Thursday, May 14
Baton Rouge, La.
7:30 PM
Florida Gators
at
LSU
Ethan Surowiec celebrates a home run during the series finale at Oklahoma on Sunday, May 3, 2026 at Kimrey Family Stadium in Norman, Okla.
Gators Trek to LSU for Regular-Season Finale
Tuesday, May 12, 2026 | Baseball
Florida took two of three for a series win in its last trip to Baton Rouge in 2024.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Taking back-to-back series wins into the regular season's final weekend, the No. 9/19 Florida Gators travel to Baton Rouge to take on LSU for the first time since 2024 as they look to cement their status as an NCAA Regional host.
The series between the Gators (34-18, 15-12 SEC) and Tigers (29-24, 9-18 SEC) opens Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. ET, which is the same start time for game two on Saturday. The finale is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET. All three contests will air on SEC Network+.
Having gone 11-5 on the road with wins in three of four away SEC series (7-5), the Gators were victorious in their last trip to Alex Box Stadium in 2024 by rallying to take the series after dropping the opener (L 6-1, W 6-4, W 12-2). Prior to that, Florida and LSU last met in the 2023 College World Series Finals, and have not played in Gainesville since 2022.
Under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan, the Gators are 26-22 overall with a 9-12 away mark in the head-to-head rivalry, as the Tigers lead the all-time series at 69-55-1 including 32-17-1 in Baton Rouge.
Pitching Matchups
GATORS GETTING HOT
The Gators have won five of their last six games, experiencing an offensive resurgence in that span. In the last six contests, Florida has batted .314/.420/.600 for a 1.020 OPS with 15 homers and 15 doubles while outscoring opponents, 52-24. That has resulted in an 8.82 ERA for opposing teams, while the UF pitching staff has worked to a 4.06 ERA, .232 batting average against and 50-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 51.0 innings.
BATTLE OF THE BLUES
In last weekend's series win over Kentucky, Florida pitchers struck out 26 batters against just four walks while holding the Wildcats to a .245 batting average. Offensively, Florida stayed hot by hitting .306/.371/.509 with 12 extra-base hits while striking out (24) less that once per inning (25.1).
ROAD WARRIORS
Florida has yet to drop a series to a ranked opponent on the road, going 10-2 in top-25 away contests. The Gators have delivered three upsets against top-15 SEC teams on the road by toppling No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 4 Georgia while sweeping No. 4 Arkansas, in addition to sweeps of No. 20/10/5 Florida State and No. 17 Miami (two games). Adding in a neutral-site win over No. 10 FSU, the Gators are 11-2 away from home vs. top-25 teams. Interestingly, seven of UF's eight top-10 victories have come away from home. Florida's is 11-5 in away games and has lost one road series all year long.
EARLY CASE TO HOST
Although Florida has played to a 20-12 record against unranked teams, the Gators boast the nation's best mark against ranked opponents at 14-6 and have the second-most Quad 1 wins (15) in the country behind Georgia Tech (16). Backed by the nation's No. 2 strength of schedule and No. 11 RPI, Florida has gone a dominant 8-3 vs. top-10 foes featuring a 6-1 mark against the top five.
HOLD ON SEC
Following consecutive series wins over Kentucky and Oklahoma, the Gators have won 11 of their last 15 SEC series since last season. In that span, Florida has gone 29-16 across 45 SEC contests for a .644 win percentage.
CHECKING OUR POLLS
Thanks to a 3-1 week at home, the Gators rose four spots to No. 9 in the Baseball America Top 25. Florida also moved up two positions via Perfect Game (No. 18), D1Baseball (No. 19) and the NCBWA (No. 19) while holding steady at No. 20 per the USA Today Coaches Poll.
GET TO KNOW THE TIGERS
LSU comes in virtually eliminated from the NCAA Tournament at 29-24 overall and 9-18 in SEC play. Fresh off being swept at Georgia, the Tigers are batting .283/.401/.485 backed by 84 home runs, 90 doubles and 39 stolen bases in 51 attempts. The pitching staff has struggled far more than the offense, as evidenced by a 5.49 ERA in 455 1/3 innings but has held opposing hitters to a .237 batting average while tallying 613 strikeouts. LSU has committed 61 errors in 53 games, resulting in a .967 fielding percentage.
