FINAL
Florida 11
Mississippi State 8
UPDATES
Bottom of the ninth inning; 11-8 Florida
– Stallman strikes out swinging, out at first
– Hines flies out down the right field line
– Sullivan strikes out swinging
Top of the ninth inning; 11-8 Florida
– Shelton strikes out swinging
– Boser strikes out looking; Nadeau steals second
– Nadeau singles to center and Yost scores. 11-8 Florida
– Wilson grounds out to shortstop; Donay scores and Yost advances to second. 10-8 Florida
– Yost reaches first on a throwing error on a sac bunt; Donay advances to third
– Donay reaches first and advances to second on a fielding error
Bottom of the eighth inning; 9-8 Florida
– Reese flies out to left
– Reeves strikes out looking
– Frei strikes out swinging
Top of the eighth inning; 9-8 Florida
– Cyr pops out to second
–Ryan McPherson (RHP) in for Dotson
– Heyman is walked and the bases are loaded
– Lawson strikes out swinging
– Shelton strikes out swinging
– Boser singles to left and advances to second on the throw; Nadeau to third
– Nadeau is walked; advances to second on a passed ball
Bottom of the seventh inning; 9-8 Florida
– Sanders singles to left and advances to second on the throw; Highfill advances to third, out at home upon review (no obstruction)
– Stevens strikes out swinging
– Highfill hit by pitch; steals second
– Stallman two-run homer to right. 9-8 Florida
– Hines strikes out swinging
– Jake Clemente (RHP) in for Philpott
– Sullivan singles to right center
Top of the seventh inning; 9-6 Florida
– Wilson is picked off and caught stealing, out at second
– Wilson is walked
– Cyr scores on a wild pitch. 9-6 Florida
– Yost flies out to left
– Donay grounds out to second; Heyman scores and Cyr advances to third. 8-6 Florida
– Cyr ground rule doubles; Shelton and Lawson score. Another lead change, 7-6 Florida
– Heyman is walked and the bases are loaded again
– Lawson doubles down the left field line; Nadeau and Boser get home. 6-5 Mississippi State
– Shelton is walked; bases are loaded
– Nadeau to third, Boser to second on a passed ball
– Boser singles through the left side; Nadeau advances to second
– Nadeau strikes out swinging but reaches first on a wild pitch, confirmed by review
– Nate Williams (RHP) comes in for Davis
Bottom of the sixth inning; 6-3 Mississippi State
– Reese strikes out looking
– Reeves grounds out to third
– Frei fliers out to center
Top of the sixth inning; 6-3 Mississippi State
– Wilson grounds into a double play
– Yost reaches first on a fielder's choice; Donay out at second
– Domay singles to third
Bottom of the fifth inning; 6-3 Mississippi State
– Sanders flies out to left
–Stevens singles to shortstop; Sullivan scores. 6-3 Mississippi State
– Highfill HBP; Reese scores. 5-3 Mississippi State
– Stallman is walked; bases are loaded for Mississippi State
– Hines strikes out swinging
–Alex Philpott (RHP) coming in for King
– Sullivan singles to shortstop; Reese advances to second
– Reese singles to right; Sanders and Frei score. 4-3 Mississippi State
– Reeves strikes out swinging
– Frei singles to left center and advances to second on a throwing error; Sanders to third
– Sanders singles to center
Top of the fifth inning; 3-2 Florida
– Cyr grounds out to second
– Heyman grounds out to third; Boser scores. 3-2 Florida
– Lawson strikes out swinging
– Boser to third, Shelton to second on a wild pitch
– Shelton singles up the middle; Boser advances to second
– Boser is walked
– Ben Davis (RHP) in for Siary
Bottom of the fourth inning; 2-2
– Stevens strikes out looking
– Highfill flies out to center
– Stallman grounds out to second
Top of the fourth inning; 2-2
– Nadeau strikes out swinging
– Wilson steals second
– Wilson singles to left; Donay scores. 2-2
– Yost grounds out to pitcher; Donay advances to third
– Donay doubles to center
– Cyr fouls out to third base
Bottom of the third inning; 2-1 Mississippi State
– Hines grounds out to third
– Sullivan grounds out to third
– Reese strikes out swinging
Top of the third inning; 2-1 Mississippi State
– Heyman strikes out looking
– Lawson strikes out swinging
– Shelton grounds out; Boser advances to third
– Boser is walked
Bottom of the second inning; 2-1 Mississippi State
– Reeves pops up to shortstop
– Frei fouls out to third
– Sanders strikes out swinging
–Bases are loaded for Mississippi State after Stevens is walked
– Highfill singles through the left side; Stallman advances to second
– Stallman hit by pitch
Top of the second inning; 2-1 Mississippi State
– Nadeau grounds out to first unassisted
