The phrase “Gator Boys Stay Hot” is widely associated with Gators basketball, but the phrase has rung true across several Florida sports since early April — especially the Gators baseball team.
Florida started off slow within its conference. The Gators were swept in back-to-back weekends of conference play for the first time since the 2001-02 season, winning just one of their first 11 games. Still, the Gators picked things back up and won their final six series. Now, they’re inching closer to the postseason.
“I did truly believe that we’re going to turn this thing around,” said Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan. “The players have to go out and play, but our staff deserves a ton of credit.”
There were high expectations for the Gators heading into the season after they spent significant efforts retooling their roster.
Florida was coming off its second straight College World Series appearance. Ranking No. 7 in the preseason by Baseball America, UF acquired Jacksonville transfer Justin Nadeau and Miami transfer Blake Cyr, both top portal targets.
The Gators won their first 11 games and recorded a 17-2 record before conference play began. But the SEC gauntlet proved to be a challenge for Florida.
UF was swept by then-No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers, which included a 10-0 run-rule in game two.
“I just told the players, bottom line, ‘Welcome to the SEC,’” O’Sullivan said. “This is what it’s all about.”
The following weekend, the No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs swept the Gators at Condron Ballpark, outscoring them 32-6 in the final two games.
“I can’t recall a weekend like this,” O’Sullivan said. “We had a team meeting yesterday after the game, pressed on them a little bit, and obviously, they did not respond today.”
There was no response for the next two weekends. Florida finally picked up its first conference win in a doubleheader against the No. 15 Ole Miss Rebels but was swept in its next series against the No. 23 Vanderbilt Commodores.
Injuries continued to plague Florida’s pitching staff and position players. Four starters suffered season-ending and long-term injuries. Its offense disappeared at times throughout series, and its healthy pitchers struggled.
When O’Sullivan elected to make a gutsy move in mid-April, the tides shifted for the Gators.
Sophomore right-hander Jake Clemente took over as the closer for the Gators, facing his first challenge in the series-deciding game against Florida State.
In a 5-4 ballgame, Clemente stepped onto the mound in the eighth inning and retired all six Seminole batters, including two strikeouts and a fly out in the ninth frame.
“Sully’s been telling us from day one, ‘We can turn this around,’” said junior catcher Brody Donay. “We just have to do it at some point.”
Florida then swept the Missouri Tigers and clinched the series against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, scoring a 13-3 run-rule victory in the opener.
The momentum continued in late April.
Florida defeated the No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks in a rubber match contest on April 28 and took the series.
Florida won the home opener 6-4 with a stellar start from right-hander Liam Peterson, who logged a career-high of 13 strikeouts before being relieved by Clemente after the seventh frame.
Clemente recorded his fourth save of the season and helped clinch the victory for Florida.
After being shut out in the second game of the weekend, Florida found itself in a four-run hole in the second inning. But eight unanswered runs gave the Gators a 9-5 lead.
The Razorbacks loaded the bases with one out in the ninth before Clemente forced a lineout to second base to secure the series win.
“We literally take it game by game,” O’Sullivan said after the win. “But I think having a marquee series win on our resume should help our confidence, it should help us move forward."
The Gators followed up the Arkansas series by sweeping the South Carolina Gamecocks with 39 total runs before logging the most impressive win on its resume in its road trip to Austin, Texas.
Florida clinched a series victory against the No. 1 Texas Longhorns due to the heroic efforts of freshman right-hander Aidan King.
King pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out nine batters en route to Florida’s first series victory against a No. 1 team since it defeated the Texas A&M Aggies in 2016.
The Gators were rewarded by re-entering D1 Baseball’s Top 25 rankings and looked ahead to their final series of the regular season against the No. 18 Alabama Crimson Tide.
It was a shock to Florida’s players that they were still competing with postseason expectations after the array of injuries the roster suffered earlier in the year.
“This is the most unbelievable thing we’ve seen,” said Florida senior outfielder Ty Evans. “But if there was a team that was able to persevere through this, I feel like it was definitely us.”
Redshirt junior left-hander Pierce Coppola, Peterson, Clemente and sophomore right-hander Matthew Jenkins all dealt with injuries throughout the season.
Sophomore lefty specialist Frank Menendez was lost for the season due to a damaged UCL in his elbow.
Junior second baseman Cade Kurland dislocated his shoulder during a series against the Miami Hurricanes. After attempting to return multiple times, he was ruled out for the season.
Sophomore outfielder Kyle Jones suffered a shoulder injury in the Miami series and missed the year. Junior infielder Colby Shelton hasn’t played in the last two weeks because of a hamate bone injury.
Another devastating blow came in the Alabama series when Luke Heyman ended his season after fracturing his forearm. With the injury, Florida lost its fourth starter from its opening day lineup.
Nadeau was also forced to leave the game after tearing off a nail in the first game. He didn’t return for the rest of the series.
Despite having less than a dozen healthy position players, Florida took down the Crimson Tide 7-6 in the series opener after trailing by five runs.
“This was the same thing we’ve been battling all year,” Donay said. “It’s just the fight for the people who went down, and playing for them.”
A 9-6 loss in the second game tied the series, giving the Gators one more chance to end the regular season with six straight series victories.
Florida dominated Alabama in the series closer with a 9-3 victory, propelled by a five-run fifth inning. Evans and senior catcher Bobby Boser both homered in the win, marking a memorable sendoff for Florida’s Senior Day.
“When you lead off with a homer in any game, I feel like it’s pretty special,” Boser said. “But to be able to do it on this day is ultra-special.”
With the victory, Florida secured a .500 conference record.
There were several rallying points for the team during their slump, Boser said.
“We had a few little meetings, we had some words said and we knew we needed to lock in,” he said. “We don’t like losing over here.”
O’Sullivan stressed the importance of keeping the end goal in sight.
“I told the team at the end, ‘You probably need to take your time and reflect on what just happened,’” O’Sullivan said. “But our job is not finished.”
The Gators will play in Hoover, Alabama, on Tuesday for the opening matchup of the SEC tournament against the South Carolina Gamecocks. First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m.
Contact Adrian Carmona at acarmona@alligator.org. Follow him on X @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.