STACKING SHUTTIES/NCAA RANKS
Repping the second-most shutouts thrown (seven) in the country behind USC (nine), Florida is four shutouts shy of the program record of 11 set in 2011. The Gators rank inside the top-50 teams nationally in 10 categories, including eighth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.21), 10th in WHIP (1.26), 12th in walks allowed per nine (3.27), 14th in ERA (4.00), 16th with an SEC-leading 31 sacrifice flies, 18th in strikeouts per nine (10.5), 27th in hits allowed per nine (8.07), 41st in home runs (73) and 43rd in win percentage (.654).
AK FOR SEC PITCHER OF THE YEAR
As the frontrunner for SEC Pitcher of the Year, Florida ace Aidan King leads the conference with a 0.89 WHIP, 6.08 hits per nine and 13 games started while sitting second in ERA (2.19), fifth in innings (74.0) and walks per nine (1.95), and eighth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.81) while his .187 batting average against is in line to be the lowest by a Gator since 2016 (Nick Maronde: .178). Last weekend, King's ERA moved above 2.00 for the first time all season, as he has thrown a team-high eight quality starts including six in SEC play, having pitched into the seventh inning in five of his last six SEC starts for an average of 7.0 frames per outing. As a result, King ranks second in SEC play behind UK's Jaxon Jelkin with 56 2/3 innings pitched and 6.3 innings/start, where he sits second in WHIP (0.83) and third in wins (five) behind a league-low .165 batting average against. In SEC action, King has a lower WHIP and BAA than LSU's Paul Skenes finished with in 2023, and his overall 2.19 ERA would be the best by a Gator since Michael Byrne in 2017 (1.67). Across his last 18 starts dating back to last season, King is 11-3 with a 1.68 ERA and 105-to-26 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 112 2/3 innings pitched (21 earned runs allowed).
PAGING DR. MACTANI
Making his third-straight appearance as the two-way player on Baseball America's National Team of the Week, right-handed pitcher/designated hitter Caden McDonald went 2-for-3 with the go-ahead home run in Sunday's finale vs. Kentucky while pitching 4 1/3 shutout, no-hit innings of relief with six strikeouts to earn the victory. Prior to the weekend series at Oklahoma, only two players in UF baseball history had recorded a home run, thrown three-plus scoreless inning and earned the win in the same game: Jac Caglianone and Brian Johnson. McDonald has now accomplished that feat twice over the last two series against OU and UK, during which he has combined for 7 1/3 scoreless, one-hit innings with 10 strikeouts to zero walks while batting .393/.469/.821 with three homers, three doubles and 10 RBI. In the 10 games since being inserted into the starting lineup, McDonald has slashed .400/.455/.875 with nine extra-base hits, 14 RBI and 10 runs. All five of his homers have come in Florida's last nine SEC contests.
LAW DOG'S RESURGENCE
Snapping an 0-for-19 slump with a bases-clearing double in the eighth inning of the Friday opener against UK, shortstop Brendan Lawson logged hits in all three games of last weekend's series to finish 4-for-11 with three extra base hits including two big flies. In game two, Lawson broke his 16-game homerless drought with a long ball in the seventh, then homered for the second-straight game with his team-leading 13th home run in the series finale. The Canadian sophomore also leads Florida in OPS (1.129), on-base percentage (.498), slugging (.631) and walks (47), ranking second in the SEC in OBP and free passes.
CYRING BASEBALLS
Wielding a team-best .329 batting average (career high) and 47 RBI, no Gator has more multi-RBI games (13) or multi-hit efforts (18) than outfielder Blake Cyr. Carrying a 1.000 OPS into the series opener, Cyr has swatted 11 homers, 13 doubles, 41 runs and six steals across 46 starts. Playing in his fourth college season, Cyr is chasing 200 career hits (197) and 50 career home runs (44).
