The Gators outscored the Falcons, 21-5, behind 26 hits while UF pitchers fanned 31 batters and walked one.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 10 Florida claimed both ends of a doubleheader against Air Force to polish off a series sweep, posting a 10-4 victory in the first game before an 11-1 rune-rule win in the nightcap at Condron Family Ballpark on Saturday.
Although the Gators (3-0) swung the bats well against the Falcons (0-3) all weekend, Florida’s pitching was perhaps even more impressive. Starter Jake Clemente<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jake-clemente/17322> (6.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K) set the tone in the first game of the twin bill, but lefty Pierce Coppola<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/pierce-coppola/17323> stole the show in the finale by chucking five one-hit innings backed by a career-high 12 strikeouts – the most by a UF hurler since Hurston Waldrep’s 12 vs. Oral Roberts at the 2023 College World Series. In all, Florida pitchers combined for nine hits allowed, one walk and 31 strikeouts over 16 innings on Saturday.
The Gators mashed 13 hits in both games for a total of 26 on the day, featuring five home runs. Two of those long balls came from Brody Donay<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brody-donay/17324> (3-for-5, 2-for-2), who opened the campaign by homering in all three games of the series. Outfielder Hayden Yost<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/hayden-yost/17337> (4-for-5, 2-for-4) was also a major factor, racking up six hits, three RBI and three runs while securing his first-career four-hit game. Landon Stripling<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/landon-stripling/17351> (2-for-5), Colby Shelton<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/colby-shelton/17335> (1-for-3, 1-for-4) and Bobby Boser<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/bobby-boser/17349> (2-for-4, 1-for-3) each homered and had big plays at the plate as well.
Game 1 | Florida 10, Air Force 4
In his first-career weekend start, Clemente opened with four strikeouts across his first two innings of work. The Gators got a lift in the bottom half of the frame, with Stripling connecting on a home run to right-center for his first as a Gator. Donay then singled and stole second, allowing him to make it 2-0 Florida on an RBI knock to right field from Yost.
Air Force promptly answered for three runs in the third to snag a 3-2 lead. Christian Taylor raced home on a throwing error at catcher, followed by a sacrifice fly to right by Alex Adams to plate T.J. Oster. Taylor later scored the third run on a fielder’s choice to second off the bat of Tripp Garrish.
Clemente regained his groove with a clean frame in the fourth. In the bottom half, Yost roped a one-out double and later scored on a double steal that advanced Ashton Wilson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ashton-wilson/17336> to second. Shelton then bashed his first big fly of the year via a two-run shot to give the Gators a 5-3 edge.
After another zero from Clemente, Donay added on in fifth with a two-run blast of his own. With the bags juiced, Shelton plated Brendan Lawson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brendan-lawson/17350> with a sacrifice fly to left while Boser made it 9-3 with an RBI single to center to bring in Yost.
Following six quality frames, Clemente was lifted for right-hander Luke McNeillie<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-mcneillie/17330> at the onset of the seventh. The sophomore navigated around a one-out single by fanning consecutive Falcons for the final two outs of the inning.
Florida extended its lead to 10-3 in the bottom of the seventh. On the first pitch of the at bat, Boser popped an opposite-field tank to right for his first in Orange & Blue.
The Falcons reentered the scoring column in the eighth, with Garrish swatting a solo homer to straightaway right field to cut UF’s advantage to the eventually final tally of 10-4.
McNeillie navigated UF through the ninth, earning the save with three innings of one-run ball. He allowed three hits and struck out six.
Clemente (1-0) earned the win in his weekend debut, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits in six frames. He did not issue a walk and struck out a career-high eight batters.
Falcons starter Gaines Estridge (0-1) received the loss after forfeiting three earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. He gave up five hits and two walks while fanning four batters.
Game 2 | Florida 11, Air Force 1 (7)
Coppola was dominant out of the gate, striking out the side in the top half of the first. The southpaw fanned two more Falcons in the second and added two more in the third to reach seven strikeouts after three frames.
By striking out the side again in the fourth, Coppola notched a career-high 10 strikeouts. The Gators rewarded the left-hander, giving him a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the frame. Donay got it going with his third homer of the weekend to left-center. One batter later, Lawson collected his first-career hit on an infield single, stole second and eventually crossed home on a passed ball.
Coppola worked around a leadoff triple in the fifth, fielding a safety squeeze from Van Klein and nabbing Luke Elmore out at home. He registered strikeouts for the first and third outs of the frame, raising his total to 12 on the game.
In the bottom half, Florida erupted for seven runs to put the game on ice. Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/17327> and Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/17328> set the table with a single and walk, with Donay singling home the former on a knock to center. Blake Cyr<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/blake-cyr/17347> followed with an infield single to plate Kurland while Justin Nadeau<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/justin-nadeau/17342> drove in a pair with a single to right. Yost (2 RBI) and Boser (1 RBI) then cranked back-to-back doubles to push the score to 9-0.
Coppola’s night was done after five stellar innings, ceding to freshman right-hander Aidan King<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/aidan-king/17366> in the sixth. Air Force broke up the shutout at that point, with Adams doubling home Oster for a 9-1 ballgame.
With their lead cut into, Florida got the run right back in the bottom of the sixth. Donay was intentionally walked with two outs, but Lawson made the Falcons pay by delivering an RBI double into the left-center gap. Nadeau added an RBI double down the right-field line, bringing in Lawson to push the Gator lead to 11-1.
Right-hander Matthew Jenkins<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/matthew-jenkins/17361> was called on in the seventh. Pitching in Orange & Blue for the first time, Jenkins went one-two-three with two strikeouts to cement an 11-1 run-rule victory and a series sweep for the Gators.
