore righty Brad Pruett.
Pruett’s outing was short lived, as a run and a walk was enough for him to be relieved in favor of senior righty Jake Hunter.
Hunter closed the game for the Pirates, recording three strikeouts and five groundouts to secure the victory.
After reaching the College World Series the last two seasons, Florida’s season came to a close in the Conway Regional. East Carolina will face Coastal Carolina to determine who will head to the Super Regionals round.
Contact Adrian Carmona at acarmona@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @abcarmona04.
Adrian Carmona is a third-year journalism major and the Summer 2025 baseball reporter. In his spare time, he enjoys completing Sporcle quizzes and ranting about Miami sports.
