Friday, May 15
Baton Rouge, La.
7:30 PM
Florida Gators
36-18, 17-12
11
at
1
LSU
29-26, 9-20
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 8 | 0 |
| LSU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
Liam Peterson puts the finishing touches on his complete-game masterpiece. / UAA Communications by Madilyn Gemme
Peterson Chucks Complete Game as Gators Run Rule Tigers to Clinch Series
Friday, May 15, 2026 | Baseball
Starter Liam Peterson threw his first-career complete game while Florida hammered four home runs – one of which traveled 496 feet off the bat of shortstop Brendan Lawson.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Junior right-hander Liam Peterson pitched a seven-inning complete game and No. 9/19 Florida drilled four home runs to clinch the series with an 11-1 run-rule victory over LSU in game two at Alex Box Stadium on Friday night.
For the second-straight night, the Gators (36-18, 17-12 SEC) pounced on the Tigers (29-26, 9-20 SEC) in the first inning and never relinquished the lead. Florida opened with two runs in the top of the first before extending their lead to 5-0 through two frames to claim its second-straight series in Baton Rouge. Brendan Lawson (1-for-2), Ethan Surowiec (2-for-3), Cash Strayer (1-for-4) and Landon Stripling (1-for-2) all connected for home runs, with Lawson's 496-foot fly being the longest hit by a Gator across the last two seasons. Strayer led the squad with four RBI while Surowiec drove home three runs.
Even with the fireworks, the story of the night was Peterson – who fired his first-career complete game win by tossing all seven frames on 95 pitches. The Palm Harbor, Fla. native allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out 11 batters – one shy of his season high. Peterson is the first UF pitcher to twirl a complete game since Brandon Sproat in 2023.
Much like game one, Florida threw the first punches in the top half of the first to jump out to a 2-0 lead. With one out, Lawson was plunked and promptly stole second base. Surowiec doubled him home with a laser down the left-field line to open the scoring, then advanced to third on a wild pitch and came home on an RBI groundout off the bat of Strayer.
Making his 14th start of the campaign, Peterson retired the LSU side in order on eight pitches while striking out back-to-back batters to conclude the bottom of the first inning.
The UF offense gifted Peterson three more runs in the top of the first, as Stripling walked and Cade Kurland singled to put runners at the corners while Hayden Yost cashed in with a deep sacrifice fly to center field. With two outs and Kurland still on first base, Lawson unleashed his mammoth, two-run homer out of the ballpark down the right-field line.
Pitching with a 5-0 advantage, Peterson logged another zero in the home half of the second while fanning two more Tigers. The junior right-hander picked up his fifth strikeout en route to blanking LSU in the third.
Peterson registered two quick outs in the fourth on a groundout and his sixth strikeout, but Steven Milam struck for a solo home run to put LSU on the board at 5-1. The Gators responded in the top of the fifth to extend their lead to 7-1, as Surowiec hammered a two-run shot off the batter's eye in center field on the heels of a leadoff walk from Lawson.
In the bottom of the fifth, Peterson chucked a clean frame capped off with consecutive strikeouts of Jack Ruckert and Brayden Simpson. He threw his fifth zero in the sixth while punching out Cade Arrambide for his ninth strikeout victim.
In the top of the seventh, Surowiec and Caden McDonald set the table with a one-out walk and single, respectively. Following an LSU mound visit, Strayer worked a 2-2 count and lined a three-run homer over the right-field wall on the seventh pitch of the at bat. Two batters later, Stripling swatted a solo shot to left to effectively put the game on ice at 11-1 with the 10-run rule in effect.
Remaining on the hill for the seventh, Peterson once again retired the LSU side in order to put the finishing touches on his first-career complete game. Peterson fanned Seth Dardar and Chris Stanfield for the final two outs of the contest.
Picking up his first win in SEC play this season, Peterson dominated across seven innings of one-run ball. He scattered three hits and one walk while striking out 11 Tigers.
LSU starter Marco Paz (1-4) was handed the loss, surrendering seven earned runs on four hits and four walks over 4 1/3 frames. The rookie righty struck out five.
