UF Baseball 2025

Agreed. And I know that nowadays the 2 hole is typically reserved for the best overall hitter who’s usually a power threat but Nadeau would fit that more old school 2 hole niche perfectly.

 

Not sure if I posted this, but I'm taking my wife to the game for Valentines! Good thing she loves baseball and has poor eyesight. I definitely out-kicked my coverage

 

Same, thought I was going to have to make a case for why baseball over gymnastics that night and she said she was giving the gymnastics tickets to our friends. And didn’t we all out-kick our coverage!!!

 

Michael Byrne is back in the Gators dugout as an Assistant Student Coach.

 

Was at the scrimmage today. Defense was not good on either side. 3 total errors on the scoreboard but there were 2 or 3 more that were called out in order to move things along. There were also a couple hits where the play should have been made (popup to shallow LCF that Myers lost at SS and a slow roller to Boser at 3B). The latter happened in the second inning which prompted Sully to come out of the dugout and the whole team had a come to Jesus meeting on the mound.

Clemente’s day was done after the meeting, it was probably his only bad outing between the Fall and Spring preseason. Donay hit a 3 run homer to right field off of him after a couple free passes in the first inning. He allowed 2 more runs in the second but largely due to poor defense behind him.

Aidan King looked good in his first two innings then the Orange lineup made some adjustments and got a lot of good contact off of him, scoring 4 runs in total. Shelton drilled a 2 run homer to left center and Boser hit a rocket onto the left field berm. Wilson and Nadeau both had nice hits that inning as well (might be someone else I’m forgetting too). Watching the Orange offense produce that inning was probably the highlight of the scrimmage.

Brendan Lawson hit a 3 run homer of his own later after a couple of free passes by Jackson Barberi. Crushed it to right center field. Donay followed it up with a 112 mph missile back up the middle for his second hit.

Matthew Jenkins was probably the highlight in terms of pitching. He was sitting 95-96 with his fastball and pitched two scoreless innings.

All in all, weird day at Condron Ballpark. Blue won 8-5 if I remember correctly, though Orange out-hit them. They got the win thanks to free passes followed by blasts from Donay and Lawson.

 

True. His parents are members of the Dugout club and were at the dinner with the team. Michael is recovering from elbow surgery, back in town to finish his degree, and is a new daddy!

 

He’s probably been brought in to teach the new guys how to leave those drag marks between the mound and the dugout….

 

I know that errors are part of the game and the best players make them, plus workouts are just starting. BUT the series of bad plays was badly out of character for any Gator team- Bad News Bears level play. In the case of his botch fly ball play, while Myers clearly waved off the outfielders, the ball was too deep for him to play and it fell10+ feet behind him. Brookens simply abandoned the play when Myers waved him off and was far out of position even to pick up the ball after it hit the ground. I don't doubt Myers and Brookens would have played the ball differently in a game, but that may be the most frustrating part. Neither played as if he was fighting to win a position.

The second inning errors by Nadeau and Boser were sloppy, but both were routine efforts to make plays that called for something more than routine effort. Neither Astrogator here, or GatorGal in her scrimmage thread mention the at bat that burned me the most. Myers led off with a walk, in which the pitch went to the backstop and ricocheted back onto the field, rolling midway between the mound and 1B to within a few steps of the edge of the IF clay. Myers started to trot to first, but looked back and saw the odd kick and hurried to first while watching for the defense to react to the ball. It seemed the reaction from Clemente was to ignore the rolling ball and try to regain his focus for the next batter. Clayton at first seemed focused on covering !B. Nadeau, playing 2B was farther from the ball than Clemente and Clayton and didn't charge the ball to recover it. Myers was the one guy paying attention, he rounded first, saw that the live ball was lying unattended on the grass and ran to second. I'm not sure if the umpire also had failed to pay attention and made a quick time call or Sully simply had Myers return to first. I have seen a few plays over the years in which Gator opponents botch plays as badly as that, but never the Gators. That play opened the inning and was followed by the two errors. I'm much more ready to forgive the sloppiness today, partly because I feel the players and coaches will make the best of a rude lessom.

 

Hit it where it’s pitched!!! ALWAYS!

