At this point in the 2026 regular season, should a Gators win against a top team after a weekend series loss to an unranked opponent surprise any spectator? No.
Somehow, Florida (25-9) managed to pull itself together after falling 1-3 in its last four games (and tumbling out of the rankings from its previous No. 21 spot on D1Baseball) and beat No. 5 Florida State (24-8) at home to sweep the season series Tuesday. The Gators are now 12-1 against in-state opponents this year, suffering its lone loss to Jacksonville, 4-3, a week earlier in Gainesville.
To start this week, Florida survived another late-inning, multi-run implosion. The Gators’ 4-3 win against FSU proved it could overcome its own self-inflicted errors, even against ranked teams.
“A lot of positive things, and we needed to scrap out a win, especially on the road,” coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “Any time you can sweep an in-state rival, you got to feel good about it.”
While its pitching experienced mixed success, Florida hitters strung together hits through the middle of the game against FSU, similar to how the Gators beat the Rebels on Friday. Even without Brendan Lawson, Florida triumphed against the Rebels, 2-0, with small-ball hits and took that winning approach to Tallahassee against the Seminoles.
Tuesday’s scoring started with a third-inning Hayden Yost homer (first of the season) over the right field wall. Then, in the fifth, the Gators scored three additional runs. Cole Stanford homered (fifth) to left field. Ethan Surowiec and Kason Bowen each sliced RBI singles to score base runners — in part due to Kyle Jones’ speed on the basepath.
Despite leaving six runners on base, the Gators hit 2-for-5 with runners in scoring position and .364 in two-out situations. The success in the box allowed Florida wiggle room for a bullpen prone to late-inning collapses this season.
Starter Cooper Walls, making his Seminoles debut, struck out five in 3 1/3 innings, only giving up three hits, one earned run and one walk. While he lasted 57 pitches, the rest of the innings were strung together by five other arms, including Caden McDonald (W, 3-0).
“Cooper Walls pitched outstanding,” O’Sullivan said. “The way he pitched tonight, he certainly can eat up some of those innings on the weekend for us, and this should be a huge boost for him.”
No pitcher’s appearance, though, went as poorly as Ernesto Lugo-Canchola’s. Once in O’Sullivan’s circle of trust, Lugo-Canchola has struggled to get out left-handed batters. In Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Rebels, lefty Brayden Randle scored a run off Lugo-Cachola during the five-run, ninth-inning collapse during the rubber match.
At Dick Howser Stadium on Tuesday, Lugo-Canchola wasn’t much better. FSU’s Hunter Carns got the better of the graduate reliever, with a two-run homer in the eighth inning.
However, closer Joshua Whritenour (S 6) shut down any chances of an FSU comeback. In 1 2/3 innings, he struck out four of six batters faced, allowing only one hit.
“Couldn’t be more proud of the way Josh threw after coming off, obviously a really disappointing ending to Saturday night,” O’Sullivan said.
Lawson, unavailable since Thursday’s series opener with Ole Miss, missed Friday and Saturday games after not feeling well following Friday’s batting practice. He has previously missed games with back spasms, but it’s unclear why the Canadian was absent from Tuesday’s lineup.
However, Florida survived. The Gators are now 8-0 against ranked opponents and swept their eighth season series out of the last nine against FSU. The last time Florida beat FSU on March 24, it swept then-No. 4 Arkansas in Fayetteville.
If past is prologue, Florida might be in store for a good weekend against No. 4 Georgia (28-6, 10-2 SEC) when the Gators (7-5 SEC) travel to Athens. Friday’s first pitch against the Bulldogs is set for 6 p.m.
