Florida Handles Vanderbilt to Advance to SEC Tournament Quarterfinals

Wednesday, May 20

Hoover, Ala.

1:45 PM ET

Florida Gators

38-18

Vanderbilt

33-25

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Vanderbilt	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	3	6	0
Florida	2	1	0	0	2	0	2	1	X	8	14	0

Blake Cyr celebrates his home run against the Commodores during Florida's second-round win at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Ala. / UAA Communications photo by Madilyn Gemme

Florida Handles Vanderbilt to Advance to SEC Tournament Quarterfinals

Wednesday, May 20, 2026 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Blake Cyr (4-for-5), Brendan Lawson (3-for-3) and Hayden Yost (3-for-4) all clubbed homers and finished a triple shy of the cycle.

By: Sullivan Bortner

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 9/18 Florida pelted Vanderbilt with 14 hits to produce an 8-3 victory in the second round of the SEC Tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

Advancing to face No. 4 seed-Alabama in the quarterfinals on Thursday night, the No. 5-seeded Gators (38-18) jumped on the No. 12-seeded Commodores (34-24) with three runs in the first two frames before the tally was tied in the fifth. Florida responded with five unanswered runs to put the game away, as Blake Cyr (4-for-5), Brendan Lawson (3-for-3) and Hayden Yost (3-for-4) each left the yard while finishing a triple shy of the cycle. For Cyr, the effort marked the first four-hit contest of his career.

On the mound, the relief trio of Jackson Barberi, Ernesto Lugo-Canchola and Luke McNeillie teamed up for 4 1/3 scoreless frames to close it out. Barberi earned the win, leading the way with 2 1/3 shutout, no-hit innings and three strikeouts.

Making his first-career start in Hoover, freshly-minted SEC Pitcher of the Year Aidan King blanked the Commodores in the opening frame thanks to an inning-ending strikeout preceded by a jumping catch up against the center-field wall by Kyle Jones. Leading off the home half of the first, Jones singled to center, swiped second base and scored on an RBI double to right-center off the bat of Lawson. Cyr then doubled off the left-field wall, allowing Ethan Surowiec to make it a 2-0 ballgame on an RBI groundout to second base that brought home Lawson.

Spotted with a two-run edge, King fanned two more batters while tossing a scoreless second inning. After a leadoff single by Landon Stripling was erased on a line-out double play at first base, Yost hit a solo moonshot over the right-field wall to extend the UF lead to 3-0 and reach double-digit home runs on the season. King went right back to work in the top of the third, holding the three-run advantage with another zero and two more strikeouts to give him five on the day.

Despite issuing a walk and hit batter in the top of the fourth, King induced a six-three double play back up the middle to navigate out of the jam. Vanderbilt later broke through for three runs to tie the game at 3-3 in the top of the fifth, as Braden Holcomb hit a two-out, two-run double to left-center followed by an RBI triple to right-center by Logan Johnstone. Barberi entered in relief and struck out Tommy Goodin to strand the go-ahead run on third base.

The brand-new ballgame did not last long, as Florida promptly responded with two runs in the home half of the fifth to jump back in front at 5-3. Lawson worked a leadoff walk and stole second while Cyr hammered a 2-2 offering over the left-field wall for a go-ahead, two-run homer.

After plunking the leadoff man in the top of the sixth, Barberi registered three-straight outs highlighted by his second strikeout for a zero. In the home half, Yost improved to 3-for-3 with a one-out double but was left stranded on second base.

Staying on the hill for the seventh, Barberi threw a second-straight scoreless frame while fanning Johnstone for the third out. Following the seventh inning stretch, Surowiec and Karson Bowen set the table with walks and eventually scored on a two-out, two-run single up the middle by Cade Kurland. That pushed the UF advantage to 7-3, with the lefty-throwing Lugo-Canchola holding the score with a clean top of the eighth inning featuring two strikeouts.

With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Lawson hammered a solo home run to right to bring the score to its final tally of 8-3. McNeillie was then called on to close it out in the ninth, working around a two-out single and fanning a pair of Commodores to cement the second-round victory.

Barberi (4-2) earned the win behind 2 1/3 shutout frames of relief. The sophomore flamethrower did not allow a hit while striking out three batters against one free pass.

Commodore reliever Brennan Seiber dropped to 5-2 after surrendering two earned runs on four hits, one walk and two strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings.

