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Gators second baseman Cade Kurland dug in for the bottom eighth. After not hitting a home run all season, he already had one on the day. With a chance to walk it off on a run-rule, Kurland put a ball over the outfield wall once again to secure the win.

“Obviously I didn’t start, and it’s important in that position to stay in the game,” said Kurland. “Nothing left to do but simplify and try to smash the ball.”

No. 10 Florida (7-0) defeated Dayton (2-5) 12-2 Sunday to secure its second series sweep of the year. Starting pitcher Pierce Coppola finished with 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 8 strikeouts and 1 walk in 5.0 innings pitched.

“I thought Pierce was really good again,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said.

Coppola got out to a hot start, sitting the side in order through the first three innings. The Gators’ bats couldn’t provide any insurance through the opening third, remaining scoreless with a 1-2-3 second inning to boot.

Dayton outfielder Michael DiMartini broke Coppola’s short-lived bid for a no-hitter with a triple to lead off the fourth inning. He’d score on a sacrifice fly to give Dayton its first lead of the weekend.

Things began to unravel quickly for the Flyers, however. They pulled their starter after giving up the tying run on a Ty Evans RBI single for righty reliver Ben Dean, who immediately let up three more runs on a pair of singles. He was pulled for lefty Bennett LaPalm, who finally made the third out.

After four innings, the Gators led 4-1.

Dayton responded quickly in the top fifth inning with a single-shot homer to right field. The Flyers couldn’t add any more runs, however, still trailing 4-2 at the end of the frame.

Florida tacked on another run in the fifth with Evans’ second RBI single of the day. A questionable double play call would end the inning with the Gators leading 5-2.

“I was just trying to stack good at bats,” Evans said. “Nothing too crazy.”

McNeillie took over for Coppola in the sixth. He’d toss two hitless innings with three strikeouts before being pulled for Aidan King.

Kurland homered for the first time this season to score two runs and make it a 8-2 ballgame in the bottom seventh. Florida tacked on another thanks to a fielding error to make it 9-2 with the potential run-ruling score at the plate. Donay added another RBI on a ground out to make it 10-2 after eight.

The junior homered again in the eighth to walk off the game and secure the sweep.

“Overall, it was a really good day,” said O’Sullivan. “Sometime Sundays can be difficult, but I thought they had a lot of energy.”

The Gators will travel to DeLand for their Tuesday matchup against Stetson. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. and will stream on ESPN+.