Sunday’s rubber match vs No.5 Arkansas was the biggest game of the season for Kevin O’Sullivan’s ballclub as Florida looks to climb back into the postseason picture. The Gators delivered, defeating Arkansas 9-5 in game three to win a potential season altering series. Florida improved to 30-16 (8-13 SEC) on the 2025 season after a massive resume building victory.
RHP Billy Barlow’s early command issues led to a 5-1 deficit heading into the bottom of the second, but the Gators didn’t flinch, throwing zero’s the rest of way while scoring at least one run in seven of eight trips to the plate. Florida was consistent at the plate throughout the entire game, coming up with timely two out hits and logging six extra base hits. All nine batters in Florida’s lineup recorded at least one hit while six reached base at least two times.
Florida’s bullpen thrived
While the start of the game didn’t go as planned, the Gators found excellent outings from a trio of bullpen arms in Alex Philpott, Luke McNeillie, and Jake Clemente. Philpott took over in a difficult spot with the bases loaded and one out in the 2nd. After struggling with his command early, Philpott settled down and retired seven straight batters.
After RHP Christian Rodriguez faced two batters in the 5th, Luke McNeillie entered the game with Florida still trailing 5-4. The sophomore would retire all five batters he faced, getting Florida to the 7th inning where they would turn to closer Jake Clemente for the nine out save.
“What probably gets lost in this game a little bit is Luke McNeillie’s effort. Recording five outs, a bounce back from Friday night’s outing. He got a big strikeout with runners on 2nd and 3rd to end his inning,” O’Sullivan said postgame.
Clemente threw 31 pitches on Friday night, so his pitch count was something to monitor as Florida was asking for an extended outing from the hard throwing right hander. Clemente would finish the game with three scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out four. The redshirt sophomore cruised through his first two innings before running into some trouble in the 9th, loading the bases with one out. Nearing 100 pitches on the weekend, Clemente dug deep and struck out a .371 hitter in Kuhio Aloy after a 10 pitch at bat, six of which Aloy fouled off. Gabe Fraser lined out to second base to end the game.
“This was a very important game for us, and obviously we’ve leaned on him quite a bit, but he was outstanding. Really outstanding,” O’Sullivan said on Clemente. “Aloy put up a heck of an bat obviously, we were trying to throw fastballs up, he was getting to those, breaking balls, he was just so amped up. He made one more big pitch, and obviously the tying run was at the plate.”
Clemente’s heroic effort this weekend should not go unnoticed. In a pair of victories on Friday and Sunday, Clemente fired 5.2 scoreless innings across two appearances vs one of the best offenses in the country, making him a prime candidate for SEC pitcher of the week.
Welcome back Ty Evans
It hasn’t been the season Ty Evans hoped for when he decided to return for his senior year. Hitting just .222 on the season, Evans hadn’t recorded an at bat since April 8th vs FSU. The lack of success didn’t stop Evans from contributing to Florida’s win on Sunday afternoon.
Leading 7-5 in the 7th inning, Evans gave the Gators a much-needed insurance run with a solo home run to left center, his first big fly of the 2025 season.
“It was really good to get Ty back out there. For him to have that moment to hit the home run. Really special moment,” O’Sullivan said on Evans.
With starting shortstop Colby Shelton out for the game with a wrist injury, Florida needed someone to step up and provide a spark. Evans got his name called and delivered in the biggest game of Florida’s season. Evans reached base twice in four plate appearances and hit the ball hard every at bat.
Looking ahead
While this was a huge series win for Florida, the season is far from over. The Gators still need to string together more wins in order to feel safe about their postseason chances.
“We can’t take anything for granted. I told them this morning, today is the most important game of the year, next Friday is the most important game of the year, next Saturday is the most important game of the year. We have to literally take it game by game,” O’Sullivan said. “But having a marquee series win should help our confidence.”
Florida is set to take on South Carolina in a critical three game road series next weekend.