GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 4 Florida fell in game two to St. Mary’s by a final tally of 9-7 at Condron Family Ballpark on Saturday afternoon.
The Gators (9-5) scored first in game two, as starter Liam Peterson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/liam-peterson/16631> blanked the Gales (9-5) in the top of the first. In the bottom half, Ty Evans<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/ty-evans/16368> came through with a two-out, RBI single to left field to plate Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/16365> and open an early 1-0 lead.
Brody Donay<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brody-donay/16621> and Jaylen Guy<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jaylen-guy/16624> kickstarted the second with singles to left field. Cade Kurland<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/cade-kurland/16372> made it three-straight hits, going the other way for a three-run home run into the right-field bullpen to extend the UF lead to 4-0.
Peterson fired a scoreless third, but the Gaels broke through in the fourth. Nathan Chong and Brian Duroff connected for back-to-back homers to right-center and left field, respectively. One inning later, Saint Mary’s put together a four-run inning to push ahead, 6-4. Ryan Pierce and Coleman Schmidt scored on an infield single by Chong aided by a throwing error at third base while Chong crossed home on a fielder’s choice to second base off the bat of Jared Mettam.
Leading off the bottom of the fifth, Colby Shelton<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/colby-shelton/16639> brought the Gators within one run. On a 2-2 offering, he hammered his third homer of the series on a long drive to right-center field.
Florida received a clean inning from reliever Alex Philpott<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/alex-philpott/16632> in the sixth and quickly took advantage at the plate by regaining the edge at 7-6. With two outs and Kurland at first base, Luke Heyman<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/luke-heyman/16370> blasted a two-run tank to left field.
The UF advantage proved to be short-lived, as Schmidt led off the top of the seventh for the Gaels with a home run onto the right-field berm. Duroff later added a two-run shot to left to push the score in Saint Mary’s favor, 9-7.
Right-hander Fisher Jameson<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/fisher-jameson/16371> held the Gaels scoreless in the ninth, but the UF offense was held in check in the bottom half.
Saint Mary’s reliever Connor Linchey earned the win by chucking seven innings of three-run ball. He gave up five hits and one walk while fanning three.
McNeillie was charged with the loss, pitching two innings of relief with two runs allowed on one hit, three walks and four strikeouts.
Peterson received a no-decision in his fourth-career start, allowing four runs across four-plus innings. The right-hander finished with five hits allowed, three walks and two strikeouts.
Gaels starter Dylan Delvecchio also did not factor into the decision after surrendering four runs (three earned) in two frames. He ended with four hits allowed, three walks and one strikeout.
Shelton (2-for-5), Evans (2-for-5) and Donay (2-for-4) registered multi-hit days in the defeat.
NOTABLES
* Saturday’s official attendance was 6,215.
* Kurland hit his second home run of the campaign.
* Shelton connected for his team-leading ninth home run of the season including his third of the series.
* Shelton is tied for second in the country in home runs.
* Heyman swatted his fourth homer of the season.
* Heyman and Shelton moved their on-base streaks to 14-straight contests.
* Florida dropped to 1-1 all-time against St. Mary’s.
* The Gators are now 3-2 all-time vs. the West Coast Conference.
* Florida fell to 42-10 at home since the start of 2023 including 27-6 in home series.
* The Gators are 37-13 in weekend series since the start of last season and 46-16 across the team’s previous 21 series at any venue.
* Dating back to last season, Florida is 31-8 in regular season non-conference games and has won 22 of its last 27 such contests.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On the loss…
“Everyone was pretty much the same as they were yesterday… six of nine leadoff hitters got on, we gave up [11] hits, 8 of the [11] were either 0-0 counts or advantage counts when we fell behind… It’s an older club, and when we fell behind, obviously, they did damage. The two solo home runs in the fourth were not the issue, it was the following inning. We had a big inning, we gave up four. It starts with a leadoff walk, then we fell behind 1-0, gave up a hit, and next thing you know they [sac bunt] and we don’t get rid of the ball quick enough and they beat it out. Now it’s bases loaded, we had an error at third on a chop ball, it was unfortunate… We had to use four different pitchers that inning. It’s just a big inning. And it started with a leadoff walk and a 1-0 count with a single.”
On whether changes are needed…
“I don’t want to make changes just to make changes. These are the guys we have, they’ve had success in the past… Last year, some of these guys have had success on the biggest stage. They’ve run through the SEC Schedule, pitched in Regionals, Super Regionals and the World Series. It’s a collective group. Bottom line is we just have to figure it out.”
On the history of premier pitching at Florida…
“We take pride in our walks-per-nine. We’ve always been a strike-throwing pitching staff, that’s always been stressed. There’s not anything that’s being told to them that hasn’t been told 10, 15 years ago. That’s just the ability to command the baseball.”
UP NEXT
Florida and St. Mary’s meet in the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m. on SEC Network+.
