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On a day when Florida had to avenge its lone loss this weekend to move into the regional final, the Gators were unable to do so, falling to three-seeded East Carolina 11-4. The loss eliminates Florida and ends their season, finishing the year 39-22, 15-15 in the SEC.
The loss snaps a seven-game winning streak in regional elimination games and will be the first time since 2022 that Florida failed to get out of a regional. It felt like deja vu during Sunday’s elimination game as ECU once again came out of the gate, pressured, and poured it on the Gators.
“First of all, congratulations to ECU, obviously they beat us handily two times this weekend,” said head coach Kevin O’Sullivan. “Obviously, East Carolina deserves to move on and we’ll get back to Gainesville, have our exit meetings and prepare for next year.”
Starting pitcher Pierce Coppola was not sharp in this one, and the Pirates made him pay for it. After getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the first, Coppola allowed the first three to reach in the second. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Braden Burress put ECU on the board with an RBI single. One more would come in on a passed ball to make it 2-0.
East Carolina blew the game wide open in the third, starting with another free pass by Coppola. After giving up his fourth free ride, Coppola got pulled. It was another disappointing outing from a Gators’ starting pitcher this weekend.
Billy Barlow came in and gave up three consecutive hits that brought two more runs in to score before coach Kevin O’Sullivan pulled him. Jake Clemente entered for the first time and hit the nine-hole batter to load the bases.
It did not get any better for Clemente, who followed that up with back-to-back base hits that extended the Pirates lead to 7-1.
Austin Irby terrorized Florida pitching in their first game – going 4-for-5 with a home run, double, and three RBIs – launched his third homer of the weekend, extending the lead out to 8-1. In two games against Florida, Irby went 6-for-8 with a HR and five RBIs.
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Florida carved into the lead with a three-run sixth that made it 8-4. The inning started with the first three walking and coming around to score. Ty Evans knocked a two-run single to get it started – another run scored on a 5-4-3 double play.
Not done yet.#GoGators // ESPNU pic.twitter.com/pY8fdy8Q5U
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) June 1, 2025
Momentum quickly swayed back to the purple and gold in the bottom half of the inning after Ryley Johnson doubled and scored, making it 9-4. Johnson scored on a Brendan Lawson throwing error.
Trying to make one last push to get back in the game, Florida put two on with one out in the eighth, but back-to-back flyouts ended the inning. ECU capitalized with runners on, while Florida could not.
A bad day got worse in the bottom of the inning, as Blake Cyr dropped a fly ball to put a runner on with two outs. ECU took advantage and scored two more runs off an error and a single to make it 11-4.
Unfortunately, the starting pitching did not show up, and the bats went too cold in key spots. Despite the season coming to an end in Conway, SC, Florida did a remarkable job at overcoming more adversity than any other team in the country.
Florida finished the year without its starting catcher, shortstop, second baseman, and center fielder due to injuries. They also played most of their games down the stretch with all of their left-handed pitchers out.
They also overcame a 1-11 start in conference play, which was the first time an SEC team that started 2-10 or worse made the tournament. It is a testament to how well this team buckled down and battled during the second half of the year.
