GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 23 Florida rallied from an early, two-run deficit to take down No. 20 Florida State, 6-3, in front of 6,548 fans at Condron Family Ballpark on Tuesday night.
 
With the victory, the Gators (15-3) are in position to clinch their eighth season series in the last nine against the Seminoles (13-3) when the two teams face off again on Tuesday, March 24 in Jacksonville. Florida claimed the first meeting by fanning a season-high 18 batters and registering the final 11 outs of the ballgame via the strikeout.
 
The relief quartet of Russell Sandefer, Jackson Barberi, Ernesto Lugo-Canchola and Joshua Whritenour blanked Florida State across the final five frames while racking up 16 strikeouts against four walks. Barberi and Whritenour each struck out five-straight Seminoles during their outings, as the latter fanned all five batters he faced to secure his second save of the campaign. That was all the UF offense needed on Tuesday night, which plated five runs in the third and another in the sixth on Brendan Lawson’s ninth home run of the year.
 
Following a leadoff walk in the top of the first, UF got two quick outs as starter Schuyler Sandford fanned Noah Sheffield and catcher Karson Bowen hosed John Stuetzer attempting to steal second base. Sandford picked up his second strikeout for the third out of the opening frame.
 
Florida State opened the scoring in the top of the second, using a pair of two-out runs to take a 2-0 edge. Right-handed reliever Luke McNeillie nearly got the Gators out unscathed with a bases-loaded strikeout for the second out, but Cal Fisher lined a two-run single to right-center to spoil the effort. McNeillie buckled down and struck out the next batter to strand Seminoles at the corners.
 
McNeillie retired the side in order in the third, giving Florida the opportunity to storm in front at 5-2 in the home half. Battling for eight pitches, Ethan Surowiec found a hole through the left side of the infield to plate Kyle Jones, who reached via a one-out single. Bowen then singled to right to load the bases and Cash Strayer capitalized, driving in Lawson and Surowiec on a go-ahead, two-run single to left-center. A Landon Stripling walk reloaded the bags and Jacob Kendall cashed in with a single to center to plate two more UF runs.
 
Working with a three-run lead, McNeillie surrendered a two-out run in top-four to make it a 5-3 ballgame. After two quick outs, Eli Putnam doubled down the left-field line and Will Bavaro singled him home on the first pitch of the at bat.
 
Taking over pitching duties to begin the fifth frame, Sandefer logged a zero while striking out one and utilizing a back-pick by Bowen. He teamed up with Barberi to produce a scoreless sixth, with the latter fanning back-to-back Seminoles while reaching 100 mph to strand two baserunners.
 
With one out in bottom-six, Lawson hammered a 2-2 offering 401 feet over the right-center field wall to extend the UF advantage to 6-3. Barberi took the support and ran with it, striking out the side in order in the top of the seventh.
 
In the eighth, Lugo-Canchola and Whritenour combined to blank FSU, as Whritenour struck out two-straight Seminoles to strand the tying run at the dish.
 
Whritenour remained on the hill for the ninth to lock down his second save of the season by fanning the FSU side in order. He finished with 1 2/3 perfect frames and struck out all five batters he faced.
 
McNeillie improved to 2-0 after shouldering the bulk of the pitching load, going 2 2/3 innings with one earned run allowed on three hits and one walk. The junior struck out three.
 
FSU reliever Kevin Mebil (1-1) was saddled with his first loss of the campaign. The freshman lefty was charged with three earned runs on two hits and one walk in one-third of a frame.
 
Sandford did not factor into the decision in his first-career start. The redshirt sophomore allowed two earned runs on three walks in 1 1/3 innings while striking out two batters.
 
Seminoles starting pitcher John Abraham also received a no-decision, tossing two shutout frames on three walks and two strikeouts.

NOTABLES

• The Gators improved to 3-0 against ranked teams this season.
• Florida delivered its seventh come-from-behind win including its second in as many games.
• The Gators recorded their final 11 outs of the game via the strikeout.
• Florida threw six pitchers and all six recorded a strikeout while fanning a season-high 18 batters.
• Sandford made his first-career start on the mound.
• Lawson and Surowiec have reached base in all 18 games this season.
• Lawson swatted his team-leading ninth homer in the sixth inning and now has a team-high 26 RBI on the season.
• Whritenour improved to 2-for-2 in save opportunities by striking out all five batters he faced.
• The Gators have won 32 of their last 40 regular-season games dating back to 2025.
• Florida is 37-7 in regular-season, non-conference play dating back to last season.
• The Gators are now 130-135-1 all-time and 68-50 at home against Florida State.
• Florida is 38-23 overall including 20-4 at home vs. the Seminoles under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan.
• The Gators have won three of the last four against FSU highlighted by two-straight victories.
• Florida has won 35 of the last 33 meetings with Florida State.
• Tuesday night’s official attendance was 6,548.

 
FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On his thoughts on the pitching…
“The plan was to have Schuyler go about two innings, maybe three if his pitch count was down. That’s what is going to help us moving forward, only playing that one midweek game. I thought Luke’s second inning was the best inning he’s thrown the entire year. He was 95-98 with an 86-88 mile per hour slider. I thought Russ is getting better; he’s getting closer, He just needs a couple more outings to get there. But I thought he battled. Jackson was outstanding. What can you say? Ernie was really good. It was just an unfortunate play. Once again, our outfielders just have to be more aggressive coming in on balls, and we will address it again tomorrow. That’s just part of it. I’m anticipating getting back Blake [Cyr] on Friday. And then what can you say about Josh Whritenour? He was just outstanding…”
 
On the team and particularly the freshmen stepping up in a high-pressure game…
“They’re going to have to grow up in a hurry, because now we have SEC play, too. We also turn around and play Stetson next Tuesday, who just split with Arkansas at Arkansas. Everybody’s starting to play a little bit better. I was just glad that we flushed this weekend. Probably the best thing that could have happened was us playing Florida State. It was certainly going to bring emotions to another level and we are going to have to play really clean to beat teams like Florida State. The bounce-back win was probably the best thing we needed playing Florida State to get us going again.”
 
On evaluating the team entering conference play…
“Ultimately, our goal should be as a pitching staff on the weekends, is for our three starters to each go six innings. Our bullpen is good enough to be able to handle three-plus innings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I think we need to get back Cade [Kurland], we need to get back Blake [Cyr], get them back in the middle of order. We still have to work on some outfield-defensive stuff. Even though we don’t typically steal a tremendous amount, I do think our baserunning is getting better. I think we’ve done a great job on balls in the dirt and advancing 90 feet. It’s hard for me to answer that question until we get into SEC play. The talent level is now going to jump up even further. All of the people that are doing preseason rankings, you can take it and punt it. It means nothing. Our goal is just to work hard and get better every day and we can beat anybody..”

UP NEXT

Southeastern Conference play gets underway as Florida hosts South Carolina at Condron Family ballpark for a three-game, weekend series from March 13-15.