Georgia Rolls Over Florida to Clinch the Series

No.4 Georgia dismantles No.13 Florida 17-2 to clinch the series on Saturday. The Bulldogs imposed their will on the Gators all game long, making this SEC powerhouse look more like gator bait. Florida (18-7, 0-5 SEC) looked lifeless on both sides of the ball and it reflected in the final box score. It is the first time since 2006 that Georgia has taken a series against Florida in Gainesville.

After Friday night’s ninth-inning collapse, Florida looked lifeless the whole game. Something that head coach Kevin O’Sullivan was not pleased about post-game.

“You would hope and think that your team would come out with a lot more fire and energy,” O’Sullivan said. “I mean it’s Florida-Georgia, maybe some of our players just don’t understand the rivalry and the importance of it.”

Bulldog Bats Were Humming

It did not take long for the bats to get hot for Georgia (23-2, 4-1 SEC). After a first pitch lead-off double from catcher Henry Hunter got the train moving in the first. Robbie Burnett sent his 12th home run of the year into the Gators bullpen to give the Bulldogs the 2-0 lead. Georgia added on in the second inning with another two-run shot, this time off the bat of Brennan Hudson, to make it 4-0.

The train kept rolling in the third when Christian Adams belted one into the right-center field gap to drive another run and make it 5-0. After making a beautiful play to end the third inning, Kolby Branch blasted his third home run of the year to push the lead to 6-0. Adams and Devin Obee hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth to stretch the lead to 9-0.

Georgia tacked on two more in the seventh to push their lead to 11-1 after a couple of bases-loaded walks. In the ninth, Ryland Zaborowksi and Tre Phelps hit back-to-back two-run doubles to make it 15-2. The Bulldogs were not done there. Obee crushed his second home run of the day to make it 17-2.

BEE

This marks Georgia’s season high for home runs in a game with 6️⃣#GoDawgs | @iamdloxvi pic.twitter.com/h71OSeGLck

— Georgia Baseball (@BaseballUGA) March 22, 2025

The Georgia offense finished the day with six home runs, 16 hits, 17 runs.

Brian Curley Silences Gators’ Bats

Georgia’s starting pitching has been problematic all season. So what does head coach Wes Johnson do? He sends his usual closer, Brian Curley, out to start. Curley was dominant on the mound all game long, a breath of fresh air for Georgia. He attacked Florida hitters with his fastball, which sat between 94-97 mph. It allowed his breaking ball to be effective and keep the Gators off-balance.

O’Sullivan commented on Curley’s performance. “Curley controlled the tempo of the game, [we] didn’t have any answers for him.”

Curley ran into trouble in the third following back-to-back walks and a wild pitch. But with one out and runners at second and third, Curley buckled down and retired the next two hitters to escape the third unscathed.

Curley went five innings, two hits, zero runs, two walks, and five strikeouts.

Florida’s offense was nonexistent the whole day. After being shut down by Curley, the Gators managed just one run in the sixth on a Brendan Lawson RBI single off of Justin Byrd to make it a 9-1 game. However, the Gators failed to scratch any more across in the inning, stranding runners at second and third. Hayden Yost put in a charge one in the seventh to make it an 11-2 game. However, the inning was quickly put to rest after RHP Zach Harris came in and got a groundout and a strikeout to end the inning.

First-career homer for Yost #GoGators // SECN pic.twitter.com/73HMjf0PIk

— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) March 22, 2025

Pitching Woes Continue

It was a long day for RHP Billy Barlow, who was making his first weekend start Saturday. Georgia got to Barlow right out of the gate with a two-run home run. In the second, Barlow walked Obee which allowed for Hudson to send one into the right field berm. Barlow would allow another in the third off a two-out double. His time would run out in the fourth when he allowed a lead-off home run before getting pulled.

Similar to Friday, Georgia made Barlow work for everything. In his three innings of work, he threw 77 pitches with only 48 of them being strikes. He finished the day allowing seven hits, six runs, two walks, and five strikeouts.

LHP McCall Biemiller would come in relief of Barlow and struck out two of his first three batters faced. However, he, too, would feel the wrath of this Bulldogs’ lineup in the fifth when Biemiller allowed back-to-back solo shots. Biemiller finished the day with two innings, two hits, three runs, two walks and four strikeouts.

RHP Carson Montsdeoca made his season debut Saturday, coming into relief during a 9-0 blowout. He only went 1 1/3 innings before getting pulled in the seventh.

After Montsedeoca loaded the bases in the seventh, RHP Felix Ong would come in to try and sort the mess out. It did not start great as he hit Hunter to bring in a run. But limiting the damage to two runs before getting out of it. Ong looked good in his debut, striking out four. Jacob Gomberg did not do much in the ninth. He gave up three runs on three hits.

Too Many Free Passes

Free passes continue to be an issue for Florida pitching. Saturday, the Gators allowed 10 free passes. You are not going to have success against good teams when the pitching staff allows free passes. The lack of depth and experience is starting to add up for this staff, who continues to struggle.

What’s Next

Sunday’s series finale will begin at 1 p.m. Florida will try to salvage the series with a win and avoid being swept at home for the first time since 2022. Watch live on SEC Network+ and listen live at ESPN 98.1 FM/850 AM WRUF.