It was another brutal night for Florida Baseball as the Gators blew a ninth-inning lead for the second time in four games and eventually lost to FSU 8-4 on a walk-off grand slam from the Seminoles.
The loss drops the Gators to 18-9 on the season, and they have lost four in a row. Since beating FSU two weeks ago when the teams met in Tallahassee, the Gators have now lost seven of their last nine.
With Ole Miss on the horizon, the road doesn't get any easier for Florida, and here are two truths and a lie for the Gators heading into that series.
Florida Baseball Truth: Back To The Drawing Board With Closer
Back on March 5, Alex Philpott picked up his second save of the year when he closed out FAU with a two-inning save. After struggles during his freshman year, Philpott had some buzz coming into 2025 after a huge jump in velocity, and it looked like the Gators had themselves a big time arm out of the bullpen.
But against Georgia, he left a hanging slider that was obliterated for a game-winning two-run home run. The deeper concern is how he blew the save against FSU.
Philpott walked two and hit a guy to load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth. After FSU tied it up at 4-4 he was taken yard for the walk-off grand slam.
He still has the ability to strike guys out, but it is time to wonder aloud if he is the guy meant for high-pressure situations.
Truth: Florida Can't Hit Good Pitching
If you look at the baseline stats, Florida is 31st in batting average and 24th in runs.
But, as we noted after the sweep against Georgia, the Gators have looked lost at the plate against better pitching, and some numbers bear this out.
In their 14 games against teams ranked outside of the top 80 in RPI, Florida is hitting .368 and is averaging 11.29 runs per game.
In their 13 games against teams in the 80 of RPI, Florida is hitting .229 and is averaging 4.38 runs per game. If you take Miami out of that sample size, who are prone to fall outside the top 100 by the time the season ends, Florida's batting average drops to .208 against higher-level competition.
Now Florida's at-bats were more competitive against FSU on Tuesday, and they did force much deeper counts than they did against Georgia, but the end result was just three hits, two of which came in their 9th inning rally to take the lead before blowing it in the bottom of the 9th.
Lie: Kevin O'Sullivan Is "Washed"
Florida is in a bad place right now, and there is no getting around to the fact that the Gators are all in real danger of missing the NCAA Tournament if things go south against Ole Miss.
But as we wrote earlier this week, that doesn't mean Kevin O'Sullivan is washed up just yet and needs to be fired.
He is coming off back-to-back final four appearances in the CWS, and midseason slumps are not a new thing for the Gators.
It also doesn't mean he gets a free pass in perpetuity if this season goes south and the next season goes south as well.