Brendan Lawson Hits Stride on Both Sides of the Ball

After four hitless games, Florida shortstop Brendan Lawson found the ball again against Kentucky on May 8, and his bat hasn’t cooled off since. 

The sophomore has 13 hits and 20 runs in his last 10 games, including 5 homers entering Friday’s NCAA Gainesville Regional against Rider. The Canadian showed dominance at the plate throughout most of the 2026 regular season, leading the Gators with 63 runs and 16 home runs. But as a batter who entered the year as the No. 1 MLB 2027 Draft prospect, those offensive stats are expected. 

Defense proved to be Lawson’s Achilles heel, though. The shortstop leads Florida with 12 errors, and sits in the team’s bottom 10 at a 0.919 fielding percentage.

Lawson’s inconsistencies partially stem from an illness that kept him out of the lineup from April 3-11, missing parts of the Ole Miss and Georgia series. 

Before the illness, the shortstop averaged at least a run and a hit per game, but wasn’t as commanding in his return. In the 13 games before the Kentucky series, Lawson posted three hits and 7 runs. Even his defense suffered, committing a third of his season total errors during the stretch. 

“I’m just proud of the way that he went through a really tough patch and he got through it,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said of Lawson’s performance. 

However, after Lawson found his stride at bat, he started shining on the other side of the ball. In the same 20-run stretch, the shortstop recorded 12 putouts and 27 assists while maintaining a perfect fielding percentage – his longest errorless streak of the season. 

“I try to separate hitting from the field and not get too high or get too low on either end,” Lawson said. “Just try to be as steady as possible.” 

With the sophomore cleaning up his game, the rest of the Gators’ defense followed. Florida limited itself to an error or less per game since May 1 against Oklahoma.  

The Gators finding their stride on the field comes as they look to make a deep postseason run. Thirty-one of Florida’s 38 wins occurred when it committed an error or less, so limiting mistakes remains key to a successful postseason. 

“It’s been well documented that our defense was not up to par for a good part of the season, and I am extremely pleased at where we’re at right now defensively and the improvements we made,” O’Sullivan said.

Just like Lawson, defensive success comes with productive at-bats for the Gators. Florida outscored opponents 117-58 in their last 12 games, including 32 homers. 

“In order to win in the postseason, you got to hit, you got to pitch, you got to play defense, and you got to run the base pass soundly,” O’Sullivan said. 

Category: Feature Sports News, Gators Baseball