Tuesday, March 3
Gainesville, Fla.
6 PM
Florida Gators
12-1
4
vs
0
FAU
6-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Florida Atlantic
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
1
Florida
1
0
1
2
0
0
0
0
X
4
9
0
Schuyler delivers a pitch during Florida's 4-0 shutout of FAU at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Fla. / UAA Communications photo by Senay Kennon
No. 9 Gators Twirl Combined Shutout Against FAU
Tuesday, March 3, 2026 | Baseball
Schuyler Sandford fired a career-high three shutout innings and Brendan Lawson swatted his fifth homer.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Four UF pitchers tossed a combined shutout with just four hits allowed as No. 9 Florida blanked FAU, 4-0, at Condron Family Ballpark on Tuesday night.
Posting their third shutout across a 12-game win streak, the Gators (12-1) surrendered just seven baserunners while striking out 11 batters against three walks to claim their fifth-straight matchup vs. the Owls (6-6). Redshirt sophomore right-hander Schuyler Sandford led the way with a career-high three scoreless frames and five strikeouts while starter Cooper Walls, Russell Sandefer and Jackson Barberi churned out two shutout innings apiece.
On a night where very little offense was needed, shortstop Brendan Lawson (1-for-3) continued his torrid start to the year with his fifth home run of the season. Center fielder Kyle Jones (2-for-5) scored one run and registered his ninth multi-hit effort in 13 games.
Walls logged a clean frame while fanning one batter in the top of the first, giving way to Jones, who promptly led off the game with a hit for the eighth time this season. After swiping second base, Jones moved to third on a groundout and scored on a two-out, RBI single to center off the bat of Karson Bowen for an early, 1-0 lead.
Navigating around a one-out single in the second, Walls retired the final two Owls of the inning to produce back-to-back zeros. That marked the end of his controlled start, as Walls was replaced by Sandefer to begin the third. The junior righty gave up two quick singles followed by a sacrifice bunt, but fanned the next two batters to strand a pair of Owls in scoring position.
With one out in bottom-three, Lawson drilled a 3-2 offering over the center field wall for a solo shot to extend the UF edge to 2-0. Sandefer held the two-run lead through the top of the fourth inning with a zero featuring his third strikeout.
In the home half of the fourth, Blake Cyr reached on a one-out, infield single to third and advanced on a Cole Stanford walk. The two Gators then engaged in a double steal and advanced an extra base apiece on a throwing error by FAU catcher Ian Collier, which allowed Cyr to cross home safely. Stanford then scored on an RBI groundout to second base by Colton Schwarz to move the tally to 4-0.
Called on out of the pen, Sandford blanked the Owls in the fifth and sixth innings while allowing just two baserunners and fanning a pair. Sandford struck out the side in order in the seventh to make it three scoreless frames and five strikeouts.
Another UF right-hander assumed pitching duties in the eighth, as Barberi fanned one Owl en route to a zero. The flame-throwing sophomore remained on the bump for the ninth, closing it out with a strikeout followed by a 6-4-3 twin killing to erase a one-out free pass.
Walls improved to 2-0 in a controlled start after having his Sunday outing rained out, pitching two shutout innings with one hit allowed and one strikeout.
FAU starting pitcher Kide Adetuyi dropped to 1-1, surrendering four runs (three earned) on six hits and one walk in four innings. He struck out six.
NOTABLES
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O'SULLIVAN
On tonight's pitching performance…
"Yeah, really pleased. The pitch count was really good. I think we averaged 14 pitches per inning. We needed to get Cooper Walls out there because he missed his start on Sunday and we kept his pitch count to 22, and he did outstanding, so he will be ready to go on Sunday. It was great to get Russell Sandefer back out there. He made some big pitches with runners on second and third with one out, so that was good. Schuyler Sandford just continues to improve every time it seems like he goes out there. Three scoreless at 41 pitches, so we're four under there and Jackson Barberi came out and did the same thing. He averaged about 15 pitches an inning and was really sharp. Everybody did their job. I noticed on Thursday when I was putting together the pitching at the hotel and just trying to line up the weekend pitching-wise, and see what it might look like and it really dawned on me at that moment, that we are really starting to see the bullpen really come together…"
On the double steal in the fourth inning…
"I think what we have been trying to do is be a bit more aggressive on the base paths. There's certain things that have to be in place for you to be able to do a double steal. You have to have guys that can run on the base paths. The infielder is going to give us a good opportunity to get us to second. Obviously, you do not like to do it for a left-handed hitter, so we had a right-handed hitter up…"
On maintaining momentum after a big weekend series…
"I think it says a lot about our maturity, and we talked about it and we talked about it at the end of the game tonight. I don't care who our opponent is. It's awfully easy to get up for the conference games or Florida State at home, or Miami, but we have got to take care of our business and have to show maturity and professionalism regardless of who we play. We have a couple guys that are nicked up a little bit, nothing serious, but we have some flexibility in our offense, which gives us the opportunity to sit a couple guys for a day or two to let their bodies get right, which gives some other guys some opportunities, and they deserve it."
UP NEXT
The Gators host Florida A&M on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.
Posting their third shutout across a 12-game win streak, the Gators (12-1) surrendered just seven baserunners while striking out 11 batters against three walks to claim their fifth-straight matchup vs. the Owls (6-6). Redshirt sophomore right-hander Schuyler Sandford led the way with a career-high three scoreless frames and five strikeouts while starter Cooper Walls, Russell Sandefer and Jackson Barberi churned out two shutout innings apiece.
