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Florida baseball got off to a strong start in it’s opening weekend series against Air Force, sweeping the Falcons on the way to a 3-0 record. According to D1Baseball, the Gators remain the No. 10 squad in the nation. There’s a plethora of takeaways to unpack from opening weekend, but here’s the top five:

Donay’s power puts SEC on notice

Florida catcher/designated hitter got off to a blazing start in the opening series. He hit home runs in all three games, posting a .700 batting average to boot. Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan made note of of Donay’s raw power potential before the season began.

“Brody Donay swings the bat really good,” O’Sullivan said.

For his efforts, Donay earned SEC Player of the Week honors. It’s safe to say he’s leading the pack among Florida’s potential DH suitors so far.

Pitching staff off to encouraging start

UF lost the services of aces Brandon Sproat and Hurston Waldrep before the 2023 season, and the starting rotation took a dive in production as a result. Florida produced just five quality starts all of last season.

In the opening weekend of 2025, the Gators put up two, with potential for a third had Sunday starter Pierce Coppola gone a sixth scoreless inning. Beyond the starting rotation, Florida’s pitching staff combined for 47 strikeouts and just three walks across the first three games of the year.

It’s certainly a confidence booster for a UF program that felt almost handcuffed by its pitching woes at times during last season.

Coppola posts career-high in return to opening series order

The highlight of Florida’s pitching performances over the weekend was from the big lefty himself. Coppola, a redshirt junior, has been with the team since 2022 but has missed significant time due to multiple injuries. His start in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader was his first in an opening weekend since his freshman campaign.

It was a near-storybook return to the opening rotation, as Coppola struck out a career-high 12 batters in five scoreless innings. The performance was an impressive cap to a weekend where Florida seemed to figure out it’s starting order faster than it anticipated.

“I wanna stay healthy for the whole thing this time, but I’ll take the win today,” he said.

Jones, Evans injuries insignifigant

It didn’t take long for the Gators to face their first injury scares of the season, either. Kyle Jones didn’t reappear in the series after seemingly injuring his leg in game one. Ty Evans also was also unavailable after game one, a concern for fans who remember the senior slugger being sidelined indefinitely late last season.

Fortunately for UF, O’Sullivan said that neither injury was significant and more a matter of precaution this early on in a long season. Expect Jones and Evans to return to the Gators lineup by the weekend.

Small ball approach welcome change from 2024

One major gripe O’Sullivan had with his team last season was its over-reliance on the long ball.

“Hopefully, as a collective group, our offense will look differently,” he said.

If this weekend was any indicator, the Gators do look much different. They had no problem going yard, sure, but Florida was also the most aggressive it had been on the base paths in some time. UF recorded 14-straight stolen bases before finally being thrown out for the first time in game three. It also stole nine bases in one game — the most for the program since 2010. Florida might not reach historic base running figures each time out there, but the approach to the offense is assuredly different.

The Gators continues its campaign on the road against the Jacksonville Dolphins tomorrow at 6 p.m. The game will stream on ESPN+.