Florida Falls to Florida State 8-4 in Walk-Off Fashion, Loses Fourth Straight

The Florida Gators suffered a heartbreaking loss to No. 4 Florida State on Tuesday night at Vystar Ballpark.

The Seminoles (21-3) walked off for an 8-4 victory, despite the Gators taking a brief lead in the ninth inning.

Florida (18-9) struggled offensively for much of the game, managing just one hit through the first eight innings.

However, strong pitching from Caden McDonald, Luke McNeillie, and Jake Clemente kept them in the contest.

The trio combined for four shutout innings of relief, allowing only one hit and striking out eight batters.

Florida State wasted no time taking the lead.

Alex Lodise led off the game with a double and scored on an RBI single by Drew Faurot, giving the Seminoles an early 1-0 advantage.

Florida starter McCall Biemiller bounced back with a scoreless second inning, adding two strikeouts to his total.

The Gators answered in the third.

Ty Evans led off with a single to left, stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch.

Evans then scored on another wild pitch, tying the game at 1-1.

In the bottom of the third, Biemiller was replaced by freshman Niko Janssens.

Janssens quickly got the Gators out of a jam, inducing a double play and striking out Faurot to maintain the tie.

Florida State regained the lead in the fourth inning.

Brody DeLamielleure hit a two-run homer to right field, putting the Seminoles up 3-1.

McDonald entered in relief and retired the next five batters, preventing further damage.

The Gators fought back in the sixth inning.

Bobby Boser walked and stole second; Blake Cyr and Brendan Lawson reached base on walks.

Cade Kurland walked to force in Boser, cutting Florida State’s lead to 3-2.

McNeillie threw a scoreless sixth inning, keeping the Gators within striking distance.

Clemente took over in the seventh and struck out Max Williams to strand a runner on third.

In the ninth, the Gators were down 3-2 but managed to rally.

Lawson led off the inning with a six-pitch walk, and with two outs, pinch-hitter Landon Stripling delivered a clutch double into the right-center gap to score Lawson.

The hit tied the game at 3-3.

Hayden Yost followed with a two-out single to center, bringing in pinch-runner Ashton Wilson to give Florida a 4-3 lead.

However, Florida State responded in the bottom of the ninth.

The Seminoles loaded the bases with no outs, after a hit-by-pitch and two walks.

Grant Harrelson tied the game with an RBI single to second base.

Then, dramatically, Lodise ended the game with a walk-off grand slam to right field, securing an 8-4 victory for Florida State.

Philpott (0-2) took the loss for Florida.

He allowed five earned runs in just one-plus inning of relief, striking out three and walking two.

Seminoles reliever Hudson Rowan (1-0) earned the win after recording the final out in the top of the ninth.

Florida’s Biemiller pitched 2.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits and two walks.

He did not factor into the decision.

The loss ties the 2025 season series between Florida and Florida State at 1-1.

The Gators have won 23 of the last 31 meetings but now stand at 36-23 overall.

They are 8-11 in neutral-site games under head coach Kevin O'Sullivan.

Florida will now look to regroup as they head into a three-game road series against No. 15 Ole Miss.

The series will take place in Oxford, Mississippi, from March 27 through March 29.

Thursday’s game is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on ESPNU.