{"id":241316,"date":"2026-04-22T03:51:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T03:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/241316\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T03:51:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T03:51:21","slug":"no-12-21-gators-fall-to-dolphins-in-penultimate-midweek-matchup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/241316\/","title":{"rendered":"No. 12\/21 Gators Fall to Dolphins in Penultimate Midweek Matchup"},"content":{"rendered":"

GAINESVILLE, Fla. \u2013 The bats struck early for No. 12\/21 Florida before going quiet throughout the middle innings in a 7-5 loss to Jacksonville at Condron Family Ballpark on Tuesday night.
\n\u00a0
\nThe Gators (28-14) used a three-run first inning to control the early part of the contest, but the Dolphins (22-18) tied the tally in the third before adding four more runs in the eighth and ninth. Florida has now lost three games in a row for just the second time all season despite Blake Cyr<\/a> (3-for-5) homering for the fourth-straight matchup.
\n\u00a0
\nFlorida received a clean top half of the first inning from starter Cooper Walls<\/a>, who quickly retired the side in order on just eight pitches. The Orange & Blue jumped on JU starter Ben Baker-Livingston in the home half for a trio of runs to open a 3-0 lead, beginning with a leadoff homer to left from Kyle Jones<\/a> on the very first pitch. Brendan Lawson<\/a> then reached on a fielding error at second base, advanced to second on a single by Cyr and scored on an RBI knock up the middle from Karson Bowen<\/a>. After a Cade Kurland<\/a> walk, Colton Schwarz<\/a> plated Cyr on a fielder’s choice that was misplayed by JU shortstop Sammy Mummau.
\n\u00a0
\nWorking with a three-run edge, Walls fanned two Dolphins in the second frame en route to another zero. Jacksonville found the scoring column in the third, rallying for three two-out runs to knot the tally at 3-3. Roger Vergara drove home Blake Edmonds on a sacrifice fly to center while Derek Bermudez (double) and Sam Grunberg (single) collected RBI knocks.
\n\u00a0
\nTaking over on the mound in the top of the fourth, Caden McDonald<\/a> pitched a scoreless frame while picking up one strikeout. The redshirt sophomore blanked the Dolphins again in the fifth and sixth, aided by a runner caught stealing from backstop Cole Stanford<\/a> in the latter inning. Kurland led off the bottom of the sixth with a single to center, but was left stranded on second base.
\n\u00a0
\nJacksonville took its first lead of the night in the top of the seventh, plating a pair of runs for a 5-3 ballgame. With one man down, Mummau hit an RBI double down the left-field line. Following a UF pitching change that brought southpaw Eli Blair<\/a> into the contest, Mummau stole third base and scored on a sacrifice fly to center field off the bat of Vergara.
\n\u00a0
\nThe Dolphins tacked on two more in the eighth to extend their lead to 7-3. Logan Baratta plated Grunberg on a sacrifice fly to left field and Edmonds doubled in pinch runner Archer Ogbourne \u2013 both coming in as unearned runs due to a pair of Gator miscues.
\n\u00a0
\nChasing four runs, Cyr homered for the fourth-straight game to lead off the home half of the eighth. Bowen followed with a double to left-center field and later scored on a sacrifice fly to right from Schwarz to cut the JU advantage to 7-5. The UF comeback ended there, as the two teams traded zeros in the ninth inning.
\n\u00a0
\nLivingston (1-1) earned his first victory of the season behind a quality start, scattering three runs (one earned) across six frames. The senior right-hander was charged with six hits allowed, two walks and three strikeouts.
\n\u00a0
\nJU reliever Payton Waters registered his first save after throwing a scoreless ninth inning with one walk and one strikeout.
\n\u00a0
\nMcDonald (3-1) suffered his first loss of the campaign. He tossed 3 1\/3 innings of relief with two earned runs allowed on five hits and one strikeout. McDonald did not issue a free pass.
\n\u00a0
\nWalls did not factor into the decision after surrendering three earned runs on four hits and one walk in three innings. The sophomore righty struck out three.<\/p>\n

NOTABLES
\n \n<\/p>\n


\n\tFlorida is now and 17-11 against unranked teams, as opposed to 11-3 vs. ranked foes.
\n\tThe Gators are 10-3 in midweek contests and 12-3 against in-state teams this season.
\n\tSchwarz started at third base and batted seventh, marking his first appearance in a game since March 28 at Arkansas.
\n\tMaking his first start since April 7 at No. 5 FSU, Walls pitched three innings of three-run ball on four hits, one walk and three strikeouts.
\n\tJones led off the bottom of the first with his fourth homer of the season.
\n\tCyr homered for the fourth-straight game, giving him five homers across the last four contests and nine on the season.
\n\tCyr tallied his fifth three-hit effort and 14th multi-hit game of the campaign, raising his batting average to a team-high .336.
\n\tFlorida starting pitchers have allowed four home runs in 172 2\/3 innings pitched, featuring just two homers surrendered in 93 2\/3 SEC frames.
\n\tFlorida has won 45 of its last 64 regular-season games dating back to last season.
\n\tFlorida is now 69-38 all-time and 45-19 in Gainesville against JU.
\n\tThe Gators are 23-10 overall and 17-8 at home vs. the Dolphins under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan<\/a>.
\n\tFlorida has won 14 of the last 19 meetings vs. JU.
\n\tTuesday night’s official attendance was 4,652. <\/p>\n

\u00a0
\nFROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
\nOn the offense going quiet and the game overall\u2026
\n“To be honest with you, I thought that we would have better at bats. He was throwing a fastball and a cutter. Pretty\u00a0reminiscent\u00a0of Saturday. We scored three in the first and then we\u00a0don’t\u00a0score again until the eighth\u2026 The pitching was good enough for us to win tonight. Obviously, we made a couple more errors. We spent some time on Monday again going over some bunt defense stuff again. When you make those mistakes, they come back to hurt you. It’s not from a lack of effort. It’s not from a lack of practice. We’re working on the things that we know we need to improve on. It’s just a matter of executing in key spots in the game and when the game comes calling, you’ve gotta be able to perform.”
\n\u00a0
\nOn making additional lineup changes\u2026
\n“Our personnel\u00a0is our personnel, that’s the issue at this level. There’s no trades. There’s no calling up people from Triple-A. Our players are who we have, and we better, bottom line, make them better and put them in positions to be successful. Obviously,\u00a0Blake’s been seeing the ball really well and Karson got a couple of hits tonight.”<\/p>\n

ON DECK

\nThe Gators put a bow on an eight-game homestand this upcoming weekend with a three-game series against No. 7 Texas A&M from April 24-26. The series begins on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.

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