NOTABLES
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O'SULLIVAN
On Peterson's complete game performance…
"That's the best he's pitched all year long. I'm really proud of the way he pitched tonight. Eleven strikeouts, only one walk. He was in command the whole night with all of his pitches. We swung the bat really good. Got some big home runs tonight, four of them. I think that was probably the cleanest game we played all year long to be quite honest with you. Pitching wise, offensively and defensively, and we were very focused. We jumped out to a big lead again with a five-run lead after two, and really pleased with the effort tonight."
On the offensive execution…
"We had a couple sac flies in there too. We executed there and like I said, it was a really complete game. The biggest thing is we got our whole bullpen ready to go for tomorrow. I'd rather not use a couple guys because we've been really stretching them a little bit, so we're going to have an opportunity to get some other guys out there tomorrow."
On Peterson limiting to one walk…
"The only hiccup he had, I think he threw five or six pitches in a row for a ball early in the game. Other than that, he threw his breaking ball for strikes, he threw his slider for strikes, threw a couple changeups, fastball command was as good as it's been all year long. I mean, he was really good, really good. Couldn't ask for anything more."
ON DECK
The Gators and Tigers meet one last time in the series finale on Saturday, scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.
For the second-straight night, the Gators (36-18, 17-12 SEC) pounced on the Tigers (29-26, 9-20 SEC) in the first inning and never relinquished the lead. Florida opened with two runs in the top of the first before extending their lead to 5-0 through two frames to claim its second-straight series in Baton Rouge. Brendan Lawson (1-for-2), Ethan Surowiec (2-for-3), Cash Strayer (1-for-4) and Landon Stripling (1-for-2) all connected for home runs, with Lawson's 496-foot fly being the longest hit by a Gator across the last two seasons. Strayer led the squad with four RBI while Surowiec drove home three runs.
Even with the fireworks, the story of the night was Peterson – who fired his first-career complete game win by tossing all seven frames on 95 pitches. The Palm Harbor, Fla. native allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out 11 batters – one shy of his season high. Peterson is the first UF pitcher to twirl a complete game since Brandon Sproat in 2023.
Much like game one, Florida threw the first punches in the top half of the first to jump out to a 2-0 lead. With one out, Lawson was plunked and promptly stole second base. Surowiec doubled him home with a laser down the left-field line to open the scoring, then advanced to third on a wild pitch and came home on an RBI groundout off the bat of Strayer.
Making his 14th start of the campaign, Peterson retired the LSU side in order on eight pitches while striking out back-to-back batters to conclude the bottom of the first inning.
The UF offense gifted Peterson three more runs in the top of the first, as Stripling walked and Cade Kurland singled to put runners at the corners while Hayden Yost cashed in with a deep sacrifice fly to center field. With two outs and Kurland still on first base, Lawson unleashed his mammoth, two-run homer out of the ballpark down the right-field line.
Pitching with a 5-0 advantage, Peterson logged another zero in the home half of the second while fanning two more Tigers. The junior right-hander picked up his fifth strikeout en route to blanking LSU in the third.
Peterson registered two quick outs in the fourth on a groundout and his sixth strikeout, but Steven Milam struck for a solo home run to put LSU on the board at 5-1. The Gators responded in the top of the fifth to extend their lead to 7-1, as Surowiec hammered a two-run shot off the batter's eye in center field on the heels of a leadoff walk from Lawson.
In the bottom of the fifth, Peterson chucked a clean frame capped off with consecutive strikeouts of Jack Ruckert and Brayden Simpson. He threw his fifth zero in the sixth while punching out Cade Arrambide for his ninth strikeout victim.
In the top of the seventh, Surowiec and Caden McDonald set the table with a one-out walk and single, respectively. Following an LSU mound visit, Strayer worked a 2-2 count and lined a three-run homer over the right-field wall on the seventh pitch of the at bat. Two batters later, Stripling swatted a solo shot to left to effectively put the game on ice at 11-1 with the 10-run rule in effect.
Remaining on the hill for the seventh, Peterson once again retired the LSU side in order to put the finishing touches on his first-career complete game. Peterson fanned Seth Dardar and Chris Stanfield for the final two outs of the contest.
Picking up his first win in SEC play this season, Peterson dominated across seven innings of one-run ball. He scattered three hits and one walk while striking out 11 Tigers.
LSU starter Marco Paz (1-4) was handed the loss, surrendering seven earned runs on four hits and four walks over 4 1/3 frames. The rookie righty struck out five.
