Florida Gators
Florida State
Florida to Face FSU in Neutral-Site Rivalry Bout
Monday, March 23, 2026 | Baseball
Florida has won three of the last four vs. FSU as it looks to claim its eighth season series in the last nine vs. the Noles.
With first pitch set for 6 p.m. on SEC Network+ at Vystar Ballpark, the Gators (19-6) are looking to replicate the success from their first matchup of the campaign with the Seminoles (19-4), when they posted a 6-3 win in Gainesville on March 10. A victory on Tuesday night would give the Gators their eighth season series in the last nine over Florida State. The Gators have won 10 of 16 season series during Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan's tenure, highlighted by wins in 25 of the last 33 meetings.
Powered by a dominant 38-23 record vs. FSU under O'Sullivan, Florida has moved the head-to-head series to 135-130-1 in favor of the Seminoles. Playing against FSU at a neutral site, the Gators are 15-13 overall and 8-11 under O'Sullivan.
Pitching Matchups
| Tuesday | 6 ET (SECN+) | |
|---|---|
| FSU | LHP Cooper Whited (1-0, 3.12 ERA) |
| Florida | RHP Russell Sandefer (0-1, 5.40 ERA) |
| Links | WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS |
CHECKING OUR POLLS
After playing to a 1-3 record last week, the Gators fell out of the D1Baseball Top 25. Although unranked by Baseball America and Perfect Game, Florida sits at No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
SCOUTING THE SEMINOLES
Coming off a weekend series win at home against No.10 NC State (L 4-6, W 11-5, W 15-5) Florida State sits at 19-4 (5-1 ACC) with a 1-2 record in neutral games. The Seminoles have swung the bats to a .304/.425/.518 slash line behind 34 homers and 23 steals in 30 attempts. On the mound, FSU hurlers have logged a 3.53 ERA, .200 batting average against and 250-to-86 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 191.0 innings pitched. Having committed 21 errors in 23 games, Florida State carries a .973 fielding percentage into Tuesday's game.
RIVALRY REVIEW
Florida pitching was dominant in the first contest against Florida State. The Gators used six pitchers who combined for a season-high 18 strikeouts, marking the most Florida has thrown in a game against FSU this century. The Gatos also received strong performances from freshmen outfielders Cash Strayer and Jacob Kendall in the last meeting, as both had two RBI to drive in four of the Gators' six runs. Shortstop Brendan Lawson put together a fantastic performance, as he reached base safely in four of five plate appearances, highlighted by a solo home run.
MIDWEEK MASTERS
Propelled by a perfect 8-0 start to the midweek slate in 2026, Florida is 20-2 in midweek play dating back to last season. The Gators began at 8-0 in home midweek contests in 2025 before dropping their final home midweek game of the season to USF. Since 2025, Florida is outscoring midweek opponents, 187-to-93.
RUNNING THE STATE
Headlined by a pair of wins at No. 17 Miami and a victory over No. 20 FSU, the Gators are off to a 10-0 start to the season vs. teams from the state of Florida. In 25 games against in-state foes since 2025, Florida is 21-4 featuring wins against Stetson (five), Miami (four), Florida State (three), FIU (two), Jacksonville (two), North Florida (two), Florida Atlantic (two) and Florida A&M (two).
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Through 25 games played, Florida paces the SEC in shutouts thrown (five) and sacrifice flies (19), sitting second and sixth in the country in those categories, respectively. The Gators also rank 15th nationally in strikeouts per nine (11.2), 18th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.05), 24th in win percentage (.760), 31st in doubles (52) and ERA (3.83), 33rd in WHIP (1.27), 34th in hits allowed per nine (7.79), 41st in walks allowed per nine (3.67) 46th in runs scored (191) and 51st in home runs (32).
THE LAWSON FILE
Entering the midweek matchup, Lawson leads Florida in every slash category with a .380/.585/.915 batting line on top of 10 home runs, two triples, four doubles, 29 RBI, 29 runs and six steals. He has drawn 27 free passes against 16 strikeouts for a 25.5% walk rate and 15.1% strikeout rate. Lawson leads the SEC with the fourth-best on-base percentage in the country while ranking second in the conference in both slugging percentage (sixth nationally) and walks (10th nationally).
SANDEFER'S SECOND START
Junior right-handed pitcher Russell Sandefer will make his second start of the season on Tuesday against Florida State. Making his first start in Orange & Blue one week ago against Stetson, Sandefer retired all nine batters he faced to finish with 3.0 shutout innings and six strikeouts. He has a track record as a starter, making his final six appearances at UCF in 2025 out of the weekend rotation while throwing gems against Kansas State, TCU and Oklahoma State.
THE WIEC IS HOT
Across Florida's last five games, corner infielder Ethan Surowiec has paced the team in batting (.353) and on-base percentage (.476). The sophomore slugger has totaled two doubles, six runs and five RBI in that span while raising his overall batting line .308/.432/.484 with 10 extra-base hits. Surowiec is the lone Gator to start all 25 games this season while his 24 RBI and 19 walks rank second on the roster.
Fresh off the program's 17th-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, O'Sullivan is in his 19th campaign at the helm of the Gators. Since O'Sullivan's 2008 arrival, Florida leads the sport with 305 SEC wins, 41 MLB debuts, 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 15 College World Series overall – by far the most in the sport.
ON DECK
The Gators remain on the road for a three-game series at No. 4 Arkansas this weekend from March 27-29. The series opener is set for Friday night at 7 .m. ET on SEC Network+.
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