The Florida Gators defeated in-state rival Florida State 5-4 in Tuesday night’s series finale, improving to 21-14 (1-11 SEC) on the 2025 season. Kevin O’Sullivan continues his dominance over the Seminoles as Florida clinched their 7th seventh season series in the last eight over FSU.
Freshman infielder Brendan Lawson smashed a three-run go ahead home run in the 5th inning while RHP Jake Clemente posted a six out save with four strikeouts.
Florida pitching handled the heart of FSU’s lineup
Entering the contest, FSU’s Alex Lodise and Max Williams had a combined 28 home runs while both sporting batting averages over .300. The duo was a combined 1-8 at the plate vs UF pitching, a huge storyline in Florida’s rubber match victory. Lodise, one of the Nation’s best hitters with a .448 batting average, was 0-4 at the plate with three strikeouts. Two of Lodise’s plate appearances were with runners on base, making his lack of success critical. You may remember Alex Lodise from March 25th, where he hit for the cycle and hit a walk-off grand slam in FSU’s 8-4 victory over Florida in game two of the series. The Gators did a much better job on Lodise this time around, keeping him off balance for most of the night and drawing plenty of swings and misses. Florida’s ability to handle two of the better hitters in the country played a huge factor on Tuesday night.
Timely two out hitting
After one of the worst offensive series under Kevin O’Sullivan last weekend vs Vanderbilt, the Gators bounced back in a big way vs FSU. While it was mostly a quiet night at the plate, Florida was able to take advantage of scoring opportunities with timely two out hits. The Gators’ lone run in the third inning came entirely with two outs after back-to-back doubles from Luke Heyman and Brendan Lawson. The story was the same two innings later, when Colby Shelton and Heyman both reached base with two outs before Lawson delivered a 412-foot three run home run, his 4th RBI of the game.
“He just continues to amaze, being such a young player, a freshman in our program, having the ability to rise up like he did against Ole Miss,” O’Sullivan said on Lawson’s performance. “I’ve said it once, I’ve said it probably 25 times now, he’s a special hitter, he’s advanced, and just continues to amaze.”
Florida’s ability to extend innings not only put pressure on FSU’s pitching staff by driving up pitch counts, but it resulted in four of the Gators’ five runs scored tonight. The Gators were 4-11 (.364) at the plate with two outs and 3-8 (.375) with runners in scoring position, a breath of fresh after a dreadful performance last weekend.
It’s closing time
Redshirt sophomore RHP Jake Clemente got the call in the 8th inning as Florida was looking for a six out save from their former Sunday starter. Not only did Clemente get the job done, but he was simply outstanding in doing so. The Coral Springs, Florida native retired all six batters he faced while racking up four strikeouts.
Clemente’s heater was drawing a ton of swing and miss up in the zone while his lighting quick pace was keeping FSU’s lineup off-balance. The Seminoles never looked comfortable with Clemente on the mound, which is not something you can say often given their talented lineup.
“That’s the best Jake’s pitched all year long. His pace was just outstanding in the 9th,” O’Sullivan said on Clemente’s outing.
Too many walks
The only real blemish of the game was Florida’s continued command issues. The Gators walked seven batters, and while it didn’t come back to bite them tonight, it’s certainly not a trend you want to see continue. It wasn’t all bad, though. Freshman RHP Jackson Barberi didn’t walk a batter in his three innings pitched. Although he allowed five hits, Barberi did a great job limiting damage by allowing only one run in his start. As previously reported, Clemente didn’t allow a single base runner in his two innings.
RHP Caden McDonald walked four batters while recording just three outs. Fortunately for Florida, LHP McCall Biemiller got the Gators out of a two on, nobody out jam in the 5th inning with a double play and a strikeout.
For the most part, the Gators pitched really well with runners on base. It helps that Florida’s defensed turned three double plays vs FSU.
Final thoughts
This was probably the best Florida has played since March 11th, the first meeting between these two schools where the Gators won 7-2. While a non-conference victory over your 9th ranked in-state rival is sweet, Florida’s 1-11 record in SEC play still looms large. Without a drastic improvement in conference play, the Gators don’t stand a chance of making the NCAA Tournament. All eyes need to be on Florida vs Missouri on this weekend, as the Gators desperately need a series win, if not a sweep.
“Hopefully this game gets us jump started. Something has to get going for us,” O’Sullivan said postgame. “I think it’s good that were getting back out there on a Thursday, it’s a quick turnaround, hopefully this will give us some momentum.”