No. 21 Florida Returns Home to Greet Jacksonville

Tuesday, March 31

Gainesville, Fla.

6:30 PM

Florida Gators

Jacksonville

Blake Cyr celebrates an extra-base hit during the Gators' game against Stetson on Tuesday, March 17 at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Fla. / UAA Communications photo by Hannah White

No. 21 Florida Returns Home to Greet Jacksonville

Monday, March 30, 2026 | Baseball

Game Notes Baseball Game Day Guide

Coming off a 4-0 week in four games vs. top-10 foes, Florida has won 14 of the last 17 meetings against JU.

By: Sullivan Bortner

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Opening a four-game homestand, the No. 21 Florida Gators return to Condron Family Ballpark on Tuesday night to host in-state foe Jacksonville at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.

Coming in red-hot after a perfect 4-0 week against top-10 opponents including a series sweep at No. 4 Arkansas, the Gators (23-6) have won 14 of the last 17 meetings with the Dolphins (12-16), highlighted by a three-game winning streak. The two teams met twice one year ago, with Florida claiming both matchups in Jacksonville (W, 10-7) and in Gainesville (W, 16-4, 7 inn.) to improve to 23-8 overall and 17-6 in the series under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan.

Across 105 all-time meetings, the Gators lead the series at 69-36 while playing to a 45-17 record against the Dolphins at home. Florida looks to maintain its early-season dominance in midweek contests (9-0) and games against in-state teams (11-0).

Pitching Matchups

	Tuesday \| 6:30 ET (SECN+)
Jacksonville	LHP Kyle Powers (0-0, 7.31 ERA)
Florida	RHP Schuyler Sandford (1-0, 3.00 ERA)
Links	WATCH \| LISTEN \| LIVE STATS

CHECKING OUR POLLS
The Gators returned to three polls and are now ranked in all five major polls after going 4-0 against top-10 teams last week, sitting at No. 21 in the D1Baseball Top 25. Florida is ranked as highly No. 14 nationally at Baseball America while coming in at No. 16 via Perfect Game. Meanwhile, the Gators rose six spots to No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

DOWNLOW ON THE DOLPHINS
Entering the Tuesday tilt, Jacksonville has played to a 12-6 overall record featuring a 2-7 mark in Atlantic Sun Conference action and a 3-8 resume in road games. On the heels of a sweep at the hands of North Florida last weekend, the Dolphins are hitting .276/.387/.427 with 26 home runs and 30 steals in 37 attempts. Meanwhile, the JU pitching staff has worked to a 5.70 ERA, .286 batting average against and 215-to-140 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Dolphins' defense has struggled through the first two months, as evidenced by a .962 fielding percentage and 36 errors.

HOGWASH
Registering not only the program's first series sweep but also its first series win at Baum-Walker Stadium since 2016, Florida outscored No. 4 Arkansas by a 23-14 margin while out-hitting the Hogs, 36-21. The UF offense slashed .330/.456/.514 with 21 walks to 30 strikeouts while slugging five homers and five doubles. On the mound, the Gators struck out 37 batters against 11 free passes, holding the Razorbacks to a .202 batting average. As a result, the Gators secured their eighth SEC series victory in their last-nine league sets dating back to last season. Florida also took the all-time series lead from Arkansas over the weekend at 41-39 with the three-game sweep.

GIANT SLAYERS
After defeating No. 10 FSU in Jacksonville last Tuesday and sweeping No. 4 Arkansas on the road, Florida is 7-0 against top-25 opponents and 4-0 vs. top-10 foes this year. The Gators have twice taken down No. 17 Miami (W 7-2, W 8-4) while topping No. 20 FSU on March 10 (W, 6-3) and No. 10 FSU on March 24 (W, 5-0). Florida has played three top-five contests thus far – all this past weekend in Fayetteville, Ark.

HISTORIC SWEEP
By upsetting No. 4 Arkansas on their home turf, Florida posted its first road sweep of a top-five opponent in the O'Sullivan era (2008-present) as well is this century. In fact, the statement sweep marked the first time the Gators swept a top-five foe on the road since the NCBWA top-25 poll began in 1998. Florida last swept a top-five team (any location) in 2023 against No. 5 Vanderbilt at home. Looking at the Razorbacks in particular, Florida has produced the last two sweeps of Arkansas in Fayetteville (2026, 2016), as the Hogs have been swept at home just seven total times during Head Coach Dave Van Horn's 24-year tenure with the school.