LIT THE WIEC
In 27 SEC games, corner infielder Ethan Surowiec leads the squad in batting with a .318/.395/.500 slash line as the only Gator hitting over .270. Five of his homers have come in league play on top of five doubles, 23 runs and 20 RBI. On the season as a whole, Surowiec's 18-multi-hit contests are tied with Cyr and center fielder Kyle Jones for the team lead while his 11 multi-RBI games are second behind Cyr.
MURDERERS' ROW
With one regular-season weekend left to play, the first five hitters in the UF batting order are all batting over .300 with an OPS above .885. McDonald leads the way with a .375 average and 1.215 OPS, followed by Lawson (.289 AVG, 1.129 OPS), Cyr (.329 AVG, 1.000 OPS), Surowiec (.305 AVG, .893 OPS) and Jones (.311 AVG, .888 OPS).
REINFORCEMENTS!
Having been without two key players for over one month, Florida activated freshman outfielder Cash Strayer and sophomore right-hander Jackson Barberi from injury last weekend. Although Barberi did not see game action, Strayer went 3-for-6 in the UK series while starting games two and three in right field to raise his season batting line to .283/.372/.446 in 92 at bats. Prior to going down, Barberi was 3-2 with a 2.00 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, .143 batting average against and 40-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 27.0 innings.
HOLD ONTO THAT ELC
Not only does southpaw Ernesto Lugo-Canchola pace the Gators with 24 appearances, but he leads the SEC with 12 holds – twice as many as the next-closest pitcher. Lugo-Canchola has held hitters to a .226 batting average while racking up 40 strikeouts to nine walks across 29 2/3 innings.
RELENTLESS REPTILES
By erasing deficits for both weekend wins against Kentucky, Florida now wields 14 come-from-behind victories through 52 games, equating to 26.9% of the team's wins.
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 nation with 320 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 country.
ON DECK
Florida awaits its fate in the 2026 SEC Baseball Tournament, where it is currently projected to play on Wednesday, May 20 as the No. 6 overall seed.
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The series between the Gators (34-18, 15-12 SEC) and Tigers (29-24, 9-18 SEC) opens Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. ET, which is the same start time for game two on Saturday. The finale is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET. All three contests will air on SEC Network+.
Having gone 11-5 on the road with wins in three of four away SEC series (7-5), the Gators were victorious in their last trip to Alex Box Stadium in 2024 by rallying to take the series after dropping the opener (L 6-1, W 6-4, W 12-2). Prior to that, Florida and LSU last met in the 2023 College World Series Finals, and have not played in Gainesville since 2022.
Under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan, the Gators are 26-22 overall with a 9-12 away mark in the head-to-head rivalry, as the Tigers lead the all-time series at 69-55-1 including 32-17-1 in Baton Rouge.
Pitching Matchups
| Thursday | 7:30 ET (SECN+) | Friday | 7:30 ET (SECN+) | Saturday | 3 ET (SECN+) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | RHP Aidan King (7-2, 2.19 ERA) | RHP Liam Peterson (1-5, 4.28 ERA) | RHP Russell Sandefer (3-2, 4.30 ERA) |
| LSU | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Links | WATCH | LISTEN | WATCH | LISTEN | WATCH | LISTEN |
GATORS GETTING HOT
The Gators have won five of their last six games, experiencing an offensive resurgence in that span. In the last six contests, Florida has batted .314/.420/.600 for a 1.020 OPS with 15 homers and 15 doubles while outscoring opponents, 52-24. That has resulted in an 8.82 ERA for opposing teams, while the UF pitching staff has worked to a 4.06 ERA, .232 batting average against and 50-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 51.0 innings.
BATTLE OF THE BLUES
In last weekend's series win over Kentucky, Florida pitchers struck out 26 batters against just four walks while holding the Wildcats to a .245 batting average. Offensively, Florida stayed hot by hitting .306/.371/.509 with 12 extra-base hits while striking out (24) less that once per inning (25.1).
