Gators Drop First Game of Season, Downed by Rival Miami

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Florida Gators on Sunday lost its first game of the season after being defeated by rival Miami, 13-7, which was the most runs given up by the Gators since a 16-3 loss to Tennessee in May of 2024.

Miami plated nine runs over the course of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, taking advantage of pitching struggles from starter Jake Clemente and relievers Nico Janssens and Billy Barlow.

Holding a 4-0 lead in the fourth, Clemente allowed an RBI single before walking a batter with the bases loaded, cutting the Gators' lead in half. After allowing a walk and a base hit to start the fifth inning, Clemente was pulled in favor of Nico Janssens, who immediately walked another batter to load the bases with no outs and was promptly replaced by Billy Barlow.

Barlow gave up a quartet of RBI singles in his outing with another score coming off a double-play as Miami took a 7-4 lead into the bottom of the fifth, its first time ahead in the series since holding a 2-1 lead in the third inning of Friday's game.

After an error in center field from Justin Nadeau to begin the sixth, Barlow gave up two more RBI singles as Miami took a 9-4 lead.

Despite Miami's offensive surge in the middle innings, the Gators initially looked dominant with four runs plated in the first three innings.

Hayden Yost drilled a ground-rule double to left field to lead things off before Bobby Boser scored him with a single. Brody Donay and Brendan Lawson each reached base on a walk and hit-by-pitch to load the bases, and Landon Stripling scored Boser with a sac-fly to center field.

In the third, Donay smacked his sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot in left-center field to put Florida ahead, 4-0, but Florida wouldn't score another run until the eighth inning when Lawson and Stripling combined for a pair of RBI singles.

By that time, Miami had added four insurance runs in the eighth after UF reliever Jacob Gomberg walked a batter with the bases loaded and allowed a three-run double from Bobby Marsh. Florida added one more in the ninth with another RBI single from Lawson.

Next Up

The Gators (11-1) hit the road on Tuesday for a matchup at UCF with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. Streaming coverage can be found on ESPN+.

On Wednesday, Florida returns to Condron Ballpark for a matchup against Florida Atlantic, which is also scheduled for a 6 p.m. start. Streaming coverage can be found on SEC Network+.

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