Florida Sweeps Georgia Southern in Fall Doubleheader

Sunday, November 9

Gainesville, Fla.

2 PM

Florida Gators

Georgia Southern

Florida Sweeps Georgia Southern in Fall Doubleheader

Sunday, November 9, 2025 | Baseball

Photo Gallery

Landon Stripling, Cade Kurland, AJ Malzone and Caden McDonald bashed homers while Luke McNeillie and Billy Barlow provided two scoreless innings apiece.

By: Sullivan Bortner

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida Baseball claimed both ends of a fall doubleheader against Georgia Southern on Sunday, winning by scores of 8-2 and 11-6 across 14 innings of play at Condron Family Ballpark.

Florida led from start-to-finish in game one before rallying back from a four-run deficit with 10 unanswered runs to claim the nightcap. Landon Stripling (2-for-5), Cade Kurland (2-for-6), AJ Malzone (1-for-1) and Caden McDonald (1-for-3) all left the yard during the twin bill while Hayden Yost (2-for-7), Sam Miller (2-for-3) and Justin Nadeau (2-for-3) collected multiple hits.

On the mound, the Gators were led by right-handed pitchers Luke McNeillie and Billy Barlow, who both chucked two shutout innings in the sweep.

Game 1 | Florida 8, Georgia Southern 2

The Gators struck first in game one, as C. Kurland plated Kyle Jones with an RBI triple to right-center in the bottom of the first inning after the former drew a leadoff walk. C. Kurland then came home on an RBI groundout to shortstop off the bat of Ethan Surowiec, giving Florida a 2-0 lead.

Earning the starting nod in game one, McNeillie handled business on the mound through the first two innings by blanking the Eagles. He allowed just one hit and one walk while fanning three batters in his two frames of work.

The Orange & Blue tacked on two more runs in the home half of the second to push further in front at 4-0. Jones beat out an infield single to short with the bases loaded and two outs to drive in Hayden Yost while C. Kurland drew a walk to force home Blake Brookins.

Left-hander Ernesto Lugo-Canchola took over for McNeillie at the onset of the third. The southpaw used a strikeout and successful pickoff to produce a zero.

In the bottom of the third, Stripling led off with a single back up the middle. Sam Miller cashed in, bashing an RBI double into the left-center field gap to extend the UF lead to 5-0.

Lugo-Canchola induced a quick groundout to first to start the fourth frame. Upon his one-out exit, the Eagles broke into the scoring column as a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch of Max Prozny made it a 5-1 ballgame. Right-hander Ricky Reeth limited the damage, as he quickly entered and stranded the bases loaded with a strikeout of Sammy Leis.

The Gators responded with a two-spot in bottom-four to make it 7-1. After a Cash Strayer walk, Cole Stanford tripled off the right-center wall to score the first run. Stanford then raced home on an RBI groundout to shortstop by Jones.

Reeth fired a clean frame in the fifth to keep the six-run advantage intact, but the Eagles scored a second run in the top of the sixth to cut their deficit to 7-2. With two men down, Nico Senese found the left-center gap for an RBI double.

Leading off the following half inning, McDonald got the run right back with a monster solo homer to left field. With an 8-2 lead in hand, closer Joshua Whritenour quietly churned out a zero in the seventh to cement the win for the Orange & Blue.

McNeillie pick up the victory in a controlled start, tossing two shutout innings on one hit and one walk. The junior struck out three Eagles in the winning effort.

Georgia Southern starting pitcher Dayson Griffis was saddled with the loss. He surrendered four earned runs on four hits and two walks in 1 2/3 frames while striking out two.

Game 2 | Florida 11, Georgia Southern 6

Georgia Southern threatened with a pair of runners in scoring position in the opening frame of game two, but UF starter Russell Sandefer struck out three in the inning to leave them stranded. The Eagles then broke through in the second thanks to a two-run double down the right-field line by Frank Wells.

Trailing 2-0, Barlow kept the Gators within striking distance by retiring the side in order in the third. The Florida offense promptly took advantage, as Malzone led off the home half of the third with a solo shot on a frozen-rope line drive over the right-field wall.

Barlow held Georgia Southern scoreless again in the fourth, but the Eagles returned to the scoring column in the fifth. Max Prozny started it with a two-out, RBI single through the right side. With the bags juiced, Bennett Edwards cleared the bases with a three-run double to right-center, bringing the tally to 6-1 in favor of Georgia Southern. That represented the extent of the scoring for the Eagles, as it was all Gators from that point forward.

In the home half of the fifth, Stripling answered with a solo home run to right to cut into the Eagles' advantage. The Gators did not stop there, as Ashton Wilson reached on a throwing error by GSU third baseman Kade Kisz, which allowed both Kolt Myers (single) and Malzone (walk) to scamper home for two more runs. Colton Schwarz followed with a two-out, RBI single to right to bring the Gators within one run at 6-5.

Rivers Kurland and Jackson Barberi team up for a zero in the sixth, with the latter striking out Prozny to strand the bases loaded. Trailing by just one, C. Kurland made it a brand-new ballgame with a game-tying, solo home run into Dizney Grove in left-center field. Florida snagged its first lead of the nightcap later that same frame, as Malzone was plunked with the bases loaded while a throwing error at catcher let Myers cross home safely. Jacob Kendall drove in the fourth run of the frame on a single to left and Yost capped off the scoring with a two-run single to right, making it 11-6.

Leading by five runs, Barberi put the finishing touches on the doubleheader sweep with a scoreless top of the seventh inning. Barberi earned the win as a result, pitching 1 1/3 shutout frames of relief on one hit, one walk and three strikeouts.

GSU reliever Jax Lewis was handed the loss. He was charged with two earned runs on one hit and one walk in one-third of an inning.

Eagles starter Chase Davis did not factor into the decision. Across three innings, he gave up one earned run on one hit while fanning three batters.

Sandefer also received a no-decision, allowing two earned runs in two innings on three hits, three walks and five strikeouts.

NOTABLES

Florida finishes 3-0 in 2025 fall competition against outside opponents in 2025 after defeating Jacksonville, 5-1, on Oct. 31.
Four different Gators connected for solo home runs on Sunday.
McDonald swatted a solo home run in the sixth inning of game one.
Malzone put UF on the board with a solo homer in the third frame of game two.
Stripling connected for a solo shot in the fifth inning of game two.
C. Kurland tied game two at 6-6 with a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth.
Florida scored 10 unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth innings of game two to rally back from a four-run deficit.
Seven Gators threw scoreless outings, led by McNeillie and Barlow with two frames apiece.
The Gators tallied 17 strikeouts across 14 innings on the mound.
- Across 23.0 fall innings, Florida pitchers struck out 30 batters while surrendering 15 walks and 18 hits.

UP NEXT
The Gators close out their fall season with their final week of open practice. The fall culminates with the annual Orange & Blue Series, scheduled for Nov. 12 (3:30 p.m.), Nov. 14 (3:30 p.m.) and Nov. 15 (1 p.m.).