The Gator boys stay HOT! In the penultimate series of the season, the red-hot reptiles as they are now known pulled off the series upset against No. 1 Texas, taking two of three from the Longhorns. The Gators took game one 8-2, dropped game two to Texas 2-5, and then came back to take the series in game three with a. 4-1 victory.
With their series win, the Gators have won their last five series, improved to 35-18 (13-14 in conference play), and are now 11-8 on the road. They have won 15 of their last 19 games, are now 12-3 in their last 15 SEC games, and are going into the last series of the year with momentum from victories over No. 5 Arkansas and now No. 1 Texas.
Florida Baseball Claims Series Over Texas
Freshman pitcher, Aidan King (5-2) was electric in a game that to many young pitchers probably felt like a World Series in facing Texas in the series rubber match on Sunday. King pitched a career-high seven shutout, two-hit innings. He walked just three and struck out a career-high nine batters across 110 pitches in a very impressive 10th start of the year that led Florida to their 4-1 victory and series upset over the Longhorns.
He walked the first two batters he faced, but then settled right in and went on the attack to go on and pitch a lights-out game.
Florida Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan praised King’s Sunday performance: “I don’t remember a freshman pitching on the road like this and pitching as well as he did.” Sullivan talked about King’s ability to throw his fastball from both sides of the plate.
Offensively, it was Luke Heyman (2-for-5, 1 RBI), Bobby Boser (1-for-3, 2 runs scored), Ty Evans (1-for-3), Blake Cyr (1-for-3, 1 run, 1 RBI), Brody Donay (1-for-3, 1 run, 1 RBI, 1 HR), and Ashton Wilson (1-for-3, 1 RBI) that led the way for the Gators.
After Cyr and Brody Donay reached on back-to-back walks and later advanced into scoring position, Wilson drove in the first run on an RBI groundout to pitcher Jason Flores. But it got the Gators on the board.
The Gators added on to their lead in the third. Boser was hit by a pitch and Heyman singled. Cyr then singled to short to extend their to lead to 2-0.
Donay made it 3-0 on a solo home run in the sixth. That was his 14th home run of the season and tied Boser for the team lead on the season.
In the seventh, Boser doubled to left field and was driven in by Heyman on his second hit of the day to make it a 4-0 lead over the Longhorns.
Though Texas got one run back off of Florida closer, Jake Clemente, the Gators didn’t back down as they went on to defeat Texas 4-1, upsetting them on their home turf in Texas.
This series meant a lot for Florida. This series win was their first series win over a No. 1 ranked team since 2016 when they beat Texas A&M.
Sunday marked the first time Florida has taken a series from Texas and they also now take the all-time meetings lead over Texas, 4-3.
On Deck: Florida vs Alabama
The Florida Gators now set their sights on Alabama. They will return home to Condron Family Ballpark on the University of Florida campus to take on the Crimson Tide in the final series of the regular season beginning Thursday, May 15th. First pitch Thursday and Friday is scheduled for 6:30PM and the Gators and Crimson Tide will close out their regular seasons on Saturday at 4:00PM.
From there, it’ll be on to the SEC Tournament.