Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Florida Gators welcome the No. 23 Vanderbilt Commodores to Gainesville this upcoming weekend for its first SEC series at Condron Family Ballpark in two weeks.
 
The three-game set opens on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network+. Game two begins on Saturday at 1 p.m. on SEC Network+ while Sunday's series finale airs on SEC Network at 12 p.m.
 
The Gators (20-11, 1-8 SEC) have dominated the rivalry at home in recent memory, winning four-straight series vs. the Commodores (21-8, 4-5) in Gainesville with their last home series loss back in 2014. Florida swept Vanderbilt in the last meeting at Condron Family Ballpark in 2023 (10-0, 6-2, 6-2) while the Dores took two out of three in Nashville one year ago. The last time the road team claimed a series in this rivalry was in 2017, when the Gators won two of three in Nashville.
 
Overall, Florida leads the series at 148-82-1 backed by a dominant 84-24 home mark (.778). The Gators are 35-24 overall and 19-5 at home vs. Vanderbilt under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan

Pitching Matchups

	Friday | 6:30 ET (SECN+)	Saturday | 1 ET (SECN+)	Sunday | 12 ET (SECN)
Vanderbilt	LHP JD Thompson (2-2, 4.62 ERA)	RHP Cody Bowker (2-1, 2.78 ERA))	TBA
Florida	RHP Liam Peterson (4-1, 3.38 ERA)	RHP Aidan King (3-1, 3.03 ERA)	TBA
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SERIES PROMOS
Friday: 500 Florida script hats for UF students
Saturday: Graduate student appreciation week with rally towel giveaway
Sunday: 1,000 Florida Baseball blue replica jerseys for all fans, kids run the bases postgame

FOOD TRUCKS
There will be two food trucks located in the Dizney Grove area beyond the outfield wall on each day of the weekend series.

Friday: Mayflower, 352 Munchies
Saturday: Heart & SoulFood, Rastafar Ice
Sunday: Nothing Bundt Cakes, Ferley's BBQ

COMFY AT CONDRON
Florida has played to a 16-4 record at Condron Family Ballpark this season for an .800 winning percentage. In those 20 home contests, the Gators have slashed .337/.450/.598 with 37 home runs and 32 steals while averaging 9.3 runs per game.  Meanwhile, opponents have batted just .232/.331/.386 with 21 homers and 18 stolen bases while averaging 4.7 runs per game.
 
DOWNLOW ON THE DORES
The Commodores (21-8, 4-5 SEC) enter this weekend's matchup ranked 23rd in the country after dropping from No. 14 following a series sweep at the hands of No. 2 Arkansas. The team has found great success on the mound, with the pitching staff carrying a 3.65 ERA, good for fourth in the SEC and 12th in the country while ranking third nationally with 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings. The Vanderbilt defense fields at a .985 clip with 15 errors. Offensively, the Commodores are batting .275/.387/.425 with 24 home runs and 48 stolen bases, the latter of which ranks third in the conference. 
 
SULLY SUPERLATIVES
Coming off the program's 14th trip to the College World Series and second in as many seasons, O'Sullivan is in his 18th year at the helm. Since O'Sullivan's 2008 arrival, Florida leads the nation with 291 SEC wins, 37 MLB debuts, 16 NCAA berths (T-1st), 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 14 College World Series.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
After 31 games, Florida is ranked inside the top-40 teams nationally across 10 statistical categories highlighted by the fifth-most strikeouts per nine innings (12.0). The Gators also rank 13th in the country in fielding percentage (.981), 15th in shutouts thrown (three), 17th in home runs (50), 19th in hit-by-pitches (61), 21st in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.73), 29th in slugging percentage (.524), 35th in hits (302), 36th in runs scored (248) and 39th in doubles (62).
 
RED HOT HEY
Catching all 33 2/3 innings behind the plate for Florida last week, catcher Luke Heyman had a series for the ages at Ole Miss. Notching multiple hits in all three games of the series, Heyman went 8-for-13 with a .615/.643/1.462 slash line and five extra-base hits vs. the Rebels. In Friday's doubleheader alone, Heyman posted a pair of three-hit games (6-for-9) while homering three times with six RBI. He finished a triple shy of the cycle in game two and left the yard twice while drawing a bases-loaded walk to tie the score in the ninth inning of the finale. With the big weekend, Heyman doubled his season home run total (six) and is now batting .306/.408/.565 on the season. He has also been a stalwart defensively, ranking tied-for-first in the SEC with a 1.000 fielding percentage and seven runners caught stealing. Heyman's 238 putouts also lead the conference.
 
MURDERER'S ROW
Florida's retooled lineup features three hitters with an OPS above 1.000 in catcher/designated hitter Brody Donay (1.196), infielder Colby Shelton (1.030) and infielder Brendan Lawson (1.006). Two more Gators embark on the midweek above .950 in infielder Bobby Boser (.994) and Heyman (.962). Shelton, Donay and Lawson each wield a batting average over .310, on-base percentage above .430 and five stolen bases apiece. 12 Gators have posted multi-hit games on the year while 10 different UF players have logged three-hit performances.
 
BOBBY BOMBS
By homering twice and driving in five on Tuesday against North Florida, Boser now leads the Gators with 10 home runs and 35 RBI on the season. After hitting a grand slam on Tuesday, Boser is now 4-for-5 with the bases loaded this year, highlighted by two home runs and 15 RBI. The UF third baseman is one of two Gators to have started every game. Having heated up as of late, Boser is batting .333/.415/.611 while leading Florida in hits (12), runs (11) and RBI (10) over the last nine games.
 
