Florida Baseball benefits from brand new rule in protested win over Stetson

The final score for Florida Baseball on Tuesday night won't raise any eyebrows from anyone who wasn't watching. The Gators pulled away from Stetson late to win 6-1 and maintain their perfect season at 8-0.

But part of the beauty of baseball is that you can watch 1,000 games and still find a way to see something new, and the Gators benefited from a brand-new rule to help close out the Hatters.

Florida Baseball: Safety Dance

Billy Barlow gave Florida four solid innings, giving up just one run off five hits. Freshman Aidan King followed suit with three solid innings of his own before Alex Philpott closed things out.

But entering the 7th inning, the Gators found themselves tied 1-1 as their high-powered offense had been kept at bay. Florida found themselves chasing pitches and was struggling to lay off high fastballs, leading to 12 strikeouts on the night from Florida's hitters.

Miami transfer Blake Cyr broke the deadlock with a solo home run in the top of the 7th, then all hell broke loose in the bottom of the 7th.

Stetson had a man on 3rd with two outs when Salvador Alvarez hit one up the middle that bounced off King's glove. Florida tried to make a play at 1st, but Alvarez beat the throw with plenty of time to spare, and the runner from 3rd touched home to tie the game at 2-2.

But thanks to a new rule in college baseball in 2025, Alvarez was out and the inning was over with no run scored.

If you have watched college baseball all season, you may have noticed the orange safety bag attached to 1st base. This has been used in softball, and the idea is to prevent collisions at 1st and prevent runners from stepping on the ankles and Achilles of 1st basemen.

The rule states that runners must touch at least some part of the orange bag when running through 1st base. If they only touch the actual 1st base and no part of the orange bag, it counts as if they didn't touch 1st base at all.

While replays proved inconclusive as to where Alvarez actually stepped, 11Point7 College Baseball posted a photo that made it seem like Alvarez was clearly safe. However, the photo posted has his right foot planted beyond the bag, and a photo posted by Quentin Mills of NCAA Insiders shows that Alvarez didn't touch any of the orange bag with his left foot, and 11Point7 has since recognized that.

By rule, he was out. Stetson was none too pleased and played the rest of the game under protest. While unlikely, if their protest is upheld the game will be restarted in the bottom of the 7th at 2-2.

As for the game as it stands right now, Cade Kurland hit a three-run home run in the 8th with some help from former Gator and current Stetson centerfielder Landon Russell having the ball bounce off his glove and over the fence in a manner similar to when Florida beat Auburn in Super Regionals in 2018.

Florida moves to 8-0 on the year and has a weekend series against Miami on deck.