Coppola (1-0) was nearly untouchable in his five innings, earning his first-ever regular-season win by surrendering just one hit and one walk to go with a career-high 12 strikeouts.
Air Force starting pitcher John Mitchell (0-1) was handed the loss, allowing four earned runs on six hits and four walks in 4 2/3 frames. He stuck out one.
NOTABLES
* Florida pitchers produced a 47-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio on Opening Weekend.
* With Clemente’s performance, Florida opened the year with two-straight quality starts after having five quality starts in 66 games last season.
* Clemente struck out a career-high eight batters over six innings of three-run ball (two earned) for the quality start in his first-career weekend start.
* Florida’s nine stolen bases in the first game marked the Gators’ most in 15 years – since March 9, 2010 vs. Illinois State (nine).
* First-year Gators Stripling and Boser both hit their first homers in Orange & Blue in the first game of the doubleheader.
* Florida stole 14-straight bases successfully before Shelton was caught in the fifth inning of game three.
* Seven different Gators stole a base on Opening Weekend.
* All eight UF pitchers to appear on Opening Weekend struck out at least two batters.
* Coppola fanned a career-high 12 batters, topping his previous best of nine in five innings pitched vs. Kentucky on June 19, 2024.
* Coppola has struck out 21 batters in 10 innings across his last two starts dating back to last year.
* In Coppola’s Saturday outing, the pitcher struck out or assisted on all 21 outs – 17 via strikeouts and four via groundouts.
* UF starting pitchers Liam Peterson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/liam-peterson/17332>, Clemente and Coppola combined for 31 strikeouts against two walks in 17 innings this weekend, allowing just six hits, two walks and two earned runs for a 1.06 ERA.
* Florida pitchers recorded at least one strikeout in 24 of 25 innings in the series highlighted 19 frames with multiple.
* Donay has homered and posted multiple hits in all three games this season.
* Donay is batting .700/.750/1.800 (7-for-10) with three homers, two doubles, six runs, five RBI and two walks.
* Yost had a career-high four hits in game one en route to finishing 6-for-9 on the day with three doubles, three runs, three RBI and went 4-for-4 on stolen bases.
* He reached base safely seven total times on Saturday.
* Lawson (2-for-3) picked up his first-two career hits via a single and double in game three.
* As a staff, UF pitchers allowed just four earned runs on 12 hits and three walks on the weekend, equating to a 1.44 ERA and .141 batting average against.
* The Florida bullpen was also sharp all weekend, posting a 16-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 2.25 ERA in eight frames.
* The Gators struck out just 16 times while drawing 14 walks and six hit-by-pitches.
* Through three games, Florida is hitting .385/.487/.667 as a team with 14 steals in 15 attempts.
* Under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/kevin-o-sullivan/1752>, Florida is now 42-8 in season-opening series during his tenure.
* Florida welcomed a crowd of 6,647 fans for Saturday’s doubleheader.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On his overall impressions from the weekend series…
“Obviously, a step in the right direction and certainly an improvement from last year. I’m not quite sure I saw Pierce pitch as confidently as he did in the game tonight. He’s really getting through his pitches. He was commanding the ball on both sides of the plate. We got the chance to get those young kids out there. Aidan King<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/aidan-king/17366> and Matt Jenkins at the end of the second game. I thought Jake, in the second game, threw the ball well. We had that one error behind the plate that kind of opened up that inning but all in all, it was a great weekend. We made some base-running mistakes, but other than that we played clean defense, threw the ball across the plate, had some timely hits. Obviously used three different lineups. Yost hits in the nine-hole in the first game, gets some hits, flip it around and hits in the leadoff spot. I think all along we’ve said we were gonna have some length to our lineup and I think this weekend probably showed a little bit of that. We still don’t have all the answers on how it’s going to look a month from now but certainly we’ve got a lot of contributions. Justin Nadeau<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/justin-nadeau/17342> hit in the nine-hole in the second game and gets three hits and three RBIs. What can you say about Brody Donay<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brody-donay/17324>? He had a terrific weekend. I’m excited about it and looking forward to getting back on the field on Tuesday.”
On keeping players engaged with such offensive depth…
“I think kind of like what we’ve done these past few days. The three lineups were drastically different. One game, Blake Cyr<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/blake-cyr/17347> hit second this morning and then he hit eighth in the second game. We’ll take the first month and just keep doing the same thing until we figure out what the best lineup looks like and then we’ll figure out whether it’ll be a right-hander or left-hander that we’re facing and if the splits are drastically different, then we’ll set the lineup accordingly. It’s a little bit challenging, but we all knew that going in, that it was going to be a challenge. I told the team; I was brutally honest with them before the game last night. This was the most difficult of any other opening day lineup for me to put together. There’s other guys. Stripling in the first game hits a homerun and another hit down the right-field line. There is a lot of guys who deserve the opportunity to see what they can do. But it was difficult. The very first one.”
On Coppola’s pitching performance…
“Like I said, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him so comfortable on the mound and confident and pitch with aggressiveness. I’m not quite sure I’ve even seen that in the preseason. He’s been good in the preseason, but I haven’t seen him strut around and feel good about himself. He’s worked so hard to get back to this point. No one’s a bigger fan for him than I am. I’ve known exactly what he has had to go through, two major surgeries. He made a heck of a PFP play. The one that was hit off his foot and then regrouped and made a good throw, and then the play at home was a good play. A really good play. We obviously work on it, but it’s one thing to work on it and then another thing to actually execute in a game”
UP NEXT
Florida travels to Jacksonville on Tuesday (6 p.m. on ESPN+) before returning home to host Florida A&M on Wednesday (6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+).
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