BELTIN' SHELTON
Sitting atop the SEC with 14 doubles (eighth in NCAA), Shelton connected for his 50th-career home run on Tuesday vs. UNF. Reaching base safely in 30 of 31 games this season, Shelton has started every contest at shortstop while slashing .361/.432/.598 with five home runs, 29 runs scored, 26 RBI and five stolen bases. In the series at Ole Miss, Shelton collected two hits apiece in games one and three to reach 15 multi-hit games on the season (team high). The junior has refined his approach this season, cutting his strikeout rate down to 10.1% after fanning at a 26.4% clip one year ago. Shelton has drawn more combined walks (11) and hit-by-pitches (five) than strikeouts.
 
THE ONE-TWO PUNCH
Florida's weekend rotation is anchored by standout hurlers Liam Peterson and Aidan King, the former of which was one of 45 players named to the 2025 Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List on Thursday. In four home starts this season, Peterson is 4-0 with a 0.86 ERA, .164 batting average against and 34-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He wields a 14.7 K/9 and 1.19 WHIP through six total starts. As for King, the rookie will make his fifth-career start on Saturday, owning a 3.03 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, .213 batting average against and 32-to-9 K-to-BB ratio. Peterson (two) and King (two) have accounted for four of Florida's five quality starts this year.
 
STEALING THE SHOW
The Gators have stolen 46 bases in 55 attempts (83.6%), equating to 1.5 steals per game. For reference, the Gators averaged 0.7 steals per game last season. After 31 contests, the Gators have already surpassed their 2024 steals total (43) across a total of 66 games. Outfielder Hayden Yost paces the team with eight steals in nine attempts, which is tied for 16th in the SEC.
 
YOST MAKES THE MOST
Heyman was not the only Gator to have a stellar weekend in Oxford, as Yost made the most of his two starts in both ends of Friday's doubleheader. Finishing 4-for-7 on the day, Yost doubled, scored and drove in one run while swiping three bases in three attempts. He also drew one walk and two hit-by-pitches, meaning he reached base in seven of 10 plate appearances on Friday and is now hitting .295/.385/.432 with 20 RBI (fifth on team). Yost has hits in each of his last four games, going 6-for-12 in that span.
 
RELENTLESS REPTILES
By scoring five runs in the ninth to rally from behind in the finale against Ole Miss, Florida has now secured seven come-from-behind victories in 2025. Last season, the Gators delivered 21 wins in comeback fashion, featuring 12 of the team's 13 SEC wins. Florida trailed in six of its 2024 postseason victories and claimed five-straight NCAA Tournament elimination games to keep its season alive. Going back two seasons, 22 of the 2023 Gators' program-record 54 victories came via comebacks.

PARKING/SHUTTLES
Fans are encouraged to park at the Fifield and IFAS lots during the weekend. An increased number of shuttles will be available for transportation to the ballpark each day. No parking is permitted anywhere on the grass, sidewalks, or along streets. Doing so runs the risk of receiving a parking citation.

Click HERE for a Parking map.

• General Parking is available in the main Condron Family Ballpark baseball lot, the small lot in front of the Donald R. Dizney Stadium and the Fifield Hall parking lot located directly across Hull Road.
  • Additional parking is available at:
    • UF Facilities Services lot off Radio Rd
    • Maguire Village Lot off Bledsoe Dr
• Disabled parking is available on a first-come, first-serve basis in the Condron Family Ballpark west lot with a valid Disabled Placard.
• Fans can follow this link to an interactive parking map.
• RV Parking is available in the Fifield Flat lot.  Reserved RV parking is not available for Florida baseball games. All motor home parking is on a first come, first-served basis.
  • On-board generators are permitted, however exterior or pull-along generators are prohibited at all times. For safety reasons, all motor homes/RVs are required to utilize exhaust extensions or "smoke stacks" to channel exhaust fumes to the top of the motor home/RV.
  • Overnight stays are only allowed on weekend series in the Fifield Flat lot. 
• Do Not Park Illegally
  • No parking on grass, sidewalks, or along streets. Doing so runs the risk of receiving a parking citation.
  • Park in designated parking spots (Do not park on grass or in No Parking Zones).
  • Vehicles are subject to towing if they block streets, sidewalks, service drives, or fire lanes, or if illegally parked in a disabled space.

TICKET INFORMATION
Season tickets and SEC Five-Pack Mini-Plans are currently on sale now in addition to single-game tickets. Tickets can be purchased online or by contacting the Gator Ticket Office at (352) 375-4683.

MOBILE TICKETING & FLORIDA GATORS APP
As a reminder, mobile ticketing is required. There will be two ways to access your tickets:
1) through the Florida Gators app from your mobile device or
2) through FloridaGators.com/myaccount. Fans will also be able to transfer or donate their tickets easily within the app or online.

TRAFFIC PATTERNS ON GAME DAY
Those visiting Condron Family Ballpark on game day should be aware of updated traffic patterns surrounding the ballpark. Fans are advised to utilize Ballpark Way, which will serve as a connecting route to the ballpark from Archer Road. For departures, a postgame traffic flow pattern guide can be found here.

ON DECK
The Gators stay home to host Florida State at Condron Family Ballpark on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

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