JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On Friday, the Florida Gators and Jacksonville Dolphins participated in a fall exhibition at 121 Financial Ballpark in Jacksonville, Fla. This usually is home to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. The evening consisted of two six-inning games between the teams.
Florida won the first six-inning game 2-1 over Jacksonville on four hits by their offense. They also won the second game 7-6 with a Landon Stripling walk-off hit.
Here are six observations of the Florida Gators during their performance on Friday night.
Returning right-hander and 2024 SEC All-Freshman team member, Liam Peterson got the go-ahead on the mound against Jacksonville. He started in 16 games a season ago for the Gators. He pitched the first inning of game one against the Dolphins, allowing no runs or hits. He also recorded a strikeout and walked a batter as well.
Then, the freshman right-hander Aidan King got the nod in the 2nd inning of game one. This was big, considering he was from the Jacksonville area. He also allowed no runs and no hits while walking a batter and striking out one to end the top half of the 2nd inning.
Zero for the Jacksonville kid.#GoGators pic.twitter.com/tQlj4PYhpu
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) November 1, 2024
With great innings from Peterson and King, Florida also saw pitching from returners Jake Clemente and Frank Menendez. These two were big arms out of the bullpen for head coach Kevin O’Sullivan a season ago. They combined for four strikeouts and allowed just one hit in two innings. No runs were given up, and Clemente also put together a “1-2-3″ inning.
Three Ks and a 0️⃣ for Frank!#GoGators pic.twitter.com/qVH2xo02WL
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) November 1, 2024
It was a dominant first four innings for the Gators pitching staff and it allowed their offense to slowly build up a lead on Jacksonville in game one.
Ty Evans recorded a big triple during the first game against Jacksonville and later scored the Gators’ second run on a wild pitch.
This was good to see, as Evans’ junior season in 2024 came to an abrupt end when Florida was playing Kentucky. He broke his wrist, ending his season after playing well, with a .316 batting average and 13 home runs.
The run he scored on the wild pitch was the deciding run in the Gators’ 2-1 win over the Dolphins in the first game.
In the second game, Florida and Jacksonville were tied in the 4th inning; Evans hit a two-run home run to right field to give Florida the lead 4-2.
SCORE: Ty Evans unloaded on a pitch and went the opposite way for a two-run shot.
4-2 Florida in the fourth pic.twitter.com/prglFXPX4v
— Jacob Rudner (@JacobRudner) November 2, 2024
His hitting could be key for Florida next season as a senior on the team looking to rebound from the injury that kept him out of the Gators’ big postseason run in 2024.
Arguably, Florida’s most anticipated transfer from this offseason, Blake Cyr, made some big plays throughout the night.
In game one, he recorded a hit and scored a run off of a Brody Donay RBI knock. In the 6th inning of the same game, he made a diving catch to seal Florida’s 2-1 win. As game two rolled around, he would make yet another diving catch in the 3rd inning.
He contributed to scoring in the second game with a sacrifice RBI in the bottom of the 6th inning to tie the game 6-6.
Blake Cyr with the diving catch to save a run in the 6th inning. Florida and McNielle get out of the inning leading 2-1. Appears like they’re gonna get their at bats in the Bottom half of the inning. pic.twitter.com/F0Uytv2CC4
— Gator Diamond Pod (@GatorDiamondPod) November 2, 2024
Cyr was unhealthy for a lot of last season while playing for the Miami Hurricanes, but his batting was solid, with a .284 average in 25 games. His fielding improved from his freshman season when he was a freshman All-American.
Possibly, the best part of the night for Florida was seeing most of their pitchers get a strikeout during all 12 innings.
The Gators’ pitching staff recorded 21 strikeouts during Friday night’s action, and 11 of their 12 pitchers recorded a strikeout.
Menendez, Matthew Jenkins, McCall Biemiller, Alex Philpott, and the Clemson transfer Billy Barlow all recorded multiple strikeouts in their outings.
Florida was in the top five in the SEC a season ago in strikeouts with 689.
Ashton Wilson had a big-time performance in the second game for the Gators, which helped them gain a lead and then overcome a deficit against Jacksonville. He had two hits that were both an RBI double scoring Blake Brookins and a solo home run to tie the game up 5-5 in the 5th inning. He also scored another run himself after the RBI double.
AW30 goes oppo taco! 🌮
JU 5, UF 5 // B5 pic.twitter.com/1ANmq5Glan
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) November 2, 2024
A season ago, Wilson batted .279 in 26 games with 16 RBI. He was named the MVP of the Stillwater Regional during the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
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