No. 21 Gators Outlasted by Dolphins for First Midweek Loss

Tuesday, March 31

Gainesville, Fla.

6:30 PM

Florida Gators

23-7

Jacksonville

13-16

Jacksonville

Florida

No. 21 Gators Outlasted by Dolphins for First Midweek Loss

Tuesday, March 31, 2026 | Baseball

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Jacksonville plated three runs in the eighth to spoil Florida’s fifth-straight win.

By: Sullivan Bortner

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 21 Florida was topped by a final score of 4-3 by Jacksonville University at Condron Family Ballpark on Tuesday night.

The Gators (23-7) led the Dolphins (13-16) for almost the entirety of the contest, opening a two-run advantage in the third that lasted until the top of the eighth when JU produced a three-spot to move in front. Catcher Cole Stanford (2-for-4) bashed a solo shot and was the lone Gator to collect multiple hits.

Florida starting pitcher Schuyler Sandford surrendered a pair of walks to begin the game, but buckled down to retire three-straight Dolphins in order to strand runners at the corners. Brendan Lawson smoked a one-out single to center in the home half, but was left stranded in a scoreless first inning.

Sandford was relieved by southpaw Eli Blair with two outs and two men on in the second. The rookie induced an unassisted groundout of Roger Vergara to first base to leave the bags juiced.

Blair remained on the hill in the third frame and picked up his first strikeout while tossing a zero. The Gators then opened a 2-0 lead in the home half, beginning with a leadoff triple to right field off the bat of Kolt Myers. Kyle Jones followed with a walk and swiped second base, allowing him to advance to third on a sacrifice fly to center by Lawson that plated Myers for the game's first strike. Florida made it 2-0 on an RBI groundout to third base from Ethan Surowiec.

In the top of the fourth, Blair exited in favor of righty Caden McDonald after plunking Blake Edmonds with one out. After allowing a single to Sammy Mummau to put Dolphins at the corners, the redshirt sophomore fanned Cade Walter and got Vergara to ground out to third to strand two more runners on base.

Florida tacked on a third run in the bottom of the fourth, as Stanford uncorked a two-out, no-doubt home run to left field. McDonald held the 3-0 advantage through the top of the fifth by retiring the side in order, highlighted by back-to-back strikeouts to conclude the frame.

McDonald fanned his third-straight batter to begin the sixth before surrendering a one-out single on a 1-2 pitch to Abdriel Delgado, who advanced to second on a groundout to first base for the second out. Jacksonville finally capitalized on the runner in scoring position, as Mummau singled down the left-field line to cut the UF lead to 3-1. Following another JU single and a wild pitch, McDonald struck out Vergara to strand two more Dolphins in scoring position while giving Jacksonville 10 men left on base through six innings.

Surowiec walked and Blake Cyr singled to left in bottom-six for Florida, but a strike-them-out, throw-them-out double play and inning-ending flyout to center thwarted to threat. New UF reliever Billy Barlow fired a clean frame in the seventh to hold the two-run edge, dotting a 97-mph heater for the second out.

In the eighth, Barlow fanned the first two Dolphins but ran intro trouble via a two-out hit batter and walk. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Cooper Walls took over, but plunked a batter and then allowed a two-run single to right field from Vergara to tie the game a 3-3. One batter later, a passed ball let Walter scamper home safely to give Jacksonville a 4-3 lead.

Florida was unable to muster a rally in the eighth or ninth as JU reliever Kyle Hopper (2-0) collected the victory. The freshman righty tossed two no-hit, scoreless frames and struck out two. Dolphins closer Dominic Pieto secured his second save, producing a zero in the ninth by working around a leadoff walk.

Walls (3-1) was handed the loss. He finished with one unearned run allowed on one hit in 1 1/3 innings of relief while fanning two batters.

Sandford did not factor into the decision, throwing 1 2/3 shutout innings in his second start of the season. The redshirt sophomore right-hander was charged with one hit, two walks and one strikeout.

JU starter Kyle Powers also received a no-decision, pitching two scoreless frames while giving up two hits. He did not issue a free pass or strikeout a batter.

NOTABLES

The UF pitching staff stranded 11 runners on base.
Florida dropped to 9-1 in midweek contests this season, featuring a 21-3 mark dating back to the start of the 2025 campaign.
The Gators fell to 11-1 against teams from the state of Florida this season, headlined by a 23-5 mark since the start of the 2025 campaign.
Making his second-career start, Sandford pitched 1 2/3 shutout innings on one hit, two walks and one strikeout.
Jones logged his team-leading 13th stolen base.
Stanford smacked his fourth homer of the season and second in as many games with a solo shot in the fourth.
The Gators have recorded double-digit strikeouts in 21 of the last 26 games.
After not recording a strikeout in the first inning, UF pitchers fanned at least one batters in every inning thereafter.
Florida pitchers have struck out at least one batter in 37 of their last 45 innings pitched.
The Gators have won 40 of their last 52 regular-season games dating back to 2025.
Florida is now 69-37 all-time and 45-18 in Gainesville against JU.
The Gators are 23-9 overall and 17-7 at home vs. the Dolphins under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan.
Florida has won 14 of the last 18 meetings vs. JU, but had its four-game win streak in the series snapped.
Tuesday night's official attendance was 4,953.

FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O'SULLIVAN
On tonight's pitching…
"We hit six and walked three, that's not good, but we knew we were going to have to pitch the guys that hadn't pitched in a while because obviously, we got a short week and our bullpen was taxed on the weekend. It comes down to a couple things. We only got five hits and only scored three runs, and we hit six guys, so we wiggled our way out of the first three innings. They left a bunch of guys stranded, but the disappointing part of the game is we had two outs, nobody on in the eighth and we got an eight-hole hitter up and we hit him. We're cruising, then we walked the nine-hole hitter and then we go to Coop, and we hit the leadoff hitter. We caused our own problems. We were one out away from getting out of the eighth with a two-run lead. Then they got a big 3-2 count base hit to drive in a couple on a 3-2 breaking ball, so tip your cap to them, but I thought we played better defense tonight. Other than the wild pickoff to first, I thought our defense was really good tonight. Like I said, in games like this, we can't keep going to the same guys. We got to give them rest during the midweek and then get them ready for a really good Ole Miss team."

On Stanford's recent offensive success…
"He's earned the right to be in the lineup and he extends our lineup. I thought he blocked some balls tonight that were difficult balls to block. I don't want to blame him for the passed ball, we created our own issues there."

ON DECK
Florida hosts Ole Miss in a three-game SEC series from Thursday, April 2 through Saturday, April 4. Thursday night's series opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.