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Florida’s ninth-inning rally fell short, as No. 18 Alabama held on to win 9-6 to even the series at a game a piece at Condron Family Ballpark.
It was a five-run fifth inning that doomed the No. 23 Gators (36-19, 14-15 SEC) on Friday to overshadow starting pitcher Pierce Coppola’s performance.
The Gators’ bullpen spoiled Coppola’s quality start on Friday, failing to contain the Crimson Tide’s offense.
Coppola was sharp in his second start back since returning from injury, going 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out 10. He started the game by striking out six of the first seven hitters and maintained control over every batter he faced.
An even 🔟 strikeouts for PC❗#GoGators // SECN+ pic.twitter.com/L8t2u3ko5P
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) May 16, 2025
“[I was] just trying to get ahead and throw strikes; strike one, strike two and get them out as quick as possible,” Coppola said. “Probably had a little bit of shadows working for me early on, so I’ll take it.”
Still, on a pitch count, Coppola did throw 67 pitches, which is 24 more than last week’s start against Texas. The goal for Coppola is to move him up 15-20 pitches each outing and get him back to throwing five-plus innings.
“I thought [Coppola] pitched the ball really well, and the positive is we got him up to 67 pitches,” UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “The whole goal was if we could get him to a point where we can get five innings out of a start, that’s great, and that’s obviously going to help us.”
After Coppola exited the game, Billy Barlow came in and closed out the fourth inning with a strikeout. He began the fifth inning striking out the leadoff hitter, before walking the next three to load the bases. Barlow (1-4) finished his outing with 12 straight balls.
Following Barlow, Christian Rodriguez came in to limit the damage but failed to do so. An error on Bobby Boser at shortstop scored two to give Alabama (40-14, 16-13) the 4-2 lead. Brady Neal stepped in for the Crimson Tide, looking to deliver with two outs.
After not chasing at the first two, Neal got a pitch to hit and did not miss it – hitting a bases-clearing three-run double to make it 7-2.
Wheelin' and Nealin'!@bradyneal16 I #RollTide pic.twitter.com/qS2RGwlf9K
— Alabama Baseball (@AlabamaBSB) May 17, 2025
“[Rodriguez] gets to a 2-0 count with the bases loaded, and next thing you know there’s three runs on the board,” O’Sullivan said. “[Alabama] scored five runs in that inning on one hit, on one hit; that’s not easy to do.”
The lone bright spot out of the bullpen was Blaine Rowland, who took over in the sixth inning and gave Florida 2.2 scoreless innings.
Rowland has been lights-out in the five appearances he has made this season, posting a 1.04 ERA, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 7-to-3, and has not allowed a run in his last four outings.
While Florida struggled on the mound, Alabama shined especially starting pitcher Riley Quick. Quick (8-2) did not get off to the fastest start on Friday (no pun intended), as Florida struck first. In the first, Brendan Lawson stood in on a 3-2 count against Quick.
As Quick was getting ready to deliver the pitch, it appeared that the pitch clock had hit zero, which should have awarded Lawson first base. Nothing was called and when Quick delivered the full-count pitch, he got Lawson to strike out.
But with no time granted, home plate umpire Steve Mattingly threw his arms in the air and nullified the pitch.
“It’s really hard for the home plate umpire to see the clock down the right side of the field at that time of the day,” O’Sullivan said. “But we also have a clock behind home plate and three other umpires.”
When asked if the pitch was supposed to be a redo, O’Sullivan said “I guess … there are a lot of new rules, but three other umpires and the clock right behind home plate.”
Redoing the pitch, Lawson drew a one-out walk and would score off a Brody Donay single that made it 1-0.
Florida added on in the second with three straight hits to get the inning started. Landon Stripling hit a leadoff single and got to third after Blake Brookins doubled to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Boser kept the train moving with a single of his own that allowed Stripling to score.
But after two shaky innings, Quick looked dialed in the rest of the way. He would throw three more scoreless innings and retire the final nine of the 11 hitters he would face. Quick allowed six hits, three walks and two runs, along with seven strikeouts in five innings.
Heard it was Riley Quick shove day? The final line for @rileyquick12:
5.0 IP / 6 H / 2 ER / 2 BB / 7 K#RollTide pic.twitter.com/8UKMoyCu11
— Alabama Baseball (@AlabamaBSB) May 17, 2025
Alabama finished behind Braylon Myers and Carson Ozmer, who each threw two innings. Ozmer made things interesting in the ninth when he allowed four runs to cut the Crimson Tide lead down to 9-6, but found a way to close it out.
Even with the comeback coming up short, O’Sullivan believes the way his team showed fight at the end could be the momentum the Gators need going into Saturday’s rubber match.
“It does give you momentum; I say that all the time, even if we were on the other side of [Alabama] dugout and you’re up 9-2; even though you won 9-6, we just gave them some momentum to go into tomorrow,” O’Sullivan said.
Florida will look to clinch its sixth consecutive SEC series with a win on Saturday and finish conference play at .500. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. on SEC Network+. You can listen live on ESPN 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF + WJXL 1010AM. Freshman right-hander Aidan King (5-2, 2.90 ERA) will toe the rubber for Florida against left-hander Zane Adams for Alabama (7-2, 4.84).
