Gators Baseball Splits Doubleheader To Capture First SEC Win

In the first game of the doubleheader Friday, the Florida Gators baseball team lost 10-9 in an Ole Miss walk-off sacrifice fly. The Gators then won their first SEC game of the season in the nightcap 11-8.

Game two final.

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— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) March 28, 2025

Florida was pretty dominant throughout the first game in Oxford, as Luke Heyman and Brendan Lawson led the team. After No. 15 Ole Miss took the first lead, it reacted with a Heyman home run in the second inning. Continuing to score, Bobby Boser brought in two runs on a single to center field. Lawson then hit a sacrifice fly to bring Justin Nadeau in and increase the Gators lead 4-1. 

The Gators remained scoreless until the seventh inning when Heyman hit a RBI double to tie the game. The eighth inning gave the Gators their second lead of the game when Lawson cranked a grand slam, his second of the season. 

Lost Opportunity

However, Florida’s nine runs and nine hits were not enough, as Ole Miss had 10 runs and 11 hits. Senior Mitchell Sanford was a powerhouse for the Rebels after going 3 of 5 with a lead-off home run, followed with a run after a Luke Hill single and later homered again in the bottom of the fifth to regain the 5-4 lead for Ole Miss. 

The Gators held the Rebels until the eighth inning when they scored two more runs to further close the deficit. During their last opportunity at bat, the ‘Rebs scored three runs to secure the victory. The first was a two-run double by Will Furniss and the final was an Austin Fawley sacrifice fly that brought Furniss home. 

Overall, the Gators improved in Game 2 of the series, but it was not enough to lose the series. The Florida pitching staff looked better as starter Liam Peterson took care of six strikeouts in four and a third innings. However he gave up five runs and seven hits. When Jake Clemente took over for three and two thirds innings, he struck out four, walked three and gave up four runs. Jackson Barberi (1-1) closed but gave up the walk-off sacrifice fly.

Game 2

After a gut-wrenching loss earlier in the day, Florida responded with resilience in Game 2 of Friday’s doubleheader, storming back to defeat No. 15 Ole Miss 11-8 and pick up its first SEC win of the season. The game was moved up because of the threat of inclement weather Saturday.

The victory snaps an 0-8 conference start — the worst in SEC play in coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s tenure.

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Heyman Homers Again, Offense Keeps Pace

The Gators (19-11, 1-8 SEC) wasted no time getting on the board, as Heyman launched a two-run home run to left field in the second inning. Although Ole Miss (21-6, 6-3 SEC) quickly erased the early deficit and took a 4-2 lead.

Florida clawed back, as Colby Shelton hit a solo shot to center in the fifth. Followed by a two-run sixth inning highlighted by a Ty Evans RBI double and Hayden Yost’s run-scoring single that put Florida ahead 5-4.

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The Rebels responded with a three-run seventh inning, capped by a two-run homer and added another run in the eighth to stretch their lead to 7-5. But Heyman once again sparked the offense with a solo blast in the eighth to give Florida life heading into the ninth.

Facing another SEC loss, the Gators rallied with a furious ninth-inning comeback. Justin Nadeau led off with a double, then Bobby Boser and Shelton followed with singles to bring in a run. With the bases loaded, Heyman walked to tie the game at 8-8. Landon Stripling delivered the decisive blow — a two-run single to give Florida a 10-8 lead. Evans grounded into a double play, but it brought home one more insurance run.

Lando gives the Gators the lead!

It's a two-run single to right field.

UF 10, OLE 8 // T9 pic.twitter.com/l001GPJIZE

— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) March 29, 2025

Billy Barlow closed out the ninth by stranding the bases loaded to secure his first save of the season.

Heyman finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two homers on the night, while Shelton, Stripling and Yost all contributed key hits in Florida’s biggest inning of the season.

Up Next

Florida turns its attention to North Florida on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Gainesville before hosting No. 14 Vanderbilt next weekend.

Brooke Park contributed to the Game 1 recap.