Florida Outlasted by Georgia in SEC Tournament Semifinals

Saturday, May 23

Hoover, Ala.

1 PM ET

Florida Gators

39-19

Georgia

45-12

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Florida	1	0	5	0	0	0	1	0	0	7	8	1
Georgia	0	0	0	3	1	0	2	2	X	8	12	1

Hayden Yost robs a fourth-inning home run during the Gators' game against the Bulldogs on May 23, 2026 at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Ala. / UAA Communications photo by Madilyn Gemme

Florida Outlasted by Georgia in SEC Tournament Semifinals

Saturday, May 23, 2026 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

The Gators jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three via homers from Blake Cyr (3-for-4) and Caden McDonald (1-for-4).

By: Sullivan Bortner

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 9/18 Florida led for the first seven innings but No. 4/4 Georgia rallied to steal an 8-7 victory in the SEC Tournament semifinals at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Jumping out to a 6-0 advantage through three frames, the No. 5-seeded Gators (39-19) scored in the top half of the first and led until the No. 1-seeded Bulldogs (45-12) moved ahead with two runs in the eighth. Driving in a team-high four runs, Blake Cyr (3-for-4) homered for the second-straight contest while collecting multiple hits for the third time in as many games in Hoover. The senior slugger was joined by designated hitter Caden McDonald (1-for-4) in leaving the yard, who delivered Florida's big blow of the matchup with a three-run tank in the fourth.

Florida threw the first punch in the top of the first inning of Sunday's semifinal matchup, as Cyr hammered a 2-0 offering over the left-center field wall for a solo shot to open a 1-0 UF edge. After surrendering a leadoff single in the home half, Florida starter Russell Sandefer retired three-straight Bulldogs while fanning Michael O'Shaughnessy for a zero.

In the bottom of the second, Sandefer was struck by a comebacker on a leadoff single from Kenny Ishikawa. As a result, right-hander Jackson Barberi was called on out of the UF bullpen with no outs and a man on first base. Barberi induced a pop-out to second and struck out Brennan Hudson on three pitches before getting an inning-ending flyout to center.

Erupting for a five-spot, Florida stormed further ahead at 6-0 in the top of the third. The Gators quickly loaded the bases with one out, as Cade Kurland was plunked to lead off followed by a single from Hayden Yost and one-out walk by Brendan Lawson. Cyr stayed scorching hot with a two-run single to center while McDonald drilled a two-out, three-run homer into the left-field bullpen to break the game open.

Barberi fanned three more Bulldogs in the home half of the third to strand a one-out single. Georgia broke through for three runs in the fourth to cut the Florida advantage in half at 6-3, but a home run robbery by Yost in right field limited the damage. Brennan Hudson plated Rylan Lujo on a sacrifice fly brought back into the yard by Yost, followed by a pair of two-out, RBI doubles from Kolby Branch and Ryan Black.

Georgia continued to battle back in the fifth, as Daniel Jackson led off with a double, moved to third on a one-out single and scored on a wild pitch to Ishikawa. Lugo-Canchola took over with runners at the corners and two outs, inducing a pop-out of Hudson to shortstop to minimize the damage.

Holding onto a two-run edge, the Gators stranded a one-out walk by Karson Bowen in the top of the sixth before Lugo-Canchola fanned the UGA side in order in the home half.

The UF offense held the momentum, putting together a two-out rally in the top of the seventh to extend the lead to 7-4. Lawson doubled down the right-field line to keep the inning alive while Cyr came through with his fourth RBI of the day on a clutch single to left field to bring him home.

Following a leadoff single and strikeout of Cole Johnson, Lugo-Canchola was lifted in favor of right-hander Joshua Whritenour. Before Whritneour could throw a pitch, heavy rain halted the game for one hour until play was able to resume. When it did, the Bulldogs promptly struck again with a single by Rylan Lujo and a two-run double to left-center off the bat of Ishikawa to make it a one-run game. Whritenour retired the next two batters via a strikeout and groundout to second to keep UF ahead at 7-6.

