CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Having won nine-straight games since Opening Night, No. 10 Florida heads south for an in-state rivalry battle at No. 17 Miami this weekend with the all-time series on the line at 136-136-1.
 
Friday night’s series opener airs on ACC Network at 7 p.m. followed by game two on Saturday at 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra. Sunday’s series finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
 
Last season, Florida (9-1) won the first two games against the Hurricanes (10-0) in Gainesville (6-2, 6-3) to claim its first series lead since Feb. 28, 1969 (29-28).  It proved to be short-lived, as the Hurricanes salvaged the series finale to retie the head-to-head record.
 
The Gators also took two of three in their last trip to Coral Gables in 2024 (W 7-3, L 10-6, W 8-4), and have claimed four-straight series vs. Miami although their last sweep occurred in 2020 on the road. Since Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan took the reins of the program in 2008, Florida has dominated the series with 43 victories in 62 meetings, including an 18-9 road record.

Pitching Matchups

CHECKING OUR POLLS

The Gators moved up one spot this week and sit at No. 12 in the D1Baseball Top 25. That matches Perfect Game (No. 12) for Florida’s highest national ranking. The Orange & Blue slot in at No. 24 on Baseball America’s list.
 
MONITORING MIAMI
Undefeated through 10 contests, the Hurricanes come in averaging 15.5 runs per game backed by a .374/.494/.710 slash line, 28 homers and 17 stolen bases. Miami pitching has worked to a 3.89 ERA, .240 batting average against and 128-to-29 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 88.0 innings. The Hurricanes are fielding at a .955 clip as a team.
 
GOOD, OLD-FASHIONED STICKBALL
From the eighth inning of last Friday’s opener vs. Kennesaw State until the fourth frame of Wednesday’s win vs. FIU, the Gators went 26 1/3 offensive innings spanning four games without hitting a home run. Despite the lack of production from the long ball, Florida still lit up the scoreboard to the tune of 43 runs on 48 hits and 15 extra-base knocks in the 26 1/3 frames between homers and won all four contests by three or more runs. During the home run drought, the Gators averaged 1.63 runs per offensive frame.
 
EARLY & OFTEN
Making a trend out of scoring early this season, Florida has outscored its opponents by a 40-10 margin in the first two innings of games. The Gators have plated 20 first-inning runs to opponents’ 10 while utterly dominating the second frame to the tune of an 20-0 tally. Florida’s third-highest-scoring inning is the fifth at 18 runs. Having scored within the first two innings in nine of 10 games, the Gators are 6-0 when they cross home plate before their opposition.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Entering the season’s third weekend, Florida leads the nation in doubles (30) while ranking second in double plays turned (11) and shutouts (two), third in hits (121), seventh in batting average (.360) and runs scored (105), eighth in sacrifice flies (eight), 13th in slugging percentage (.601), 16th in home runs (15), 18th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.43) and 20th in walks allowed per nine (2.96).
 
MR. JONES (AND US)
Leading the nation in runs (19) and ranking second in hits (19) outfielder Kyle Jones has led off seven of 10 games with hits for the Orange & Blue. Five of Jones’ seven leadoff knocks have been doubles, as he sits third nationally with six two-baggers on the season. Leading off games, Jones is hitting .700 (7-for-10) with four doubles, six runs, and two stolen bases. He has led off 12 total innings with hits for a .600 batting average (12-for-20). Slashing .487/.553/.769 overall, Jones leads the Gators in batting average, hits, runs, at bats (32) and steals (two).
 
BUCKLE UP, IT’S THE LAW
As Baseball America’s top-ranked college player for the 2027 MLB Draft, shortstop Brendan Lawson has driven in 12 runs over the last four contests headlined by 10 RBI in the last two games alone. Having plated a run in eight of 10 games including five with multiple, Lawson’s 19 RBI rank third in the country. Coming into the series with five multi-hit efforts, the Canadian sophomore paces the Gators in OPS (1.536), on-base percentage (.630), slugging percentage (.906), home runs (three), RBI, walks (10) and steals (two) on top of a fierce .469 batting average.
 
