Meet the Gators: The Southpaws

Last Updated: November 7, 2025By


As Florida awaits a Sunday matchup against Georgia Southern at home, the 2025 Meet the Gators series rolls on with the left-handed pitchers taking over the spotlight. Florida’s new southpaws include true freshmen Eli Blair, Jackson Hoyt and Rivers Kurland, in addition to Northwest Nazarene transfer Ernesto Lugo-Canchola.
 
Eli Blair

Coming to Gainesville by way of Panama City Beach, Fla., Blair will don No. 34 in Orange & Blue. Playing under head coach Chris Jones at J.R. Arnold High School, the 6-foot-8 lefty produced an impressive resume as a four-time letterwinner. Making 46 career appearances (32 starts), Blair went 27-7 highlighted by a 1.83 ERA, .191 batting average against and 258-to-74 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 199.0 innings. He pitched to a sub-2.00 ERA in both his junior (1.39) and senior (1.60) seasons while winning eight games in back-to-back years.
 
Blair was particularly dominant in his penultimate campaign, registering 103 strikeouts in 65 2/3 frames for a 14.1 K/9. As a senior, he fanned 67 batters against 15 walks in 61 1/3 innings and chucked a no-hitter in Arnold’s Class 4A regional quarterfinal win over Fort Walton Beach. Entering college, Blair was ranked by Perfect Game as the No. 13 left-handed pitcher in Florida.

 

Jackson Hoyt
Wearing No. 35 for the Gators, Hoyt starred as a multi-sport athlete at Nature Coast Technical High School. Lettering in both baseball and football, the Brooksville, Fla. native turned in a 1.47 ERA, .129 BAA and 104-to-28 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 52 1/3 innings as a senior – good for a whopping 17.9 K/9 and the fourth-most strikeouts in the state. Of Hoyt’s 24 hits allowed, only one went for extra bases. The 6-foot-3 southpaw provided those elite numbers on the mound while hitting .279 in 23 games for the Sharks.
 

Over four seasons on the gridiron, Hoyt was a three-year starter at quarterback for Nature Coast Tech. During his time leading the offense, he chucked 34 touchdowns while rushing for an additional 10 scores on 233-of-410 passing in 33 games. Despite his success with the pigskin, Hoyt brought his baseball talents to the Orange & Blue ranked as the No. 220 recruit in the class nationally, and was the No. 21 overall player and No. 2 left-hander in the state.

 

Rivers Kurland
As the younger brother to current Florida senior infielder Cade Kurland, Rivers will be found in jersey No. 32 this spring. The Tampa, Fla. product destroyed Berkeley Prep’s all-time career strikeout record in just his junior year, finishing with an astounding 387 strikeouts against just 69 walks. Lettering four times under coach Richie Warren Jr., Kurland posted a 27-7 career record, 1.35 ERA and .177 BAA in 280 2/3 frames. He was practically untouchable as a senior: 7-3, 0.42 ERA, .141 BAA, 118-to-25 K-to-BB ratio.
 
Exhibiting advanced control, the young lefty walked just 2.2 batters per nine in his prep career. Kurland was able to do so while significantly limiting the big swing, as he was tagged for just two homers in four years. As a result, he arrived in Gator Country as PG’s No. 15 left-handed pitcher in the class.

 

Ernesto Lugo-Canchola
Florida’s only new southpaw not from the Sunshine State, Lugo-Canchola hails rom Pleasant Grove, Utah. Suiting up in No. 44 for the Gators, the 6-foot-5 transfer most recently competed at Northwest Nazarene, where he was honored as the 2025 D2 Baseball Pitcher of the Year. Last season, he exploded onto the scene for a perfect 13-0 record across 16 starts, dazzling with a 2.00 ERA, .164 BAA and 103 strikeouts against 44 walks in 94 2/3 innings. Collecting Division II First Team All-America honors from D2 Baseball and the NCBWA, Lugo-Canchola finished second nationally in wins, fifth in ERA, tenth in games started, twelfth in strikeouts and fourteenth in WHIP.
 
Prior to Northwest Nazarene, Lugo-Canchola appeared in 39 games while recording 56 strikeouts in 66.0 innings at Utah from 2023-24. In 2024, he went 2-0 with a 3.32 ERA over 17 outings. He spent the 2022 campaign at Salt Lake Community College, pitching himself onto the NJCAA All-Region 18 First Team with an 8-1 record, 1.66 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 13 appearances. Going further back, Lugo-Canchola played prep ball at Pleasant Grove High School in Utah.

 

The Gators are currently in week five of their fall season, with all practices and scrimmages free to attend and open to the public. On Sunday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m., Florida has a home exhibition game against Georgia Southern at Condron Family Ballpark. Admission is free for all fans and select concession areas will be open.

 

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