Mother Nature — and High Point University — rained on Florida’s parade Saturday as the Gators lost game two and the series, 6-2.

High Point never trailed after breaking the game open with five runs in the third inning, putting Florida in an early hole it could not escape.

Aidan King (2-1) started on the mound for Florida, pitching three innings and finishing with 91 pitches, 58 of them strikes. After striking out the side in the first inning, King ran into trouble in the third.

HPU outfielder Jake McCarter reached on a single before Willie Ponce scored from second on a throwing error. The Panthers continued to fire on all cylinders, scoring five runs in the inning to take a 5-0 lead and silence the Gainesville crowd.

“You could look at it as if you locate the ball a little better, maybe the balls are not being fouled off and they’re put in play with soft contact,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “But obviously, this was not one of those starts that Aidan is used to having. No sense of pressing the panic button or anything like that.”

Florida had a chance to respond in the bottom of the third when the bases were loaded with Cash Strayer at the plate, but the rally ended with a strikeout, keeping the Gators scoreless heading into the fourth inning.

Florida turned to the bullpen in the fourth, bringing in Caden McDonald, who held High Point scoreless. Schuyler Sanford worked out of a jam in the sixth, and Luke McNeillie closed the game with two shutout innings.

“Yeah, that’s the best he’s looked since he’s been back, in my opinion,” O’Sullivan said of McNeillie. “He located his breaking ball down in the zone.”

High Point starter Ty Brachbill improved to 4-0 on the season after pitching 6⅔ innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out four.

Florida will look to salvage the final game of the series Sunday at 1 p.m. Sophomore right-hander Cooper Walls (2-0, 3.97 ERA) is expected to start for the Gators.