DEEP CUTS
Through 10 games, Florida boasts five qualified hitters with an OPS above 1.150 in Lawson (1.536), Jones (1.322), rookie outfielder Cash Strayer (1.240), outfielder Blake Cyr (1.197) and corner infielder Ethan Surowiec (1.156). Catcher Cole Stanford (1.012) wields gaudy numbers but is five at bats shy of qualifying while second baseman Cade Kurland (.889), freshman infielder Colton Schwarz (.844) and starting backstop Karson Bowen (.828) all find themselves over .820. Lawson, Jones, Cyr and Surowiec have reached base in every game this season.
 
PRIMETIME PETERSON
Making his second start of the season vs. Kennesaw State, ace right-hander Liam Peterson is fresh off 5 1/3 shutout, one-hit innings with 12 strikeouts against two walks last Friday night. Boasting 188 strikeouts across 141.0 career innings (12.0 K/9), Peterson has made two prior starts against Miami. Last season in Gainesville, he fired 6.0 innings of two-run ball and fanned seven to record the quality start and victory in game one.
 
AID IN KING
Through two starts, sophomore righty Aidan King has yet to allow a walk or run across 12.0 innings pitched while producing back-to-back quality starts and victories. The 2025 Freshman All-American has struck out nine and surrendered eight hits for a .186 batting average against. Across his last seven starts dating back to last season, King is 6-1 with a 0.66 ERA and 38-to-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 40 2/3 innings pitched. He set a program record with four SEC weekly accolades one year ago, pacing all qualifying SEC pitchers with a 2.58 ERA on top of a .213 batting average against (eighth), 73 1/3 innings pitched (16th) and five quality starts. Appearing in one game vs. Miami in 2025, King chucked 3 1/3 shutout frames of relief.
 
HERE FOR CYR
Returning to the ballpark he called home for two seasons (2023-24), Cyr is off to the best start of his four-year career thanks to a gaudy .405/.467/.730 slash line. Repping a team-high three homers, the senior has racked up three doubles, 15 runs, 10 RBI and one stolen base while recording four multi-hit efforts and three multi-RBI contests. Cyr has hit safely in nine of 10 games while scoring in eight different matchups.
 
THE ELECTRIC ELC
Starting his UF career with 19-consecutive batters retired, southpaw Ernesto-Lugo Canchola’s streak came to an end vs. Kennesaw State in his third appearance of the season – on a dropped-third strike to his 20th batter faced. The 2025 D2 Baseball Pitcher of the Year rebounded on Wednesday night vs. FIU, blanking the Panthers for 2 1/3 frames to enter the weekend with a 1.04 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, .133 batting average against and 11 strikeouts to three walks in 8 2/3 innings.
 
COME ON BARBIE, LET’S GO PARTY
Although he did not toe the slab until the Kennesaw State series finale due to illness, right-hander Jackson Barberi came up clutch in game three in the form of 2 1/3 shutout relief frames to record the victory. Across two appearances last week against Stetson and KSU, the sophomore tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings on three hits, one walk and five strikeouts. On the season, Barberi totes a 1.50 ERA, .136 batting average against and nine strikeouts to three walks over 6.0 innings pitched.
 
TEAM USA CROSSOVER

This weekend’s in-state rivalry showdown unites three former USA Baseball Collegiate National Team members, as Peterson suited up with Miami’s Daniel Cuvet and Alex Sosa back in 2024. Peterson donned the Stars & Stripes in both 2024 and 2025, while King attended training camp this past summer.

STAFF AFFECTION

Florida wields a surplus of quality arms for the 2026 season, returning an astounding 366 2/3 innings pitched – 72.2% – from last year’s staff. To put into context, the Gators brought back 198 2/3 innings in 2025 and 273.0 frames in 2024. That means the 2026 Gators return 84.6% more innings compared to the 2025 team. As arguably the nation’s top one-two punch out of the starting rotation, Peterson (69 1/3 IP) and King (73 1/3 IP) logged the most frames for UF in 2025 and have reverted to their weekend roles in 2026 after combining for a 15-6 record, 3.41 ERA and 11.0 strikeouts per nine one year ago.

DESTINATION OMAHA

Coming 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. 

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