Added in edit:
Of course it begs the question-if our defense is set in a pull shift-why are our pitchers pitching him away? Failed execution/lack of command or what? There’s always two sides of the coin. Maybe he just did a good job of staying on the pitch…

 

I don't know, but I've seen it countless times in college ball since the shift became en vogue.

 

But make sure you hit it where they ain't.

 

For your viewing pleasure. Make sure you don't pass this one over....
https://floridagators.com/watch/series/blue-collar-baseball

 

Date Stretch Time Scrimmage Time
Wednesday, Feb. 5 4:00 PM 5:30 PM
Thursday, Feb. 6 2:30 PM NONE
Friday, Feb. 7 2:30 PM 4:45 PM
Saturday, Feb. 8 9:00 AM 10:30 AM
Sunday, Feb. 9 10:00 AM 12:00 PM
Monday, Feb. 10 2:30 PM NONE
Tuesday, Feb. 11 2:30 PM 4:15 PM
Wednesday, Feb. 12 OFF OFF
*All practice times are approximate and subject to change

 

Gators SEC games on regular TV. All Gator home games all SEC games will be on SECN+/ESPN+. I doubt away games at JU and Stetson will be streamed, uncertain about the game at UCF, game at noles listed as ACCNX, may end up on ACCN. I believe the noles game in Jax is a Gator home game, which may get it to SECN, but likely at least SECN+.

DAY DATE TIME NETWORK AWAY HOME
Sat 3/15/2025 6:00 PM SECN Florida Tennessee
Sat 3/22/2025 12:00 PM SECN Georgia Florida
Thu 3/27/2025 8:00 PM ESPNU Florida Ole Miss
Sun 4/6/2025 12:00 PM SECN Vanderbilt Florida
Tue 4/8/2025 7:00 PM ESPN2 Florida State Florida
Thu 4/10/2025 7:00 PM SECN Missouri Florida
Sat 4/12/2025 5:00 PM SECN Missouri Florida
Fri 4/18/2025 8:00 PM SECN Florida Mississippi State
Sat 4/19/2025 8:30 PM ESPN2 Florida Mississippi State
Sun 4/20/2025 2:00 PM ESPN2 Florida Mississippi State
Sat 4/26/2025 3:00 PM SECN Arkansas Florida
Fri 5/9/2025 7:30 PM ESPNU Florida Texas

 

UCF and Stetson currently listed as ESPN+ games on the Gators' official site. Nothing new re: either game in Jacksonville. I wonder how sure they are about the April 12th game -- it's gone from 5 to 12 to 5 to 12 to TBD to 12 to 5 in the last week. Probably something related to the spring football game on the same day.

 

A week until Opening Day 2025 and an old man's fancy turns to baseball. Outsiders rate these Gators very good, but just below the top tier. In spite of some carryover players, this team will have a different personality from '24. Depth in the field is the most obvious strength. At any position on the field, there are multiple players anxious for at bats. I haven't seen Wyatt/Jac performances from anyone in the fall or preseason workouts, but I see clear first stringers who can't flinch if they want to hold on to their spots.

FWIW here's my guess for Friday's lineup. This group leans on right hand batters, but there are lefties ready to play.
1. Jones CF
2. Kurland 2B
3. Shelton SS
4. Heyman C
5. Cyr LF
6. Lawson 1B
7. Boser 3B
8. Evans RF
9. Donay RDH/Stripling or Nadeau LDH

Yost and Wilson will get early season at bats, too. I've seen good defense all over, but hot hitters will make the lineup. I can't add much useful info about pitchers beyond saying I saw no one who couldn't do the job.I saw several clean innings, but only one inning grabbed me. Rodriguez threw two innings, the first was exceptional- I think 2Ks and a weak grounder. Second inning was not so clean, but that little flash was nice.

 

If what Brody is doing in these scrimmages carries over into the season - look out.

Liam, on the other hand, getting torched again today (8 runs 9 hits in 2 1/3 so far).

Coppola was studly: 5 IP 2 hits 0 runs

Caden McDonald outstanding today as well 0 runs 0 hits in 3 innings of work.