Florida Baseball Hosts Final Exhibition Vs. Georgia Southern
Florida baseball will host its second and final fall exhibition Sunday, welcoming Georgia Southern to Condron Family Ballpark. The matchup comes a week after Florida’s first exhibition, when the Gators took down Jacksonville University 5-1 on Halloween.
This will be the first game managed by acting coach Tom Slater, following the coaching saga the Florida navigated during this fall exhibition season as coach Kevin O’Sullivan took a leave of absence and interim coach Chuck Jerolomen left for Tennessee. Slater coached in the MLB after leading Auburn in the 2000s, notably spending eight years as a coach in the Yankees organization, where he trained multiple future All-Stars, including Gleyber Torres.
Despite the management change, Florida will likely employ a similar strategy of frequently rotating pitchers, just as it did against Jacksonville.
Liam Peterson, who is the top pitcher and fourth ranked overall player in Baseball America’s 2026 MLB Draft prospects, was limited to two innings after starting a week ago. Sophomore hurler Aidan King pitched the third and fourth against Jacksonville before making way for four different relievers to finish off the final five frames. The staff combined for 13 strikeouts.
On the offensive side, the Gators received contributions from both returning and new players. First baseman Brendan Lawson and second baseman Cade Kurland each collected multiple hits, while junior infielder Landon Stripling and Ole Miss transfer Ethan Surowiec belted homers.
Notably, leadoff hitter Kyle Jones is returning from season-ending shoulder injury last year, and will likely start in center field Sunday following a lengthy recovery. When on the field, Jones is one of the most talented players in Florida’s lineup. But the Gators have carefully eased him back into action, holding him out of their first four intra-squad scrimmages before he played in Florida’s fifth scrimmage, batting 2-for-2 and performing well defensively .
Florida takes on a Georgia Southern squad who posted a 28-31 record in 2025, struggling in the Sun Belt to the tune of a 13-17 conference record. The two squads met on April 22 last year, with Florida coming away with a 12-1 drubbing in seven innings.
The Gators have aimed to use their fall scrimmages to build momentum heading into the 2026 season, which opens Feb. 13 against UAB, while testing out lineup combinations to ideally foster a more potent offense this season. After back-to-back trips to the College World Series in 2023 and 2024, Florida struggled all season in 2025. The Gators needed a 10-3 run in SEC play at the end of the season to simply make it to .500 at 15-15 in the conference, and they barely snuck into regionals. Upon arrival, Florida couldn’t figure out Eastern Carolina, dropping two games to the Pirates to end its season.
First pitch for the Sunday Exhibition will be Sunday at 2 p.m. at Condron Family Ballpark.
Category: Baseball, Gator Sports, Gators Baseball
