Florida Shuts Out No. 10 FSU to Secure Season Series

Tuesday, March 24

Jacksonville, Fla.

6 PM

Florida Gators

20-6

Florida State

19-5

Florida State

Florida

Jackson Barberi puts the finishing touches on Tuesday night's shutout of Florida State at Vystar Ballpark in Jacksonville, Fla. / UAA Communications photo by Madilyn Gemme

Florida Shuts Out No. 10 FSU to Secure Season Series

Tuesday, March 24, 2026 | Baseball

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Russell Sandefer, Luke McNeillie and Jackson Barberi fired three scoreless frames apiece.

By: Sullivan Bortner

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Three Gators combined to allow just four hits in a 5-0 combined shutout of No. 10 FSU as Florida clinched the season series at Vystar Ballpark on Tuesday night.

Throwing their nation-leading sixth shutout of the campaign, the Gators (20-6) secured their eighth season series in the last nine against the Seminoles (19-5). Having previously defeated FSU, 6-3, on March 10, Florida has now won four of the last five meetings including three in a row. The two in-state foes meet one final time on April 7 in Tallahassee.

Starting pitcher Russell Sandefer teamed up with relievers Luke McNeillie and Jackson Barberi for the shutout, as each hurler provided three scoreless frames. They combined to fan 16 Seminoles while walking just three batters, giving the Gators 34 strikeouts in two games against FSU this season.

Earning the starting nod, Sandefer got off to a strong start in the top of the first, striking out leadoff man Brayden Dowd en route to retiring the side in order. The junior right-hander then fanned the side in order the following frame to complete two scoreless innings.

In the home half of the second, Florida opened the scoring for a 1-0 lead. Ethan Surowiec tripled to left field with one out, then beat out the throw to home on an RBI sacrifice bunt from Cash Strayer. Sandefer held the edge in the top of the third by stranding Seminoles at the corners.

After three shutout innings from Sandefer, McNeillie took over on the mound at the onset of the fourth. McNeillie struck out the side in order, needing just six pitches to fan the final two batters of the frame. Blake Cyr and Strayer hit singles to right in bottom-four, but Cyr was thrown out attempting to advance to third and Strayer was stranded in scoring position on a deep fly out to right field off the bat of Colton Schwarz.

John Stuetzer led off the top of the fifth with a double down the left-field line for FSU, but was hosed trying to stretch it into a triple by shortstop Kolt Myers, who unleashed a dart from the left-field corner. McNeillie buckled down from there, striking out the next two Seminoles for a zero.

Florida threatened in its half of the fifth, but stranded the bases loaded to reach seven left on base. McNeillie pitched around trouble in the bottom of the sixth as well, stranding runners at the corners to give the Seminoles four left on base after five- and one-half frames.

On the heels of three more scoreless frames from McNeillie, the Gators called on Barberi out of the bullpen to begin the seventh. The junior flamethrower made quick work of the FSU order, striking out the side on just 11 pitches to send the matchup into stretch time with the Gators holding a slim, 1-0 lead.

The Gators collected insurance and then some in the home half of the seventh, plating four runs to extend their advantage to 5-0. Myers was plunked to get it going, then stole second and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Kyle Jones. A pair of walks followed, allowing Karson Bowen to bring home Myers on a bases-loaded walk. Surowiec then found a hole through the left side to drive in Brendan Lawson while Cyr gave UF a five-run lead with a two-run single back up the middle.

Barberi remained on the hill for the eighth and worked around a one-out walk to blank the Seminoles. In the top of the ninth, Barberi navigated around a pair of baserunners by striking out pinch-hitter Hunter Carns to end the ballgame.

Sandefer (1-1) logged his first victory in Orange & Blue in a controlled start. He retired nine of the 11 batters he faced across 3.0 scoreless frames, allowing just one hit while striking out four Seminoles.

FSU starter Cooper Whited (1-1) was saddled with the loss. The junior southpaw surrendered one earned run on three hits and four strikeouts across 3 2/3 innings.

NOTABLES

The Gators pitched their nation-leading sixth shutout of the season (tied with USC).
Florida clinched its eighth season series in the last nine against the Seminoles while Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan claimed his 11th season series vs. FSU out of a possible 17 in his tenure.
The Gators improved to 4-0 against ranked teams this season.
Florida improved to 9-0 in midweek contests this season, featuring a 21-2 mark dating back to the start of the 2025 campaign.
The Gators rose to 11-0 against teams from the state of Florida this season, headlined by a 23-4 mark since the start of the 2025 campaign.
Sandefer earned his first win as a Gator.
Barberi locked down his second save of the season.
The Gators have won 37 of their last 48 regular-season games dating back to 2025.
The Gators are now 131-135-1 all-time and 16-13 at neutral sites against Florida State.
Florida is 39-23 overall including 9-11 at neutral sites vs. the Seminoles under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan.
The Gators have won four of the last five against FSU highlighted by three-straight victories.
Florida has won 26 of the last 34 meetings with Florida State.
Tuesday night's official attendance was 6,776.

FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O'SULLIVAN
On flipping the switch tonight…
"I'll be honest with you, the plane ride home on Sunday night was not an easy one. Yesterday, was not easy. I took a bunch of notes. And quite honestly, 12:45 before we took off, we had a heart-to-heart as a group. And those guys who didn't pitch well on Sunday, I challenged them. And they all three were outstanding. All three of them were outstanding tonight. And that's all a coach can do. When you challenge your players, and they respond…"

On using small ball to get on the board early…
"We talked about it. The grass is going to be wet. They had a freshman third baseman. We attempted a drag with Kyle to start the game. Even Ethan Surowiec tried to show drag. Then the next at bat, brings the third baseman in and it increases our chances of getting hits. You know, we might not have the offense we've had the last couple years, relying on the three-run homer, but our pitching is so good that if we pitch like we're capable, we're going to have to run the bases well. We're going to have to play the short game and come up with big, two-out hits…"

ON DECK
The Gators remain on the road for a three-game series at No. 4 Arkansas this weekend from March 27-29. The series opener is set for Friday night at 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.