In the home half of the eighth, Branch got on base to lead off via a fielding error at third base. Black then doubled and Tre Phelps hit a sacrifice fly to right field to tie the game. Jackson then produced a sacrifice fly of his own to left field to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game at 8-7. That proved to be the final lead change as the Gators went down in order in the ninth.

Georgia reliever Justin Byrd (4-2) earned the win after providing two scoreless, no-hit innings of relief and two strikeouts. Whritenour (3-4) was dealt with the loss, giving up three runs (one earned) on three hits. He fanned one batter and did not issue a walk.

Sandefer pitched one-plus inning in a no-decision, allowing zero runs on two hits while striking out one against zero walks. UGA starter Dylan Vigue did not factor into the decision either, lasting just 2 2/3 frames and surrendering six earned runs on four hits, one walk and one hit batter. He struck out one.

NOTABLES

Florida has played in the SEC Tournament semifinals in four of the last six years.
The Gators have won 10 of their last 12 games while outscoring opponents, 117-58.
Florida is a nation-best 15-7 against ranked opponents while repping 16 Quad I wins.
The Gators fell to 8-4 against top-10 opponents and 6-2 vs. the top five.
The Gators outhomered the Bulldogs, 8-0, in four meetings this season.
Cyr opened the scoring with his 13th home run of the season in the top of the first.
Kurland tied the program record for most-career hit-by-pitches with the 51st of his career and ninth of the season in the third inning (Matt LaPorta, 51, 2004-07).
McDonald swatted his sixth homer of the season in the third.
Bowen went 4-for-4 in ABS challenges behind the plate to improve to 9-for-10 at the SEC Tournament.
Cyr finished 3-for-4 with one homer, three RBI and two runs scored for his seventh three-hit effort of the season while tying Surowiec for the team lead with 21 multi-hit contests.
UF pitching struck out 13 batters against one walk in the game.
Play was halted in the bottom of the seventh inning due to a weather delay lasting one hour.
Florida is 80-71 across 44 SEC Tournament appearances including a 33-26 mark under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan.
The Gators are now 197-121-2 all-time and 5-7 at neutral sites against Georgia.
Florida is 34-23 overall and 1-2 at neutral sites vs. the Bulldogs under O'Sullivan.

FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O'SULLIVAN
Opening statement…
"Well, first of all, congrats to Georgia. They obviously played really, really well today. That's what they do. They just chipped away. I thought our pitching was good today. It was unfortunate that Russ got hit with that line drive. But fortunately enough for us it's not broken. That's probably the best his stuff has looked all year long. Yeah, although it's disappointing, I'm really proud of the way our team played this week. I think we maybe opened up some eyes to other people around the country that may not have seen us play. And we've come such a long way. I think this weekend kind of puts us in a position for our team to be ready for the postseason."

On using Hoover to prepare for the NCAA Tournament…
"I think it goes back to, like, the ninth and tenth weeks of the year. Everybody's playing for something, whether it be a top-eight national seed, be one of the top-16 seeds to host. Some teams are playing just to get into the tournament. We have never taken this tournament lightly. We've always stayed with our rotation. The only time I think we may have done that is if we had to play on a Tuesday and we couldn't bring back our No. 1. But, no, we try to come here to win it. Every game's important. Like I said, it was unfortunate today with Russ because that's about as good of stuff as he's had all year long. I'm looking at the board and he's throwing 96, 97, and he's throwing his fastball to both sides of the plate. That was the best he's looked. So lucky enough for us immediately they got him an X-ray and they came in and, I said, 'You already got one? That's awesome.' It came back negative, so he'll be ready to go next week. We got three good starters. Our bullpen's healthy for the very first time. We've got our lineup pretty much set now, and we'll see what happens with the draw. I know a lot of people asked if we should be a top-eight national seed. My answer every year is the same thing. It's out of my hands. It's in the committee's hands. I do think that we are one of the top-eight teams in the country, but it's not my decision to make."

ON DECK
The Gators await their fate in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, which will be unveiled on Monday, May 25 at 12 p.m. ET as part of the selection show on ESPN2. NCAA Regionals are scheduled to take place from May 29 through June 1.