Wednesday, May 20
Hoover, Ala.
~2 PM ET
Florida Gators
vs
Vanderbilt
Hayden Yost (16) celebrates his three-homer game at LSU with Brendan Lawson (11) and Blake Cyr (5). / UAA Communications photo by Madilyn Gemme
Gators Head to Hoover for SEC Tournament
Tuesday, May 19, 2026 | Baseball
Florida plays Vanderbilt in the second round on Wednesday afternoon at approximately 2 p.m. ET.
HOOVER, Ala. – Carrying three-straight series victories into the SEC Tournament, No. 5-seed Florida takes on No. 12-seed Vanderbilt in the second game of the day on Wednesday, May 20 at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
First pitch for Wednesday's second-round matchup is set for approximately 2 p.m. ET on SEC Network with Tom Hart (play-by-play) and Chris Burke (color) on the call.
After going 1-1 in Hoover one year ago, the Gators are 10-6 across the last five SEC Tournaments with semifinal appearances in 2021, 2022 (finals) and 2023. Making its 44th appearance at the event, Florida is 78-70 all-time at the SEC Tournament, including 31-25 under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan. The Gators have won seven SEC Tournament titles while finishing as a runner-up seven times, most recently being crowned champions in 2015 and 2011 under O'Sullivan's watch.
As for the head-to-head matchup, Florida (37-18, 18-12 SEC) leads the series against Vanderbilt (33-24, 14-16 SEC) at 148-85-1 while the Commodores have a 6-9 edge at neutral sites. Since O'Sullivan took over in 2008, the Gators are 35-27 overall and 6-5 vs. Vanderbilt in neutral games.
Florida has won eight of its last nine games as they await their second-round opponent in Hoover.
Pitching Matchups
CHECKING OUR POLLS
After a sweep of LSU, Florida remained at No. 9 in the Baseball America Top 25 and moved up one spot to No. 18 at D1Baseball. The Gators come in at No. 14 via Perfect Game while sitting at No. 17 according to the NCBWA and USA Today Coaches Poll.
GATORS GETTING HOT
The Gators have won eight of their last nine games, experiencing an offensive resurgence in that span. In the last nine contests, Florida has batted .315/.435/.618 for a 1.053 OPS with 25 homers and 19 doubles while outscoring opponents, 89-44. That has resulted in a 10.09 ERA for opposing teams, while the UF pitching staff has worked to a .254 batting average against and 84-to-22 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 76.0 innings. Six Gators are hitting over .300 in that span: center fielder Kyle Jones (.444), outfielder Hayden Yost (.414), infielder Ethan Surowiec (.395), infielder Landon Stripling (.361), right-handed pitcher/designated hitter Caden McDonald (.359) and second baseman Cade Kurland (.303).
ROAD WARRIORS
Florida did not drop a series to a ranked opponent on the road all season, going 10-2 in top-25 away contests. The Gators 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 14-5 in away games and has lost one road series all year long.
CASE FOR A TOP-EIGHT
Although Florida has a 23-12 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 (19). Backed by the nation's No. 3 strength of schedule and No. 10 RPI, Florida has gone a dominant 8-3 vs. top-10 foes featuring a 6-1 mark against the top five.
STACKING SHUTTIES & NCAA RANKINGS
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 seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.21), ninth in walks allowed per nine (3.25), 13th in WHIP (1.28), 15th in strikeouts per nine (10.6), 16th in ERA (4.15), 18th with an SEC-leading 32 sacrifice flies, 29th in win percentage (.673), 33rd in hits allowed per nine (8.23) and 34th in home runs (83).
PAGING DR. MACTANI
Since being inserted into the starting lineup on April 24 vs. Texas A&M, McDonald has reached base safely in all 13 games while slashing .352/.417/.741 with 11 extra-base hits, five homers, 17 RBI and 12 runs on top of a team-high 19 hits. 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 accomplished that feat twice in back-to-back series against OU and UK, during which he 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. All five of McDonald's homers occurred in Florida's final 12 SEC contests, including three while he was actively pitching.
MURDERERS' ROW
Entering the postseason, the first five hitters in the UF lineup are all batting over .290 with an OPS above .895. McDonald leads the way with a .339 average and 1.091 OPS, followed by shortstop Brendan Lawson (.291 AVG, 1.140 OPS), outfielder Blake Cyr (.314 AVG, .960 OPS), Surowiec (.318 AVG, .936 OPS) and Jones (.318 AVG, .898 OPS).