NOTABLES
- Florida produced its seventh run-rule win of the season.
- The Gators have won seven of their last eight games while outscoring opponents, 74-33.
- Florida has now won four-straight games at Alex Box Stadium dating back to 2024.
- The Gators have now won 12 of their last 16 SEC series dating back to last season, going 31-16 across 47 SEC contests in that span.
- Florida is a now 22-12 against unranked teams this season on top of being a nation-best 14-6 against ranked opponents and repping the second-most Quad 1 wins in the country (15).
- Recording his first-career complete game, Peterson earned the win behind seven innings of one run ball, scattering three hits while fanning 11 against one walk.
- Peterson threw Florida's first complete game since Brandon Sproat accomplished the feat on April 28, 2023 at Missouri.
- Peterson earned his first win since Feb. 20 vs. Kennesaw State, snapping a streak of 11-straight starts without a victory.
- Florida provided more than four runs of support for Peterson for just the sixth time in 14 starts this season.
- Florida scored eight of its 11 runs via four homers.
- Lawson's team-leading 14th home run of the season traveled 496 feet in the second inning, marking the longest home run hit by a Gator over the last two seasons.
- Lawson's home run is the second-longest hit by a Gator to be recorded by Trackman behind Jac Caglianone's 516-foot homer vs. Jacksonville in 2024.
- Lawson's home run is the longest to be tracked at Alex Box Stadium.
- Lawson has homered three times in the last four games.
- Surowiec homered for the second-straight game to reach 10 home runs on the season.
- Surowiec is the third Gator to eclipse double-digit home runs this season, joining Lawson (14) and Blake Cyr (11).
- McDonald has reached base safely in all 12 games since being inserted into the starting lineup on April 24 vs. Texas A&M.
- Strayer connected for his fourth homer of the campaign in the seventh inning.
- Stripling hit his fifth home run of the season in the seventh.
- The Gators have drawn 19 walks and three hit-by-pitches in the series.
- Florida has won 53 of its last 76 regular-season games dating back to last season.
- The Gators are now 57-69-1 all-time and 19-32-1 in Baton Rouge against LSU.
- Florida is 28-22 overall and 11-12 on the road vs. the Tigers under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan.
- Friday night's official attendance was 10,759.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O'SULLIVAN
On Peterson's complete game performance…
"That's the best he's pitched all year long. I'm really proud of the way he pitched tonight. Eleven strikeouts, only one walk. He was in command the whole night with all of his pitches. We swung the bat really good. Got some big home runs tonight, four of them. I think that was probably the cleanest game we played all year long to be quite honest with you. Pitching wise, offensively and defensively, and we were very focused. We jumped out to a big lead again with a five-run lead after two, and really pleased with the effort tonight."
On the offensive execution…
"We had a couple sac flies in there too. We executed there and like I said, it was a really complete game. The biggest thing is we got our whole bullpen ready to go for tomorrow. I'd rather not use a couple guys because we've been really stretching them a little bit, so we're going to have an opportunity to get some other guys out there tomorrow."
On Peterson limiting to one walk…
"The only hiccup he had, I think he threw five or six pitches in a row for a ball early in the game. Other than that, he threw his breaking ball for strikes, he threw his slider for strikes, threw a couple changeups, fastball command was as good as it's been all year long. I mean, he was really good, really good. Couldn't ask for anything more."
ON DECK
The Gators and Tigers meet one last time in the series finale on Saturday, scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Peterson, Liam (2-5)
L: Marcos Paz (1-4)
Batting:
2B: Surowiec, Ethan 1
HR: Lawson, Brendan 1 ; Surowiec, Ethan 1 ; Strayer, Cash 1 ; Stripling, Landon 1
RBI: Lawson, Brendan 2 ; Surowiec, Ethan 3 ; Strayer, Cash 4 ; Stripling, Landon 1 ; Yost, Hayden 1
SF: Yost, Hayden 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lawson, Brendan 3 ; Surowiec, Ethan 3 ; McDonald, Caden 1 ; Strayer, Cash 1 ; Stripling, Landon 2 ; Kurland, Cade 1
SB: Lawson, Brendan 1
HBP: Lawson, Brendan 1
Batting:
HR: Steven Milam 1
RBI: Steven Milam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Steven Milam 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
3
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF/INF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballRHP/1B
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF
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