– Wilson grounds out to shortstop
– Yost strikes out swinging
Bottom of the first inning; 2-1 Mississippi State
– Hines strikes out looking
–Sullivan homers to center and sends Reese home. 2-1 Mississippi State
– Reese singles down the third base line
– Reeves grounds out on a bunt to third
– Frei strikes out swinging
Top of the first inning; 1-0 Florida
– Donay pops up to second
– Cyr singles to center; Lawson scores and Heyman advances to second
– Heyman is walked
– Lawson doubles to left field; advances to third on a wild pitch
– Shelton strikes out swinging
– Boser strikes out swinging
FLORIDA LINEUP
3B Bobby Boser
SS Colby Shelton
1B Brendan Lawson
C Luke Heyman
LF Blake Cyr
DH Brody Donay
CF Hayden Yost
RF Ashton Wilson
2B Justin Nadeau
Starting pitcher: RHP Aidan King (4-1, 2.68 ERA)
MISSISSIPPI STATE LINEUP
LF Gehrig Frei
SS Sawyer Reeves
3B Ace Reese
DH Noah Sullivan
1B Hunter Hines
RF Reed Stallman
C Ross Highfill
CF Nolan Stevens
2B Gatlin Sanders
Starting pitcher: Evan Siary (0-1, 3.91 ERA)
PREGAME NOTES
– Florida (26-14, 5-11 SEC)could secure its second SEC series victory of the season Saturday in game two of its weekend matchupat Mississippi State (23-15, 5-11 SEC).
– ESPN will cover game two on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET while Sunday's finale airs on ESPN2 at 3 p.m. ET.
– Florida handed Mississippi State a 13-3 defeat over eight innings Friday,behind a season-high 17 hits withBrody Donay (4-for-5) and Luke Heyman (1-for-5) doing the heavy lifting on a night where seven different Gators drove in at least one run while eight collected hits. Each homered with Donay sending two out of the yard.
– The Gators have won each of their last two series against the Bulldogs. Florida took two out of three in Gainesville last season (W 7-6, L 12-2, W 4-3) and delivered a sweep in the team's most-recent visit to Dudy Noble Field from May 6-8, 2022 (8-6, 9-3, 6-2). The Gators have claimed seven of the last eight matchups, backed by a 25-13 overall record and 9-6 road mark in the series under head coach Kevin O'Sullivan. Across 124 all-time meetings, Florida leads the series, 72-52, featuring a 30-25 record in Starkville.
– Florida entered the series on a five-game winning streak, after defeating No. 9 Florida State (W, 5-4), sweeping Missouri (11-2, 5-0, 3-2) and most recently run-ruling Stetson (14-4) in seven frames.
– Through 39 games, Florida ranked inside the top-50 teams nationally across 10 statistical categories. Led by the fifth-most strikeouts per nine innings (11.8) in the country, the Gators also rank 11th in shutouts thrown (four), 12th in fielding percentage (.981), 16th in home runs (61), 29th in slugging percentage (.515), 29th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.57), 37th in hits allowed per nine innings (8.24), 42nd in hit-by-pitches (65), 45th in hits (372) and 46th in doubles (77). Florida's four shutouts thrown sit second in the SEC behind Vanderbilt's five.
–Ahead of the series, Florida's retooled lineup featured five qualified hitters with an OPS above .930 and batting average over .300 in catcher/designated hitter Brody Donay (1.142, .327), Boser (1.077, .327), infielder Colby Shelton (1.044, .370), infielder Brendan Lawson (.992, .313) and Heyman (.931, .304). Those five players have accounted for 72.1% of the Gators' home runs this season (44 of 61) and 60.1% of run production (161 of 268 RBI).
–After tossing 5 2/3 shutout frames vs. Missouri last Saturday, right-hander Aidan King enters his seventh-career start as the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week on Saturday. The honor marked his second weekly accolade, as he was also named the sole recipient of SEC Pitcher of the Week on March 3. With two quality starts to his credit, King boasts a 4-1 record, 2.68 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 3.7 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 40 1/3 innings.
– Mississippi State entered the weekend with a 23-14 overall record, including a 5-10 mark in SEC play. The Bulldogs are coming off an impressive series win over No. 15 Alabama but currently sit 13th in the conference standings, just one spot ahead of the Gators. Mississippi State has been solid offensively, posting a .301/.404/.521 slash line with 58 home runs and 36 stolen bases through 37 games. On the mound, the pitching staff owned a 3.65 ERA, tallying 412 strikeouts against 117 walks over 308.0 innings. Defensively, the Bulldogs have committed 37 errors for a .970 fielding percentage on the season.
