Gators Land at No. 12 in Perfect Game Preseason Top 25

The Gators huddle up prior to during their fall exhibition game against Georgia Southern on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025 at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Fla. / UAA Communications photo by Gabrielle Encinosa

Gators Land at No. 12 in Perfect Game Preseason Top 25

Thursday, January 8, 2026 | Baseball

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Florida returns 22 players from last year's NCAA Regional squad highlighted by five positional starters and two weekend starting pitchers.

By: Sullivan Bortner

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The first preseason top-25 rankings of the college baseball calendar have arrived, as Perfect Game placed the Florida Gators at No. 12 in the country heading into the 2026 campaign.

Perfect Game is the first major publication to unveil its 2026 preseason rankings. Baseball America, D1Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association will release their sets of top-25 rankings throughout the weeks ahead.

The Southeastern Conference led all leagues with nine teams inside Perfect Game's rankings: No. 1 LSU, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 Arkansas, No. 6 Mississippi State, No. 8 Texas, No. 10 Auburn, No. 12 Florida, No. 15 Georgia and No. 19 Vanderbilt. Florida is set to face four of those SEC programs during the 2026 regular season (listed in bold), in addition to No. 9 Florida State and No. 24 Miami.

2026 Perfect Game Preseason Rankings
1. LSU
2. Georgia Tech
3. Tennessee
4. Arkansas
5. UCLA
6. Mississippi State
7. Oregon State
8. Texas
9. Florida State
10. Auburn
11. TCU
12. Florida
13. Oregon
14. Virginia
15. Georgia
16. Louisville
17. Coastal Carolina
18. North Carolina
19. Vanderbilt
20. Clemson
21. UC Santa Barbara
22. NC State
23. Southern Miss
24. Miami
25. East Carolina

Florida returns 22 total players from last year's NCAA Regional squad, featuring five positional starters in first baseman Brendan Lawson, second baseman Cade Kurland, left fielder Blake Cyr, center fielder Justin Nadeau and right fielder Hayden Yost. Regular contributors Ashton Wilson and Landon Stripling are also back as is rising junior outfielder Kyle Jones, who missed the majority of last season due to injury.

The Gators used the transfer portal to fortify that group, bringing in Second Team All-Big 12 catcher Karson Bowen (TCU), 2025 Ivy League Player of the Year Sam Miller (Columbia), 2025 Northwoods League MVP Ethan Surowiec (Ole Miss) and outfielder Jaden Bastian (Jacksonville). Catchers Cole Stanford (Lenoir-Rhyne) and AJ Malzone (Wabash Valley College) also bring their talents to the Orange & Blue.

However, the key strength of the 2026 Florida roster will be the one-two punch atop the starting rotation in presumed staff ace Liam Peterson and 2025 Freshman All-American Aidan King. Those two will head one of the nation's most-feared starting staffs, followed by key returners in right-handers Jackson Barberi, Billy Barlow, Matthew Jenkins, Caden McDonald, Luke McNeillie, Christian Rodriguez and Blaine Rowland in addition to southpaw McCall Biemiller. Rising redshirt freshmen Schuyler Sandford and Joshua Whritenour are also back in the fold after missing the 2025 campaign to injuries.

Further deepening the pitching corps is a unique collection of blue-chip transfers: Division II First Team All-American left-hander Ernesto Lugo-Canchola (Northwest Nazarene), 2025 Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year Cooper Walls (Hawaii), right-hander Russell Sandefer (UCF) and righty Ricky Reeth (Notre Dame).

The Gators open the 2026 season at home on Friday, Feb. 13 with the first contest of a three-game series against UAB. Season tickets and SEC Saturday Packs are currently on sale and can be accessed via the baseball ticketing home.

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