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The Florida Gators completed their sweep of Air Force with an 11-1 run-rule victory in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader at Condron Family Ballpark.
Dominant pitching and timely hitting carried Florida (3-0) to a statement win against Air Force (0-3).
Redshirt junior left-hander Pierce Coppola set the tone for the Gators with a career-high 12 strikeouts in five innings of work. Coppola’s fastball command was sharp from the start when he struck out the side in the first inning to fire up the home crowd.
Pierce Coppola is on FIRE🔥 10 K’s through 4.0 for a new career high. pic.twitter.com/nwA3GLr8Tu
— Jacob (@Jfedora_UFCJC) February 15, 2025
Coppola allowed just one hit — a leadoff triple in the fifth — but escaped the jam without surrendering a run. His previous career high for strikeouts was nine set in the 2023 NCAA Tournament against Kentucky.
“It feels good, but for me and my expectation is to pitch like that as much as I can,” Coppola said. “I’ll take the win today, but I gotta build on it next time.”
The Gators led 2-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth, but their offense exploded for seven runs to put the game out of reach. Brody Donay started the rally with an RBI single for a 3-0 lead. Blake Cyr, Justin Nadeau, Hayden Yost and Bobby Boser followed by adding back-to-back-to-back-to-back RBI base hits to tack on another six runs to make it 9-0.
Justin Nadeau with a 2RBI single! Gators lead 6-0! pic.twitter.com/fNKBK6Utjm
— Jacob (@Jfedora_UFCJC) February 15, 2025
“Yeah that was awesome, laser show. It was pretty awesome for him, he’s been working hard and it was pretty awesome to see him do the things he did this weekend,” Yost said of Donay. “He started a ton of rallies that we had throughout the series. It’s great for our offense, it gets us in the right mindset.”
Yost has eager to return behind after missing the 2024 postseason due to a torn ACL. Yost, who showed flashes of potential late last season, has focused on rehab and getting comfortable running the bases again. Saturday he showed just eight months after surgery he was ready to compete and contribute to Florida’s explosive offense with two hits, two RBIs and a stolen base.
“It took a lot of work . . . but it’s worth it to be back on the field,” Yost said.
Following Coppola’s dominant start, Aidan King and Matthew Jenkins combined for two innings of relief. King allowed one run in his debut and recorded three strikeouts. Jenkins struck out two in the seventh inning to seal the run-rule decision.
Up Next
The Gators look to build on their hot start when they play at Jacksonville on Tuesday at 6 p.m. (ESPN+ and 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF at 5:55 p.m.)