ONE TRUE KING OF THE SEC
Fresh off becoming the fourth UF pitcher and first Gator underclassman to be named SEC Pitcher of the Year, ace right-hander Aidan King led the conference with a 0.89 WHIP and 14 games started - good for sixth and 11th in the country. King's 2.50 ERA ranked second in the SEC and is line to be the lowest by a Gator since Michael Byrne in 2017 (1.67). Firing a team-high eight quality starts including six in SEC play, King finished with a .199 BAA while sitting third in the SEC in BB/9 (1.82), fifth in H/9 (6.58), fifth in IP (79 1/3), fifth in wins (eight) and seventh in K-to-BB ratio (5.25).
Working into the seventh inning five times against SEC foes, King averaged 6.2 frames per SEC start while his 62.0 SEC innings trailed only Tyler Fay of Alabama. In SEC action, King led all starting pitchers with a 0.89 WHIP while tying for the league lead in victories (six). The second-year righty also held SEC hitters to a .184 batting average and went 6-1 in 10 conference starts. Across his last 19 starts dating back to the 2025 campaign, King is 12-3 with a 1.91 ERA and 112-to-26 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 118.0 innings pitched (25 earned runs allowed).
BATTIN' ROUGE
In the series sweep at LSU, Florida swatted 15 extra-base hits including 10 homers while plating double-digit runs in all three games for a total of 37 runs scored. The Gators batted .318/.464/.654 across 107 at bats, drawing 23 walks and seven hit-by-pitches against 31 strikeouts. Florida also went 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts as the LSU pitching staff finished with a 12.60 ERA.
REINFORCEMENTS!
Playing without two key players for over one month, Florida activated freshman outfielder Cash Strayer and sophomore right-hander Jackson Barberi from injury during the Kentucky series. Although Barberi did not see game action until Baton Rouge, Strayer has gone 5-for-17 with a .294/.429/.529 slash line, one homer, one double, four RBI and four runs in five games (four starts) since his return. Barberi pitched 1 2/3 innings at LSU while striking out three, giving him a 3-2 record, 2.20 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, .144 batting average against and 43-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 28 2/3 frames.
HOLD ONTO THAT ELC
Not only does southpaw Ernesto Lugo-Canchola pace the Gators with 25 appearances, but he leads the SEC with 12 holds – five more than the next-closest pitcher. Lugo-Canchola has held hitters to a .222 batting average while racking up 41 strikeouts to 10 walks across 30 1/3 innings in his first season back in Division I baseball after being the 2025 D2 Baseball Pitcher of the Year at Northwest Nazarene.
HOLD ON SEC
Following three-straight series wins over Kentucky, Oklahoma and LSU, the Gators have won 12 of their last 16 SEC series since last season. In that span, Florida has gone 32-16 in 48 SEC contests for a .667 win percentage.
YOSTY IS TOASTY
Barreling a season-high 18 hits while scoring their most runs (15) in SEC play this year, the Gators were treated to a four-hit, three-homer game by Yost in the series finale at LSU. Finishing 4-for-5 with five RBI and four runs scored, Yost left the yard in each of his final three at bats of the regular season to become the first Gator with a three-homer game since Bobby Boser on April 15, 2025 vs. Stetson. On April 6 of this season, Yost had zero home runs. He has popped nine homers in his last 20 games since, giving him the fourth-most big flies on the roster on top of the third-highest slugging percentage (.605).
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, Lawson has logged hits in all six games since ending his skid. In that stretch, Lawson is 7-for-20 with a .350/.567/.850 batting line, three homers, 11 runs and six RBI. Having broken a 16-game homerless drought in game two vs. Kentucky, the Canadian sophomore leads the Gators in home runs (14), OPS (1.140), on-base percentage (.507), slugging (.633), runs (55) and walks (49), ranking first in the SEC in OBP and second in free passes.
LIT THE WIEC
In 30 SEC games, Surowiec paced the squad in batting and slugging with a .339/.414/.556 slash line as the only Gator hitting over .300. Seven of his 10 homers came in league play on top of a team-high 28 runs and 30 RBI. On the season as a whole, Surowiec leads Florida with a .318 batting average, 20 multi-hit efforts, 57 RBI and 185 at bats, as he is the lone Gator to have started all 55 games.