King did not factor into the decision, pitching 4 2/3 innings of three-run ball on five hits and three walks. He struck out five.

Vanderbilt starter Tyler Baird received a no-decision as well, lasting two frames with three earned runs allowed on five hits. The freshman righty fanned two.

NOTABLES

The Gators have won nine of their last 10 games while outscoring opponents, 97-44.
Florida has gone 24-12 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).
Yost connected for his 10th home run of the season in the bottom of the second, all of which have come in his last 21 games played.
Yost is the fourth Gator to eclipse double-digit home runs this season.
Cyr put Florida back in front in the fifth with his 12th homer of the campaign.
Lawson swatted his team-leading 15th home run in the eighth inning.
Lawson, Cyr and Yost all finished a triple shy of the cycle.
Cyr recorded his first-career, four-hit game.
Cyr logged his sixth three-hit effort of the season.
Lawson registered his fifth three-hit game of the campaign.
Yost turned in his third three-hit contest of the year.
McDonald failed to reach base safely for the first time in 14 games since being inserted into the starting lineup on April 24 vs. Texas A&M.
The Gators were successful in their first-ever ABS challenge, as Bowen challenged a 1-0 ball to Rustan Rigdon in the top half of the second inning that was overturned to a strike.
- Florida is the eighth NCAA program to win an ABS challenge.
- The Gators were successful on all three of their ABS challenges conducted by Bowen.
Florida is 79-70 across 44 SEC Tournament appearances including a 32-25 mark under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan.
The Gators are now 149-85-1 all-time and 7-9 at neutral sites against Vanderbilt
Florida is 36-27 overall and 7-5 at neutral sites vs. the Commodores under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan.
Wednesday's official attendance was 8,352.

FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O'SULLIVAN
Opening statement…
"It was a really well-played game. I think we gave up three in the fifth and then we turned around and scored two in the second. And that was probably a swing inning for us. But personally, it was really good to see Tim Corbin. He's one of my best friends. Oddly enough, we didn't get a chance to play them this year with the scheduling now with the SEC. So it was great to see him. And as far as our team is concerned, we wanted to keep Aidan King to about 75 pitches. That's exactly where he was. It's really good to see Jackson Barberi back out there. He was outstanding. He finished off the one-hitter with a 3-2 breaking ball. And his stuff looks back to what it was before he was shelved for a bit. And Ernie continued to be Ernie. We call him 'Everyday Ernie.' He just comes in and does his job and kept it to about 11 pitches. And top of that, getting Luke McNeillie back, this is huge. This is the first time I think we've been healthy, truly healthy the entire year… And what can you say about Hayden Yost? I mean what a great story… I don't know how many home runs he's hit in the last 20 games, but it's quite a bit. It's another great story to go along were the Caden McDonald story. So feel good. Just looking forward to playing tomorrow. We know we have our hands full. You don't have to tell me who is going to be pitching against us. We're fully aware of [Tyler] Fay. So we know we're going to have our hands full."

On the ups and downs of the season…
"I think sometimes – actually, I said this today – I feel like our team may have, in a weird way, flown under the radar, so to speak, which is not normal here at Florida. I think some of the losses early in the year were made more than they possibly were. Obviously, we went through some changes in the fall and there's a lot of different things. But I think the one thing I do take pride in is I do believe that most of the teams we've had, they've gotten better as the season has gone on. And we've had some special stories, like Hayden Yost or Caden McDonald. And it's just a testament to their hard work not putting their head down and being good teammates. I'm a firm believer that as long as you stay the course, good things are going to happen to good people. And it certainly happened with those two. I just think it's not – like, when you're struggling, it's not just one person in the group that makes it turn or click. I mean you've got to have your assistant coaches on board, your academic advisor, your trainer, your equipment manager. I mean, you name it, your strength coach. Everybody has to be pulling in the same direction. And I think the continuity that we had, just coaching-wise, has really helped us establish some consistency that we're all striving for."

ON DECK
The Gators advance to the quarterfinals where they will face No. 4-seed Alabama on Thursday night in the second game of the day at approximately 8 p.m. ET on SEC Network. Junior right-hander Liam Peterson (2-5, 4.00 ERA) will toe the slab for Florida against redshirt junior righty Tyler Fay (9-3, 4.43 ERA) of Alabama.