Florida put together just three hits in a 7-1 midweek loss to South Florida on Tuesday night.
The Gators have hit well recently, scoring eight or more runs in nine of the last 11 games. Arkansas put together a shutout two weekends ago, but a convincing loss in the midweek calls for more attention. Matthew Jenkins returned from injury and struck out seven going through the order one time.
He walked the leadoff hitter with two outs in the third and got the hook, but things looked good coming off the monthlong absence for Jenkins. Caden McDonald came on to hold the shutout and did fine getting the final out of the third, but he didn’t make it through the fourth.
Christian Rodriguez took over for McDonald with two out and two on after three straight singles. C-Rod fanned the batter on five pitches for out No. 3 and got two quick outs in the fifth. A four-pitch walk brought Sully out to make another change. It makes sense to keep guys on a low pitch count with Texas on Friday, but finishing the inning would be ideal unless it’s a matchup thing.
Alex Philpott got out of the fifth with no problems, but he never recorded an out in the sixth. Back-to-back-to-back hits knocked him out of the game, with the final blow being an RBI double to right field. Luke McNeillie came out to do some damage control but couldn’t stop three runs from scoring — only one of which goes on his record. Billy Barlow, the third pitcher of the inning, came on to finally get out of the sixth.
Going through that many arms and leaving a bad taste in their mouth isn’t great, but Sully didn’t have a ton of other options once McDonald went just one inning.
In the seventh inning, Barlow brought the first 1-2-3 inning for Florida’s defense since the second. It’s too bad the score was already 5-1 at that point, but he came in after the four runs scored in the sixth. They should have left Barlow in, too, but he needs to be fresh for Friday, especially if he’s the only one pitching well right now. Freshman Carson Montsdeoca got the call, but a pair of hits to start the eighth moved things to Blaine Rowland.
Rowland gave up an RBI single to the first batter he saw, but he got some revenge by picking him off at first and retiring the next four batters he faced in a row. A two-out single did no harm, but Florida had nothing going offensively.
Hayden Yost singled in the third, Brendan Lawson doubled in the fourth and Luke Heyman doubled in the sixth. The first two failed to score despite reaching to lead off the inning, and Heyman forced a pitching change with two outs. Unfortunately, no other Gator reached base after that swap on the mound. The three walks on the day all came early — Lawson in the first, Ashton Wilson in the third and Brody Donay in the fifth. Yost also got hit by a pitch in the fifth, but Lawson was the only baserunner listed above to score on a botched throwing error, no less.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida Gators baseball drops final midweek game of 2025 regular season
Reporting by David Rosenberg, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