RELENTLESS REPTILES
By erasing deficits for both weekend wins against UK, Florida wields 14 comeback victories through 55 games, equating to 25.5% 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 323 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
With a win, Florida would advance to the quarterfinals to face No. 4-seed Alabama on Thursday in the second game of the day at approximately 7 p.m. ET.
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First pitch for Wednesday's second-round matchup is set for approximately 2 p.m. ET on SEC Network with Tom Hart (play-by-play) and Chris Burke (color) on the call.
After going 1-1 in Hoover one year ago, the Gators are 10-6 across the last five SEC Tournaments with semifinal appearances in 2021, 2022 (finals) and 2023. Making its 44th appearance at the event, Florida is 78-70 all-time at the SEC Tournament, including 31-25 under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan. The Gators have won seven SEC Tournament titles while finishing as a runner-up seven times, most recently being crowned champions in 2015 and 2011 under O'Sullivan's watch.
As for the head-to-head matchup, Florida (37-18, 18-12 SEC) leads the series against Vanderbilt (33-24, 14-16 SEC) at 148-85-1 while the Commodores have a 6-9 edge at neutral sites. Since O'Sullivan took over in 2008, the Gators are 35-27 overall and 6-5 vs. Vanderbilt in neutral games.
Florida has won eight of its last nine games as they await their second-round opponent in Hoover.
Pitching Matchups
| Wednesday | ~2 PM ET (SECN) | |
|---|---|
| Vanderbilt | RHP Tyler Baird (0-5, 4.81 ERA) |
| Florida | RHP Aidan King (8-2, 2.50 ERA) |
| Links | WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS |
CHECKING OUR POLLS
After a sweep of LSU, Florida remained at No. 9 in the Baseball America Top 25 and moved up one spot to No. 18 at D1Baseball. The Gators come in at No. 14 via Perfect Game while sitting at No. 17 according to the NCBWA and USA Today Coaches Poll.
GATORS GETTING HOT
The Gators have won eight of their last nine games, experiencing an offensive resurgence in that span. In the last nine contests, Florida has batted .315/.435/.618 for a 1.053 OPS with 25 homers and 19 doubles while outscoring opponents, 89-44. That has resulted in a 10.09 ERA for opposing teams, while the UF pitching staff has worked to a .254 batting average against and 84-to-22 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 76.0 innings. Six Gators are hitting over .300 in that span: center fielder Kyle Jones (.444), outfielder Hayden Yost (.414), infielder Ethan Surowiec (.395), infielder Landon Stripling (.361), right-handed pitcher/designated hitter Caden McDonald (.359) and second baseman Cade Kurland (.303).
ROAD WARRIORS
Florida did not drop a series to a ranked opponent on the road all season, going 10-2 in top-25 away contests. The Gators 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 14-5 in away games and has lost one road series all year long.
CASE FOR A TOP-EIGHT
Although Florida has a 23-12 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 (19). Backed by the nation's No. 3 strength of schedule and No. 10 RPI, Florida has gone a dominant 8-3 vs. top-10 foes featuring a 6-1 mark against the top five.
STACKING SHUTTIES & NCAA RANKINGS
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 seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.21), ninth in walks allowed per nine (3.25), 13th in WHIP (1.28), 15th in strikeouts per nine (10.6), 16th in ERA (4.15), 18th with an SEC-leading 32 sacrifice flies, 29th in win percentage (.673), 33rd in hits allowed per nine (8.23) and 34th in home runs (83).
PAGING DR. MACTANI
Since being inserted into the starting lineup on April 24 vs. Texas A&M, McDonald has reached base safely in all 13 games while slashing .352/.417/.741 with 11 extra-base hits, five homers, 17 RBI and 12 runs on top of a team-high 19 hits. 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 accomplished that feat twice in back-to-back series against OU and UK, during which he 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. All five of McDonald's homers occurred in Florida's final 12 SEC contests, including three while he was actively pitching.
MURDERERS' ROW
Entering the postseason, the first five hitters in the UF lineup are all batting over .290 with an OPS above .895. McDonald leads the way with a .339 average and 1.091 OPS, followed by shortstop Brendan Lawson (.291 AVG, 1.140 OPS), outfielder Blake Cyr (.314 AVG, .960 OPS), Surowiec (.318 AVG, .936 OPS) and Jones (.318 AVG, .898 OPS).
