Florida Baseball’s Win Streak Snapped In Series Finale At Miss State

The Gators’ seven-game winning streak came to an end in the series finale at Mississippi State on Sunday when the Gators fell 14-8 in a wild, back-and-forth slugfest at Dudy Noble Field.

After jumping out to an early lead behind Colby Shelton’s two-run homer, Florida (27-15, 6-12 SEC) struggled to keep pace with the Bulldogs’ explosive offense. A five-run third inning gave Mississippi State (24-16, 6-12) control, and despite a late surge from the Gators in the eighth, the Bulldogs responded with a knockout blow to seal the win and avoid the sweep.

Final score from the finale.

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— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) April 20, 2025

 

Bulldogs Respond and Take Control

Mississippi State wasted no time answering. Gators starter Luke McNeillie gave up a two-run homer to Ace Reese in the bottom of the first, then struggled again in the third. After loading the bases, he surrendered a three-run blast to Joe Powell, part of a five-run inning that gave the Bulldogs a 7-2 lead. McNeillie lasted just 2.2 innings, allowing seven earned runs on seven hits while hitting three batters.

Florida Tries to Rally

The Gators clawed their way back into the game in the middle innings. In the fourth, Hayden Yost singled, stole second and third, and scored on an Ashton Wilson groundout. An inning later, Brendan Lawson tripled and scored on a throwing error before Brody Donay launched a solo homer (his 12th of the season) to make it 8-5. Florida showed life, but couldn’t get over the hump.

Down 9-5 in the eighth, Florida made one last push. Wilson crushed a two-run homer to cut the deficit to two and Justin Nadeau followed with a solo blast to make it 9-8. The Gators had the tying run in scoring position, but Lawson struck out swinging to end the rally.

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— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) April 20, 2025

Mississippi State Slams the Door

The Bulldogs responded with a knockout blow in the bottom of the eighth. Gehrig Frei led off with a solo homer and Mississippi State capitalized on two hits and an intentional walk to load the bases. A two-run single and a two-run double followed to stretch the lead to 14-8 and putting the game out of reach.

McNeillie (3-2) was handed the loss after allowing seven earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. He finished with seven hits allowed, zero walks and six strikeouts.

“Got the series but very disappointed today,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Tough environment to play in, but gotta get length from the Sunday starter. I truly believe we’re turning this around. Gonna take everyone though.

“Yeah, we didn’t have any shutdown innings today, which is really disappointing. Every time we scored, we turned around and gave up some runs. But you know, I was awfully proud of our team in general this weekend for battling offensively. That’s one of the best weekends we’ve had in an awfully long time. So, awfully proud of the way they battled.”

What’s Next

Despite Sunday’s loss, Florida still claimed the series by winning the first two games in Starkville. The defeat ends the Gators’ seven-game win streak — their longest since early March.

The Gators returns to Condron Family Ballpark at 6 p.m. (SEC Network+) on Tuesday to host Georgia Southern before a crucial SEC home series against No. 2 Arkansas starting Friday.