ROAD WARRIORS
Florida has yet to drop a series to a ranked opponent on the road, going 10-2 in top-25 away contests. The Gators have delivered three upsets against top-15 SEC teams on the road by toppling No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 4 Georgia while sweeping No. 4 Arkansas, in addition to sweeps of No. 20/10/5 Florida State and No. 17 Miami (two games). Adding in a neutral-site win over No. 10 FSU, the Gators are 11-2 away from home vs. top-25 teams. Interestingly, seven of UF's eight top-10 victories have come away from home. Florida's is 11-5 in away games and has lost one road series all year long.
EARLY CASE TO HOST
Although Florida has played to a 20-12 record against unranked teams, the Gators boast the nation's best mark against ranked opponents at 14-6 and have the second-most Quad 1 wins (15) in the country behind Georgia Tech (16). Backed by the nation's No. 2 strength of schedule and No. 11 RPI, Florida has gone a dominant 8-3 vs. top-10 foes featuring a 6-1 mark against the top five.
HOLD ON SEC
Following consecutive series wins over Kentucky and Oklahoma, the Gators have won 11 of their last 15 SEC series since last season. In that span, Florida has gone 29-16 across 45 SEC contests for a .644 win percentage.
CHECKING OUR POLLS
Thanks to a 3-1 week at home, the Gators rose four spots to No. 9 in the Baseball America Top 25. Florida also moved up two positions via Perfect Game (No. 18), D1Baseball (No. 19) and the NCBWA (No. 19) while holding steady at No. 20 per the USA Today Coaches Poll.
GET TO KNOW THE TIGERS
LSU comes in virtually eliminated from the NCAA Tournament at 29-24 overall and 9-18 in SEC play. Fresh off being swept at Georgia, the Tigers are batting .283/.401/.485 backed by 84 home runs, 90 doubles and 39 stolen bases in 51 attempts. The pitching staff has struggled far more than the offense, as evidenced by a 5.49 ERA in 455 1/3 innings but has held opposing hitters to a .237 batting average while tallying 613 strikeouts. LSU has committed 61 errors in 53 games, resulting in a .967 fielding percentage.
STACKING SHUTTIES/NCAA RANKS
Repping the second-most shutouts thrown (seven) in the country behind USC (nine), Florida is four shutouts shy of the program record of 11 set in 2011. The Gators rank inside the top-50 teams nationally in 10 categories, including eighth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.21), 10th in WHIP (1.26), 12th in walks allowed per nine (3.27), 14th in ERA (4.00), 16th with an SEC-leading 31 sacrifice flies, 18th in strikeouts per nine (10.5), 27th in hits allowed per nine (8.07), 41st in home runs (73) and 43rd in win percentage (.654).
AK FOR SEC PITCHER OF THE YEAR
As the frontrunner for SEC Pitcher of the Year, Florida ace Aidan King leads the conference with a 0.89 WHIP, 6.08 hits per nine and 13 games started while sitting second in ERA (2.19), fifth in innings (74.0) and walks per nine (1.95), and eighth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.81) while his .187 batting average against is in line to be the lowest by a Gator since 2016 (Nick Maronde: .178). Last weekend, King's ERA moved above 2.00 for the first time all season, as he has thrown a team-high eight quality starts including six in SEC play, having pitched into the seventh inning in five of his last six SEC starts for an average of 7.0 frames per outing. As a result, King ranks second in SEC play behind UK's Jaxon Jelkin with 56 2/3 innings pitched and 6.3 innings/start, where he sits second in WHIP (0.83) and third in wins (five) behind a league-low .165 batting average against. In SEC action, King has a lower WHIP and BAA than LSU's Paul Skenes finished with in 2023, and his overall 2.19 ERA would be the best by a Gator since Michael Byrne in 2017 (1.67). Across his last 18 starts dating back to last season, King is 11-3 with a 1.68 ERA and 105-to-26 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 112 2/3 innings pitched (21 earned runs allowed).
