Gators Cruise Past Fairfield to Avoid Elimination

Originally posted on Florida Gators on SI
By Kyle Lander | Last updated May 31, 2025 8:11 PM ET

The Florida Gators rebounded Saturday, avoiding elimination with a 17-2 win over Fairfield.

They charged past Fairfield behind a near-complete game on the mound from Aidan King, and a flurry of runs scored across three different innings in this game.

King pitched eight innings, striking out seven and giving up just one earned run on four hits. He cruised through the first five innings, only issuing two hits and two walks. The only mistake he made was the home run. He continued his time on the mound all the way through the eighth before being taken out.

Take a bow, kid

8.0 IP
4 H
1 R
2 BB
7 K pic.twitter.com/bKjNHcpcTw
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) May 31, 2025

The Gators’s bats put the game away with rallies in the fifth and sixth innings. They scored six of the 16 unanswered runs in these two innings to jump out to a 7-1 lead.

Infielder Bobby Boser got the run started with a two-run shot. Then, outfielder Blake Cyr singled home one run and a fielder's choice from the next batter scored two more in the fifth. In the sixth, the only runs to score came from catcher Brody Donay's two-run blast.

That's 1️⃣8️⃣ for BOBBY BASEBALL! #GoGators // SECN pic.twitter.com/POUWu3uKnl
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) May 31, 2025

The Gators also scored eight runs in the eighth pull further ahead. They walked five times, had three singles, were hit by a pitch and had one sac fly in the frame.

Florida’s leading hitter on the day was infielder Brendan Lawson, who finished 5-for-7 with three RBIs. He is the first Gator to record five hits in an NCAA Tournament game since Wyatt Langford in 2023 in the Men’s College World Series final, according to Gator Country’s Nick Marcinko on X.

They will take on the loser of Coastal Carolina and ECU tomorrow at noon.