Tag: Brody Donay

Florida baseball drops crucial series opener against Georgia

Florida needs to win this weekend series in Athens, but it’s going to be tough after dropping the opener to Georgia, 9-4.

Florida’s path to the NCAA Tournament got much harder after falling 9-4 against Georgia in the series opener on Thursday night.

Things started off ugly for Florida start [autotag]Pierce Coppola[/autotag], who had steadily improved in each of his first four appearances. He hit the first batter he saw, leading to a Charlie Condon single. A couple of flyouts advanced the runners and scored a run, and a Paul Toetz homer made it 3-0 in favor of Georgia early.

Coppola gave a leadoff homer in the second and was pulled in the third after putting the first two runners in scoring position. [autotag]Jake Clemente[/autotag] took over and stranded both runners after striking out a pair.

Clemente sat down the first seven batters he faced only to get the intentional walk sign from the dugout with Condon at the plate. That threw off Clemente’s rhythm. Tre Phelps doubled for the second time, and a groundout brought in a run.

Toetz added another RBI to his stat line with a single to left and income [autotag]Fisher Jameson[/autotag] took over for Clemente, allowing another run to score on a double before striking out Carter for out No. 3.

Florida didn’t make much noise while Georgia ran up the score, but [autotag]Luke Heyman[/autotag] and [autotag]Brody Donay[/autotag] homered in the third and fourth, respectively, to put something on the board.

The Gators didn’t score again until the ninth. Heyman homered for the second time, but that just made it a five-run game.

Recapping the rest of the arms Florida threw in the loss: [autotag]Cade Fisher[/autotag] walked the only batter he faced, Ryan Slater gave up a home run to Carter in the seventh and [autotag]Frank Menendez[/autotag] pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings despite allowing three baserunners (two walks, one hit).

Florida needs to win on Friday to have a shot at the NCAA Tournament. First pitch has been moved up to 1 p.m. ET in anticipation of inclement weather.

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Florida falls in extras to Kentucky after offensive explosion

It was a fun game for the spectators but unfortunately, the good guys failed to prevail.

The opening game to Florida baseball’s penultimate regular-season series was certainly an entertaining one for the fans. In fact, the crowd at Condron Family Ballpark even got some extra baseball out of the evening.

The Gators ultimately fell to the fourth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, 12-11, in 10 innings to drop the first of three in Gainesville this weekend against its Southeastern Conference foe. The Orange and Blue managed to build a 5-1 lead at the end of the fourth inning, but the bullpen once again came undone as it is wont to do.

[autotag]Pierce Coppola[/autotag] got the start in ostensibly an opener role, throwing 2 2/3 innings and allowing an unearned run in the first frame. Fisher Jameson relieved him and coughed up a pair of runs over two innings, followed by [autotag]Jake Clemente[/autotag] who notched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless work.

Then the pain came when [autotag]Brandon Neely[/autotag], [autotag]Luke McNellie[/autotag] and [autotag]Cade Fisher[/autotag] all surrendered a trio of runs in their respective stints; Fisher ended up getting saddled with the loss.

Florida’s top performer at the plate was [autotag]Dale Thomas[/autotag], who went 3-for-4 for his first three-hit game as a Gator while also driving in two runs. [autotag]Brody Donay[/autotag] went 2-for-6, [autotag]Jac Caglianone[/autotag] went 2-for-3 and [autotag]Colby Shelton[/autotag] went 2-for-5, and the trio all left the yard; Shelton posted a two-homer effort.

Caglianone reached base five times, including his 28th home run and 200th career hit, extending his hitting streak to 28 games.

The next game is slated for 1 p.m. ET on Saturday in Gainesville. The SEC Network will provide the broadcast.

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Florida adds another catcher through transfer portal

Florida just added one of the most powerful catchers in the nation through the transfer portal. Former Virginia Tech backstop Brody Donay is now a Gator!

The Florida Gators lost two catchers to the transfer portal and BT Riopelle to the finance industry (also known as graduation), so it only makes sense that Kevin O’Sullivan and his coaching staff were aggressive in the portal market for catchers themselves.

First, Coastal Carolina’s Tanner Garrison committed, following in the footsteps of Riopelle, his former teammate, and now former Virginia Tech catcher/right fielder Brody Donay has pledged his services.

Garrison only has a year of eligibility remaining, but Donay has only played one year of college ball. A top- 200 freshman coming into the 2023 season, Donay impressed for the Hokies, belting 12 home runs and finishing the season with a .937 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.

His power hasn’t waned in the wood-bat Cape Cod League, where he has three homers and 14 runs batted in over 70 at-bats. Eleven of his 18 hits this summer are for extra bases.

There are some questions about plate discipline with Donay. His 29.6% strikeout rate is high and a 7.0% walk rate is low. He struck out 42 times overall in 2023 and walked just 10 times.

Defensively, Donay has one of the stronger arms in the CCL. The scary part is that he’s only 19 and still growing into his 6-foot-5-inch, 220-pound frame. He’s one of the top-catching prospects in the 2025 draft class and is a strong addition for Florida.

With the roster now restocked with catchers, Kevin O’Sullivan will have to figure out who he wants behind the dish. Riopelle was the team veteran that served as an on-the-field coach of sorts, but that meant Luke Heyman saw limited time actually playing catcher.

It wouldn’t be shocking to see Donay and Heyman switch off behind the plate early on to see who has the best feel, but the latter is a draft-eligible sophomore, which means this could be his final year at Florida. Donay could still see time behind the plate if Heyman shifts over to first base on days that Jac Caglianone pitches.

Depth isn’t a bad thing, and Florida quickly reloaded behind the plate after losing Rene Lastres, who was ranked No. 31 overall coming out of high school, and Salvy Alvarez.

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