ONE TRUE KING OF THE SEC
Fresh off becoming the fourth UF pitcher and first Gator underclassman to be named SEC Pitcher of the Year, ace right-hander Aidan King led the conference with a 0.89 WHIP and 14 games started - good for sixth and 11th in the country. King's 2.50 ERA ranked second in the SEC and is line to be the lowest by a Gator since Michael Byrne in 2017 (1.67). Firing a team-high eight quality starts including six in SEC play, King finished with a .199 BAA while sitting third in the SEC in BB/9 (1.82), fifth in H/9 (6.58), fifth in IP (79 1/3), fifth in wins (eight) and seventh in K-to-BB ratio (5.25).
Working into the seventh inning five times against SEC foes, King averaged 6.2 frames per SEC start while his 62.0 SEC innings trailed only Tyler Fay of Alabama. In SEC action, King led all starting pitchers with a 0.89 WHIP while tying for the league lead in victories (six). The second-year righty also held SEC hitters to a .184 batting average and went 6-1 in 10 conference starts. Across his last 19 starts dating back to the 2025 campaign, King is 12-3 with a 1.91 ERA and 112-to-26 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 118.0 innings pitched (25 earned runs allowed).
BATTIN' ROUGE
In the series sweep at LSU, Florida swatted 15 extra-base hits including 10 homers while plating double-digit runs in all three games for a total of 37 runs scored. The Gators batted .318/.464/.654 across 107 at bats, drawing 23 walks and seven hit-by-pitches against 31 strikeouts. Florida also went 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts as the LSU pitching staff finished with a 12.60 ERA.
REINFORCEMENTS!
Playing without two key players for over one month, Florida activated freshman outfielder Cash Strayer and sophomore right-hander Jackson Barberi from injury during the Kentucky series. Although Barberi did not see game action until Baton Rouge, Strayer has gone 5-for-17 with a .294/.429/.529 slash line, one homer, one double, four RBI and four runs in five games (four starts) since his return. Barberi pitched 1 2/3 innings at LSU while striking out three, giving him a 3-2 record, 2.20 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, .144 batting average against and 43-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 28 2/3 frames.
HOLD ONTO THAT ELC
Not only does southpaw Ernesto Lugo-Canchola pace the Gators with 25 appearances, but he leads the SEC with 12 holds – five more than the next-closest pitcher. Lugo-Canchola has held hitters to a .222 batting average while racking up 41 strikeouts to 10 walks across 30 1/3 innings in his first season back in Division I baseball after being the 2025 D2 Baseball Pitcher of the Year at Northwest Nazarene.
HOLD ON SEC
Following three-straight series wins over Kentucky, Oklahoma and LSU, the Gators have won 12 of their last 16 SEC series since last season. In that span, Florida has gone 32-16 in 48 SEC contests for a .667 win percentage.
YOSTY IS TOASTY
Barreling a season-high 18 hits while scoring their most runs (15) in SEC play this year, the Gators were treated to a four-hit, three-homer game by Yost in the series finale at LSU. Finishing 4-for-5 with five RBI and four runs scored, Yost left the yard in each of his final three at bats of the regular season to become the first Gator with a three-homer game since Bobby Boser on April 15, 2025 vs. Stetson. On April 6 of this season, Yost had zero home runs. He has popped nine homers in his last 20 games since, giving him the fourth-most big flies on the roster on top of the third-highest slugging percentage (.605).
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, Lawson has logged hits in all six games since ending his skid. In that stretch, Lawson is 7-for-20 with a .350/.567/.850 batting line, three homers, 11 runs and six RBI. Having broken a 16-game homerless drought in game two vs. Kentucky, the Canadian sophomore leads the Gators in home runs (14), OPS (1.140), on-base percentage (.507), slugging (.633), runs (55) and walks (49), ranking first in the SEC in OBP and second in free passes.
LIT THE WIEC
In 30 SEC games, Surowiec paced the squad in batting and slugging with a .339/.414/.556 slash line as the only Gator hitting over .300. Seven of his 10 homers came in league play on top of a team-high 28 runs and 30 RBI. On the season as a whole, Surowiec leads Florida with a .318 batting average, 20 multi-hit efforts, 57 RBI and 185 at bats, as he is the lone Gator to have started all 55 games.
RELENTLESS REPTILES
By erasing deficits for both weekend wins against UK, Florida wields 14 comeback victories through 55 games, equating to 25.5% 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 323 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
With a win, Florida would advance to the quarterfinals to face No. 4-seed Alabama on Thursday in the second game of the day at approximately 7 p.m. ET.
Follow the Gators
#GoGators
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