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Are you ready for Gators baseball? Better question: is your heart ready?

The crowd at Condron Family Ballpark put their hearts to the test Friday night. A huge audience settled in for a series where Florida could play it’s way into the hosting conversation before two bombs given up early by its ace, disastrous injuries, a burnt redshirt and, eventually, an awe-inspiring comeback.

No. 23 Florida (36-18, 14-14 SEC) defeated No. 18 Alabama (39-14, 15-13 SEC) 7-6 in the final home series opener of the regular season for the Gators.

“We’ve had some great wins here,” said Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan “But how gutsy of a win this was for our team… we could’ve easily hung our heads.”

Right-handed starting pitcher Liam Peterson returned to his usual series opener spot after weather delays shifted him around the rotation the last two weekends. He tossed a modest 25-pitch first frame with two strikeouts, but gave up a two-run bomb as Alabama outfielder Richie Bonomolo Jr. took a 2-1 fastball into the left field berm.

The bottom of the first started strong for the Gators with a Bobby Boser leadoff single, but quickly took a turn for the worse. Freshman infielder Brendan Lawson, who was 1-for-14 since the start of the Texas series headed into the weekend, hit into a double play.

Things went from “worse” to “worst” after Luke Heyman was hit by a pitch with two outs. He went down, and eventually exited the game after talking it over with trainers and wincing in pain.

Brody Donay moved over to catcher after the injury and Landon Stripling, Florida’s only available bench player, came in at first.

Peterson walked the nine-hole hitter in the top of the third before letting up another two-run shot, this time to star Crimson Tide shortstop Justin Lebron. He’d walk another and give up two more singles before getting the third out as Florida trailed 5-0 and sent a herd of pitchers out to the bullpen.

In the top of the fourth, the injury situation became something unprecedented. Justin Nadeau was hurt on a ball hit to second and had to come out, leaving Florida with a hole in the infield and no eligible position players. O’Sullivan was forced to bring in sophomore outfielder Blake Brookins, burning his redshirt and a year of eligibility right before the end of his second collegiate season.

Florida was able to add a run in the bottom fourth on a wild pitch, but it wasn’t much consolation for the preceding events.

Things began to go the Gators’ way in the fifth. After Boser reached on an error with two outs, Florida hit him around to make it a 5-2 game and sent Alabama starting pitcher Tyler Fay packing. Alabama reliever Braylon Myers couldn’t stop the bleeding right away, giving up an RBI double to Ty Evans. Blake Cyr walked to load the bases and Donay followed suit with an infield RBI single. Alabama moved on from Myers and went to sophomore Matthew Heiberger.

The crafty left-hander struck out Yost to end the inning with Florida now trailing just 5-4.

“It was huge,” Evans said. “Honestly, we were just trying to stack good ABs. The first pitch he kind of got me with… I was able to put a good swing on it there with two strikes.”

Luke McNeillie took over for Peterson and the Gators in the sixth. He loaded the bases before nearly working out of the jam, but an E5 would make it 6-4 before he could finish the frame.

“[Peterson] battled,” said O’Sullivan. “In all fairness to him, the last three weeks have probably been frustrating for him. He may not have had his best stuff or location today… but I’ve got no complaints about his start.”

Brookins would get his first hit of the 2025 season on a one-out double in the bottom half of the sixth to bring up the top of Florida’s order. Boser singled to score the sophomore and make it a 6-5 game.

The game fully turned towards Florida in the seventh. After McNeille tossed a 1-2-3 frame, Donay stepped to the plate as the leading run. He launched a ball into the Florida bullpen for the 7-6 lead.

“We just find every way to get back in it,” Donay said. “Everyone on the team plays a role in it.”

Florida called upon closer Jake Clemente early in the top eighth. Despite a walk and an error, he secured three outs, including two Ks, and returned for the ninth with a one run lead. He got the job done and awarded UF the win.

The Gators will seek a series win tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN SEC Network+.

“I’m awfully proud of the team,” said O’Sullivan.