PAGING DR. MACTANI
Making his third-straight appearance as the two-way player on Baseball America's National Team of the Week, right-handed pitcher/designated hitter Caden McDonald went 2-for-3 with the go-ahead home run in Sunday's finale vs. Kentucky while pitching 4 1/3 shutout, no-hit innings of relief with six strikeouts to earn the victory. Prior to the weekend series at Oklahoma, only two players in UF baseball history had recorded a home run, thrown three-plus scoreless inning and earned the win in the same game: Jac Caglianone and Brian Johnson. McDonald has now accomplished that feat twice over the last two series against OU and UK, during which he has combined for 7 1/3 scoreless, one-hit innings with 10 strikeouts to zero walks while batting .393/.469/.821 with three homers, three doubles and 10 RBI. In the 10 games since being inserted into the starting lineup, McDonald has slashed .400/.455/.875 with nine extra-base hits, 14 RBI and 10 runs. All five of his homers have come in Florida's last nine SEC contests.
LAW DOG'S RESURGENCE
Snapping an 0-for-19 slump with a bases-clearing double in the eighth inning of the Friday opener against UK, shortstop Brendan Lawson logged hits in all three games of last weekend's series to finish 4-for-11 with three extra base hits including two big flies. In game two, Lawson broke his 16-game homerless drought with a long ball in the seventh, then homered for the second-straight game with his team-leading 13th home run in the series finale. The Canadian sophomore also leads Florida in OPS (1.129), on-base percentage (.498), slugging (.631) and walks (47), ranking second in the SEC in OBP and free passes.
CYRING BASEBALLS
Wielding a team-best .329 batting average (career high) and 47 RBI, no Gator has more multi-RBI games (13) or multi-hit efforts (18) than outfielder Blake Cyr. Carrying a 1.000 OPS into the series opener, Cyr has swatted 11 homers, 13 doubles, 41 runs and six steals across 46 starts. Playing in his fourth college season, Cyr is chasing 200 career hits (197) and 50 career home runs (44).
LIT THE WIEC
In 27 SEC games, corner infielder Ethan Surowiec leads the squad in batting with a .318/.395/.500 slash line as the only Gator hitting over .270. Five of his homers have come in league play on top of five doubles, 23 runs and 20 RBI. On the season as a whole, Surowiec's 18-multi-hit contests are tied with Cyr and center fielder Kyle Jones for the team lead while his 11 multi-RBI games are second behind Cyr.
MURDERERS' ROW
With one regular-season weekend left to play, the first five hitters in the UF batting order are all batting over .300 with an OPS above .885. McDonald leads the way with a .375 average and 1.215 OPS, followed by Lawson (.289 AVG, 1.129 OPS), Cyr (.329 AVG, 1.000 OPS), Surowiec (.305 AVG, .893 OPS) and Jones (.311 AVG, .888 OPS).
REINFORCEMENTS!
Having been without two key players for over one month, Florida activated freshman outfielder Cash Strayer and sophomore right-hander Jackson Barberi from injury last weekend. Although Barberi did not see game action, Strayer went 3-for-6 in the UK series while starting games two and three in right field to raise his season batting line to .283/.372/.446 in 92 at bats. Prior to going down, Barberi was 3-2 with a 2.00 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, .143 batting average against and 40-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 27.0 innings.
HOLD ONTO THAT ELC
Not only does southpaw Ernesto Lugo-Canchola pace the Gators with 24 appearances, but he leads the SEC with 12 holds – twice as many as the next-closest pitcher. Lugo-Canchola has held hitters to a .226 batting average while racking up 40 strikeouts to nine walks across 29 2/3 innings.
RELENTLESS REPTILES
By erasing deficits for both weekend wins against Kentucky, Florida now wields 14 come-from-behind victories through 52 games, equating to 26.9% of the team's wins.
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 nation with 320 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 country.
ON DECK
Florida awaits its fate in the 2026 SEC Baseball Tournament, where it is currently projected to play on Wednesday, May 20 as the No. 6 overall seed.
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#GoGators
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/ BaseballFlorida vs. Kentucky Highlights 5-9-26
Sunday, May 10
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Sunday, May 10