WEEK TO REMEMBER
Going 4-0 vs. by topping No. 10 FSU at a neutral site and sweeping No. 4 Arkansas on the road, Florida won four-consecutive games all against top-10 opponents for the sixth time under O'Sullivan - last doing so with six-straight, top-10 victories from March 24-April 1, 2018 against No. 4 Arkansas (two home wins), No. 5 FSU (one neutral win) and No. 8 Vanderbilt (home sweep). Although the Gators have previously matched four-straight wins all vs. top-10 foes on five prior occasions in 2018, 2014, 2013, 2011 and 2010 - last week's streak marked the first time Florida did so while playing every game away from home. In fact, of the five previous streaks, only two included road contests: one win at No. 7 FSU in 2013 and three victories at No. 7 LSU in 2011.

K KINGS
In four games vs. two top-10 teams in Florida State and Arkansas, Florida pitchers recorded a strikeout in 29 of the 36 innings played for a total of 51 strikeouts. In 16 separate innings, UF hurlers struck out two batters or more. Amazingly, the Gators fanned three batters in seven of the 36 innings, including striking out the side in order five times – by four different pitchers.

MIDWEEK MASTERS
Propelled by a perfect 9-0 start to the midweek slate in 2026, Florida is 21-2 in midweek play dating back to last season. The Gators began at 8-0 in home midweek contests in 2025 before dropping their final home midweek game of the season to USF. Since 2025, Florida is outscoring midweek opponents, 192-to-93.

RUNNING THE STATE
Headlined by a pair of wins at No. 17 Miami and two victories over No. 20/10 FSU, the Gators are off to an 11-0 start to the season vs. teams from the state of Florida. In 26 games against in-state foes since 2025, Florida is 22-4 featuring wins against Stetson (five), Miami (four), Florida State (four), FIU (two), Jacksonville (two), North Florida (two), Florida Atlantic (two) and Florida A&M (two).

NATIONAL RANKINGS
In addition to pacing the country with six shutouts thrown, Florida ranks among the top-50 teams nationally in a plethora of statistical categories: seventh with an SEC-best 20 sacrifice flies, ninth in strikeouts per nine (11.5), 12th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.15) and win percentage (.793), 22nd in WHIP (1.25), 23rd in ERA (3.75), 26th in hits allowed per nine (7.57), 35th in walks allowed per nine (3.64), 44th in walks (152), 47th in doubles (57), 49th in home runs (37) and 50th in runs scored (219).

SAND MAN'S MOUND
Redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Schuyler Sandford will make his second-career start on Tuesday against Jacksonville. His first-career starting nod came on March 10 vs. No. 20 Florida State. In seven appearances this season, Sandford has logged a 1-0 record, 3.00 ERA, .171 batting average against and 16-to-seven strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Jacksonville, Fla. native has fanned at least one batter in all seven of his outings.

JACKSON THE BARBARIAN
Florida sophomore Jackson Barberi was utterly dominant in a pair of performances against top-10 foes last week, earning SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week honors for the first SEC Weekly accolade of his two-year career. His performance powered the Gators to a perfect 4-0 week against top-10 opponents including a series sweep at No. 4 Arkansas, chucking 3.0 shutout, one-hit innings to secure the save vs. No. 10 FSU before firing another 3 1/3 no-hit innings to earn the series-clinching victory at No. 4 Arkansas. On the week, Barberi pitched 6 1/3 innings with zero earned runs allowed, giving up just one hit and two walks while striking out 13 batters.

Facing No. 10 FSU at a neutral-site on Tuesday, the right-hander fanned six Seminoles, then proceeded to punch out seven without issuing a free pass on Saturday at No. 4 Arkansas. Clinching the series for the Gators against the Razorbacks, Barberi retired the first-nine batters he faced in order. Across his two appearances last week, Barberi registered one win, one save, a 0.00 ERA and .043 batting average against.

