No.10 Florida baseball completed the series sweep of Dayton on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Flyers 12-2 in game three. The Gators run-ruled Dayton in all three games of the weekend series, a feat that has never been accomplished in UF program history before today. The last time Florida beat a team by double digit runs in all three games of a weekend series came in 2005 vs Michigan State.
Florida improved to 7-0 on the 2025 season, posting double digit run totals in their last six games. The last time Florida held a six-game winning streak where they scored 10+ runs in each game was during the 2003 season.
Junior infielder Cade Kurland led the way for Florida with two home runs and four RBI in the contest. After not making the start, Kurland pinch hit for Justin Nadeau in the 5th inning before hitting a two-run home run in both the 7th and 8th inning. The pair of big flies marked the first two of Kurland’s 2025 campaign.
“I obviously didn’t start the game today, I think it’s important that when you’re in that position that you have to stay in the game, because your number could be called at any point,” Kurland said postgame. “Sure enough, my number got called, and I wasn’t even on deck, I went straight from the dugout to the box. There’s not much you can do; you just simplify and try to smash the ball.”
Pierce Coppola dominant once again
LHP Pierce Coppola put together another great showing on the mound, earning the win after tossing five innings of two run ball. The lefty allowed three hits and one walk while striking out eight.
While Coppola did allow two runs, he pitched a lot better than his stat line indicates. After three perfect innings, Coppola allowed a weak hit to right field in which Ty Evans dove for and missed, so Dayton’s leadoff hitter was standing at third base with nobody out in the frame. A sac fly would bring home one of the two runs Coppola allowed. His other run allowed was a solo shot to right field from Bobby Stang, where Coppola just left a fastball up in the zone.
Coppola was efficient early on in his outing, sitting at just 35 pitches through three innings while racking up five strikeouts.
“He was efficient, he was around the strike zone, he had three pitches working, fastball, slider, change. His misses were small, he went to a couple 3-0 counts and came right back in the count. He was really good,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said postgame.
Coppola threw 54 of his 74 pitches for strikes, a strike percentage of 73%. The 6’8 left hander was pulled an inning early as Florida is planning to move him up to the Saturday / game two starter. Florida wants to split up their right handers on the weekends, so Jake Clemente will slide to Sunday.
Welcome back Kyle Jones and Ty Evans
Outfielders Kyle Jones and Ty Evans were back in the lineup together for the first time since opening night after dealing with minor injuries. The duo combined for four hits in nine at bats while adding three RBI and three runs to the stat sheet.
A major storyline through two weeks of Florida’s 2025 season is the offensive depth, particularly in the outfield. Jones and Evans are two of five or six outfielders that could see the field with regularity throughout the first month of play.
“It’s pretty unbelievable, I feel like we can run out two completely different teams every day if we wanted to, and both of them have just as much of a chance to have the same amount of success,” Ty Evans said on Sunday.
USF transfer Bobby Boser told Gator Country earlier in the week that this is the most depth he’s ever seen on a baseball team.
Brendan Lawson = Professional hitter
Freshman infielder Brendan Lawson is one of just three Gators (Shelton, Boser, Lawson) to start all seven games this season. There’s a reason for that. Lawson is hitting .333 to start his rookie campaign with two doubles, one home run, five walks, and 10 RBI. To make his batting average more impressive, Lawson didn’t record a hit in his first seven at bats, despite recording three outs with an exit velo over 90 MPH and two at 106. Lawson is 8 for 18 (.444) at the plate in his last five games.
You wouldn’t be able to tell that Lawson is a true freshman by watching his approach at the plate. The Canadian has great zone control, elite bat to ball speed, and is much more powerful than his frame may indicate.
“Just his composure. The game never speeds up on him. He’s under control,” O’Sullivan said on Lawson. “He would probably have three or four home runs right now if the wind was a little bit more like it will be as the season goes on. I mean he handles left-handers, he handles, obviously, right-handers and he gives you good at bats. He’s got really good strike-zone management, but he’s been really impressive.”
Lawson was 2-4 today and both outs were near home runs that were drilled to the warning track. The wind kept the first one from leaving the yard, and the second one was hit even harder, coming off the bat at 105 MPH.
Notables
– Florida’s 7-0 start has been fueled by four run-rule victories
– Florida pitchers have produced a 95-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio through seven games.
– All 22 UF pitching appearances have featured at least one strikeout.
– The Gators have registered a strikeout in 53 of 57 innings.
– Through 57.0 innings, UF pitchers have allowed just nine earned runs on 33 hits and 13 walks on the year, equating to a 1.42 ERA and .166 batting average against.
– After stealing 43 bags last year, Florida has already swiped 25 bases (58.1%) in seven games.
– Florida has drawn more walks (39) on the season than strikeouts (37) on top of 16 hit-by-pitches after striking out just twice today and walking 10 times.
– The Gators are 40-0 all-time vs. the Atlantic 10 (34-0 vs. current A10 teams).
UP NEXT
Florida travels to Stetson on Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. matchup on ESPN+ before hosting North Florida on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.