On a night where very little offense was needed, shortstop Brendan Lawson (1-for-3) continued his torrid start to the year with his fifth home run of the season. Center fielder Kyle Jones (2-for-5) scored one run and registered his ninth multi-hit effort in 13 games.
Walls logged a clean frame while fanning one batter in the top of the first, giving way to Jones, who promptly led off the game with a hit for the eighth time this season. After swiping second base, Jones moved to third on a groundout and scored on a two-out, RBI single to center off the bat of Karson Bowen for an early, 1-0 lead.
Navigating around a one-out single in the second, Walls retired the final two Owls of the inning to produce back-to-back zeros. That marked the end of his controlled start, as Walls was replaced by Sandefer to begin the third. The junior righty gave up two quick singles followed by a sacrifice bunt, but fanned the next two batters to strand a pair of Owls in scoring position.
With one out in bottom-three, Lawson drilled a 3-2 offering over the center field wall for a solo shot to extend the UF edge to 2-0. Sandefer held the two-run lead through the top of the fourth inning with a zero featuring his third strikeout.
In the home half of the fourth, Blake Cyr reached on a one-out, infield single to third and advanced on a Cole Stanford walk. The two Gators then engaged in a double steal and advanced an extra base apiece on a throwing error by FAU catcher Ian Collier, which allowed Cyr to cross home safely. Stanford then scored on an RBI groundout to second base by Colton Schwarz to move the tally to 4-0.
Called on out of the pen, Sandford blanked the Owls in the fifth and sixth innings while allowing just two baserunners and fanning a pair. Sandford struck out the side in order in the seventh to make it three scoreless frames and five strikeouts.
Another UF right-hander assumed pitching duties in the eighth, as Barberi fanned one Owl en route to a zero. The flame-throwing sophomore remained on the bump for the ninth, closing it out with a strikeout followed by a 6-4-3 twin killing to erase a one-out free pass.
Walls improved to 2-0 in a controlled start after having his Sunday outing rained out, pitching two shutout innings with one hit allowed and one strikeout.
FAU starting pitcher Kide Adetuyi dropped to 1-1, surrendering four runs (three earned) on six hits and one walk in four innings. He struck out six.
NOTABLES
- The Gators pitched their third shutout of the 2026 season.
- Florida has won 12-straight games since its Opening Night loss, marking the team's longest win streak since starting 16-0 in the 2020 campaign.
- The Gators are 19-4 across 23 games vs. in-state foes since 2025.
- Jones led off the game with a hit for the eighth time in 13 contests.
- He has scored seven runs as the leadoff man.
- Jones later led off the bottom of the third with a single and is now batting .538 leading off innings (14-for-26).
- Lawson swatted his team-high fifth homer of the season in the third inning and now has 22 RBI on the campaign.
- Sandford tossed a career-high three shutout innings and five strikeouts.
- Jones recorded his ninth multi-hit effort of the season.
- The Gators have won 29 of their last 35 regular-season games dating back to 2025.
- Florida is 34-5 in regular-season, non-conference play dating back to last season.
- Florida is now 29-10 all-time vs. FAU including 23-8 in Gainesville.
- The Gators are 16-5 overall and 13-5 at home against the Owls under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan.
- Florida has won five-straight games vs. FAU.
- Tuesday night's official attendance was 5,918.
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O'SULLIVAN
On tonight's pitching performance…
"Yeah, really pleased. The pitch count was really good. I think we averaged 14 pitches per inning. We needed to get Cooper Walls out there because he missed his start on Sunday and we kept his pitch count to 22, and he did outstanding, so he will be ready to go on Sunday. It was great to get Russell Sandefer back out there. He made some big pitches with runners on second and third with one out, so that was good. Schuyler Sandford just continues to improve every time it seems like he goes out there. Three scoreless at 41 pitches, so we're four under there and Jackson Barberi came out and did the same thing. He averaged about 15 pitches an inning and was really sharp. Everybody did their job. I noticed on Thursday when I was putting together the pitching at the hotel and just trying to line up the weekend pitching-wise, and see what it might look like and it really dawned on me at that moment, that we are really starting to see the bullpen really come together…"
On the double steal in the fourth inning…
"I think what we have been trying to do is be a bit more aggressive on the base paths. There's certain things that have to be in place for you to be able to do a double steal. You have to have guys that can run on the base paths. The infielder is going to give us a good opportunity to get us to second. Obviously, you do not like to do it for a left-handed hitter, so we had a right-handed hitter up…"
On maintaining momentum after a big weekend series…
"I think it says a lot about our maturity, and we talked about it and we talked about it at the end of the game tonight. I don't care who our opponent is. It's awfully easy to get up for the conference games or Florida State at home, or Miami, but we have got to take care of our business and have to show maturity and professionalism regardless of who we play. We have a couple guys that are nicked up a little bit, nothing serious, but we have some flexibility in our offense, which gives us the opportunity to sit a couple guys for a day or two to let their bodies get right, which gives some other guys some opportunities, and they deserve it."
UP NEXT
The Gators host Florida A&M on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Walls, Cooper (2-0)
L: Kide Adetuyi (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Brett Patten 1
SH: Marshall Lipsey 1
Base Running:
SB: Brett Patten 1
Batting:
HR: Lawson, Brendan 1
RBI: Lawson, Brendan 1 ; Bowen, Karson 1 ; Schwarz, Colton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jones, Kyle 1 ; Lawson, Brendan 1 ; Cyr, Blake 1 ; Stanford, Cole 1
SB: Jones, Kyle 1 ; Cyr, Blake 1 ; Stanford, Cole 1
HBP: Lawson, Brendan 1 ; Cyr, Blake 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballC
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OF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
C
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RHP
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