WE LIKE OUR STREAKS CYR'ED
Powering Florida to a perfect 4-0 week in four games vs. top-10 opponents including a road series sweep at No. 4 Arkansas, senior outfielder Blake Cyr started all four games in left field and went 8-for-16 with a .500/.556/.625 slash line. Pacing the Gators in batting average, hits and RBI (five), Cyr tallied two doubles, three runs scored, two walks and one stolen base. Contributing in all facets of the game, Cyr also executed a successful sacrifice bunt in game two at Arkansas and produced a 1.000 fielding percentage over five putouts in left field - highlighted by a diving catch down the left-field line in the series finale.

Cyr collected a hit in all four games for Florida including three contests with multiple knocks, driving in two runs in the neutral-site win over No. 10 Florida State and providing a team-high three RBI in the series finale at Arkansas. Cyr's performance helped the Gators post a road series sweep of a top-five opponent for the first time since the NCBWA poll was introduced in 1998.

RELENTLESS REPTILES
Florida boasts nine come-from-behind victories through 29 games. In particular, the Gators' five-run comeback on March 8 vs. High Point marked their largest since May 15 of last season against Alabama (five runs).

DESTINATION OMAHA
Coming off the program's 17th-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, O'Sullivan is in his 19th campaign at the helm of the Gators. Since O'Sullivan's 2008 arrival, Florida leads the sport with 311 SEC wins, 41 MLB debuts, 10 top-eight seeds, nine College World Series trips, nine Super Regionals hosted and six SEC titles. The Gators have advanced to nine of the last 15 College World Series overall – by far the most in the sport.

TICKET INFORMATION
Season tickets and SEC Five-Pack Mini-Plans are currently on sale now in addition to single-game tickets. Tickets can be purchased online or by contacting the Gator Ticket Office at (352) 375-4683.

MOBILE TICKETING & FLORIDA GATORS APP
As a reminder, mobile ticketing is required. There will be two ways to access your tickets:
1) through the Florida Gators app from your mobile device or
2) through FloridaGators.com/myaccount. Fans will also be able to transfer or donate their tickets easily within the app or online.

PARKING/SHUTTLES
Fans are encouraged to park at the Fifield and IFAS lots during the weekend. An increased number of shuttles will be available for transportation to the ballpark each day.

Click HERE for a Parking map.

General Parking is available in the west Condron Family Ballpark baseball lot and the Fifield parking lot located directly across Hull Road.
Disabled parking is available on a first-come, first-serve basis in the Condron Family Ballpark west lot with a valid Disabled Placard.
Fans can follow this link to an interactive parking map.
RV Parking is available in the Fifield Flat lot. Reserved RV parking is not available for Florida baseball games. All motor home parking is on a first come, first-served basis.
- On-board generators are permitted, however exterior or pull-along generators are prohibited at all times. For safety reasons, all motor homes/RVs are required to utilize exhaust extensions or "smoke stacks" to channel exhaust fumes to the top of the motor home/RV.
- Overnight stays are only allowed on weekend series in the Fifield Flat lot.
Do Not Park Illegally
- Park in designated parking spots (Do not park on grass or in No Parking Zones).
- Vehicles are subject to towing if they block streets, sidewalks, service drives, or fire lanes, or if illegally parked in a disabled space.

TRAFFIC PATTERNS ON GAME DAY
Those visiting Condron Family Ballpark on game day should be aware of updated traffic patterns surrounding the ballpark. Fans are advised to utilize Ballpark Way, which will serve as a connecting route to the ballpark from Archer Road. For departures, a postgame traffic flow pattern guide can be found here.

BALLPARK PURCHASES
Condron Family Ballpark food and beverage sales are fully cashless. For convenience and to improve speed of service, all concession stands will only accept credit cards, debit cards, or touchless payment with smartphones. Fans with cash can stop at the first base Concession Stand to exchange cash for a Gift Card. Gift Cards can be used at any concession stand within Condron Family Ballpark.

ON DECK
Florida hosts Ole Miss in a three-game SEC series from Thursday, April 2 through Saturday, April 4. Thursday night's opener is set for 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.

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