McDonald, King Power No. 12/21 Gators Past No. 8/7 Aggies

Friday, April 24

Gainesville, Fla.

6:30 PM

Florida Gators

29-14, 11-8

Texas A&M

31-8, 12-6

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Texas A&M	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	1
Florida	1	0	2	0	0	1	1	4	X	9	13	1

UAA Communications photo by Senay Kennon

McDonald, King Power No. 12/21 Gators Past No. 8/7 Aggies

Friday, April 24, 2026 | Baseball

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Aidan King tied his career high with eight innings pitched while Caden McDonald (3-for-4) produced his first-career home run and multi-hit game.

By: Sullivan Bortner

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Ace hurler Aidan King twirled eight frames of two-run ball and Caden McDonald bashed a trio of hits as No. 12/21 Florida pulled away late against No. 8/7 Texas A&M for a 9-2 victory in the series opener at Condron Family Ballpark on Friday night.

The Gators (29-14, 11-8 SEC) were propelled by another tremendous start from the SEC Pitcher of the Year frontrunner in King, who limited the Aggies (31-8, 12-6 SEC) to two runs on four hits across eight masterful frames. Tying his career high in innings pitched and striking out six, King logged his fourth-straight victory and quality start and now boasts a 7-2 record and league-low 1.78 ERA on the season. The sophomore right-hander retired the final 13 batters he faced and did not surrender a hit after the third inning.

King was not the only Gator to deliver a career night, as McDonald (3-for-4) rose to the occasion in his second-career start. Earning a spot in the lineup at designated hitter, the two-way standout finished a triple shy of the cycle while producing his first-career home run and multi-hit effort. McDonald was one of four Gators to drive in two runs, including Blake Cyr (2-for-3) and Cade Kurland (2-for-4), the former of which scored a team-high three runs.

King retired the side in order in the top of the first on just 10 pitches, finishing with a punchout of Chris Hacopian. The Gators then put together a two-out rally to take a 1-0 lead in the home half, beginning with a single through the left side by Ethan Surowiec. After Cyr was plunked, Karson Bowen tomahawked a 1-2 offering into right field to plate Surowiec for the game's first run.

Spotted one run early, King fanned two more while working around a two-out single to churn out a zero in the second inning. Texas A&M broke through in the third, as Gavin Grahovac hit a two-run homer onto the left-field berm with one out to give the Aggies a 2-1 edge.

Florida answered right back in the bottom of the third, using a trio of doubles to retake the lead at 3-2 through three frames. Brendan Lawson led off with a double to right-center, later scoring on an RBI two-bagger off the right-center field wall by Cyr. With two down, Kurland smoked a double into left-center field to put the Gators in front.

King rebounded to pitch a scoreless frame in the fourth, followed by a one-two-three inning in the fifth. The Gators threatened in the home half of both frames on a McDonald double (fourth) and Kurland single (fifth), but came away empty handed as a 3-2 ballgame entered the sixth.

Rolling through the sixth frame, King retired the side in order for the second-consecutive inning. The UF offense provided more breathing room for the Gator ace in bottom-six, as McDonald demolished a leadoff homer to center field to double the UF advantage at 4-2.

Reaching 10-straight batters retired, King fired another clean inning in the seventh while notching his fifth strikeout. That allowed the Gators to push further ahead in the home half of the seventh, as Cyr (single) and Kurland (walk) set the table for McDonald, who smacked an RBI single to center for his third hit and a 5-2 UF advantage.

Navigating into the eighth inning, King kept his streak going by registering three quick outs to finish his outing with 13-consecutive Aggies retired. King punched out Caden Sorrell on his 121st and final pitch of the night, reaching six strikeouts through eight frames.

Looking for insurance in bottom-eight, the Orange & Blue received exactly that. Kyle Jones got it going by stroking a leadoff double to left-center, followed by a hit-by-pitch of Lawson and walk to Surowiec. Cyr then drew a bases-loaded walk to force home Jones and Bowen grounded out to second base to drive in Lawson. From there, Kurland reached on a fielding error at shortstop, with both Surowiec and Cyr racing home to score on a heads-up baseball play to give Florida a commanding, 9-2 lead entering the final frame.

Florida called on right-handed reliever Billy Barlow to shut it down in the ninth. The UF right-hander pitched a scoreless inning to cement the series-opening win, giving up one hit and striking out one Aggie.

King (7-2) earned his fourth-straight win while tying his career high with eight innings pitched. The star sophomore surrendered just two runs on four hits and did not issue a free pass while racking up six strikeouts.

Texas A&M starter Shane Sdao (3-3) was saddled with the loss. The junior southpaw was charged with three earned runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings, striking out four against zero walks.

NOTABLES

Florida rose to a nation-best 12-3 against ranked opponents this season highlighted by the most Quad 1 wins in the country (13).
The Gators improved to 8-1 against top-10 goes.
- Friday night's win marked Florida's first top-10 victory at home.
Florida delivered its 11th come-from-behind win of the campaign.
Making his third-career game one start, King chucked eight innings (tied career high) of two-run ball to log his fourth-straight victory and quality start, giving him a 7-2 record and team-high seven quality starts on the season.
- King retired the final 13 batters he faced and did not allow a hit after the third inning.
- King threw a career-high 121 pitches.
- King has thrown a team-high 12 quality starts the last two seasons.
King has completed six innings in each of his last four starts, going a combined 28 2/3 frames with just five runs allowed to give him a league-low 1.78 ERA on the season.
Across his last 16 starts dating back to last season, King is 11-3 with a 1.36 ERA and 89-to-23 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 99 1/3 innings pitched (15 earned runs allowed).
Eight UF starters logged hits in the first four innings.
McDonald (3-for-4) launched his first-career home run in the sixth inning and recorded his first-career multi-hit game, finishing a triple shy of the cycle.
Florida starting pitchers have allowed five home runs in 180 2/3 innings pitched, featuring just three homers surrendered in 101 2/3 SEC frames.
Florida has won 46 of its last 65 regular-season games dating back to last season.
Florida is now 15-18 all-time and 10-4 in Gainesville against Texas A&M.
The Gators are 14-12 overall and 9-1 at home vs. the Aggies under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan.
Friday night's official attendance was 5,880.

FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O'SULLIVAN
On King's pitching performance and McDonald's big night…
"Same thing everybody here probably saw. He was just throwing strike after strike after strike. Did a really nice job, you know getting the lead-off hitter. I mean their lineup is potent. It's just as good of a lineup as there is in the entire country. It was just an awesome performance... I thought [King] was great. I thought obviously, Caden McDonald, what a great story that is. He continues to work hard…"

On King and Barlow saving the bullpen and other contributions…
"Oh, I mean it's huge the way things set up. I mean that's one of the things that's kind of been hurting us is having to go to the pen so early, and one thing affects the other. And I think things get lost in the shuffle here. Like Karson, he moves the ball he doesn't strike out. And then Cade does the same thing in the eighth and it adds another run, couple of other runs. To score there in the eighth was huge. We didn't have to use [Luke] McNeillie. We didn't have to use Josh [Whritenour]. The thought process was if we had a four-run lead, we'll probably go to Josh and not mess around. But, scoring those four runs in the eighth was huge for us…"

ON DECK
The Gators and Aggies meet again in game two on Saturday, which airs on SEC Network at 5 p.m. Right-hander Liam Peterson (1-3, 3.42 ERA) gets the ball for Florida against righty Aiden Sims (7-0, 3.44 ERA) of Texas A&M.